[Recipe] Lonzino – dry cured pork loin

Lonzino is a section of pork loin that has been cured then air dried. A very simple whole muscle cure that has a wonderful tenderness to it, with clean pronounced flavors, possibly thanks to the low amount of fat in each slice. It is pretty much the pork version of bresaola.

Ingredients

NOTE: Cure ingredients are given here as percentage of the total meat weight, after trimming.

Pork loin – 1082g
Kosher Salt – 36g (3.3%)
Black Pepper 10.8g (1%)
Cane sugar 10.8g (1%)
Cure #2 2.7g (0.25%)
Juniper Berry 1.6g (0.15%)
Fennel Seed 3g (0.27%)
Dried Bay Leaf – 0.4g – about 2 leaves

Trim away any nasty looking stuff from the meat – blood spots and so on. Wash gently, dry well. When trimming this thing up I thought it would be rather lovely to leave a little fat on it, just to help give a silkier mouth-feel. That turned out to be a good plan. The actual muscle is pretty lean, and the fat certainly helps to give a good texture and flavor balance.

Grind up all the cure ingredients in a spice grinder until finely ground. Put the meat in a large zip lock bag, and rub the cure all over. Seal the bag, and put in the fridge for 10 days. Every couple of days rub the meat through the back, helping to distribute the cure well.

Wrap in muslin and tie the meat up, using butchers loops and knots, much the same way you would tie a roast.

Hang to air dry at 55F, 75% humidity with gentle airflow for about a month – until the meat has lost 35% of its weight.

Slice thinly to serve.

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