Well, today I received my wine fridge…errrr…curing chamber? It’s just a wee tiny thing (6 bottles), but it will suffice as my new curing chamber for some of my experiments.
Naturally, I immediately got it set up and have my first experiment curing away. I’m doing rabbit prosciutto. Yum. We shall see how it turns out.
Original recipe here!
Step 1: Defrost a rabbit (all of my rabbits are pre-brined after butcher in salt water & apple cider vinegar).
Step 2: Chop off the hind legs, debone if you wish (mine are bone-in).
Step 3: Place ~1/2″ of salt (Kosher or natural sea salt) in the bottom of a pan or dish that can fit both legs without them touching.
Step 4: Place both legs on top of salt in the pan/dish & cover entirely with salt (or salt with herbs: I used rosemary & black peppercorns).
Step 5: Cover & refrigerate 24 hours.
Step 6: Remove from the refrigerator, rinse of salt under cool water, pat dry well.
Step 7: Weigh each leg.
Step 8: Cover each leg in cheese cloth and tie ends, hang in a cool place with good air circulation and relatively high humidity (55 degrees F; 60% humidity approximately).
Step 9: Legs will be ready when they’ve lost about 30% of their initial weight. They should also be firm to the touch.
I can’t wait to see if they turn out. I did modify Step 8 slightly; I covered one in pork fat and added whole stems of rosemary to the exterior of the leg. The second leg I did not add the pork fat. We shall see.
Interesting!
How did they turn out? I’m interested in using a pink salt cure similar to duck breast Prosciutto.