Capicola - 4 ways

This will be a second attempt at making a Capicola which is a cured piece of pork which is then air dried.  It uses what is essentially the neck muscle of the pig - this is a very nice little roast that has quite a bit of fat running through it.  It is typically sold as part of the pork shoulder roast (I bought it for years and was ignorant of its specialness.

Like last time, I will be salting this piece of meat at 3% by weight using the equilibrium method and then coating it in spices and then letting it dry out such that it has achieved a 40% reduction in weight.  Unlike last time, I will be making 4 of them rather than one (a big lesson learned for me after eating the last one much more quickly than the timeline to make one of these - which is at least two months).

I'll be experimenting with some different spice blends this time and am also going to try out smoking a couple of them (which I understand is done in some cases with the original Italian product).  I look forward to seeing whether this is successful.

Anyway, I've tried a commercial capicola and thought mine was superior.  It isn't hard to make these (just a few simple steps and then a lot of waiting) and they are inexpensive.  I feel lucky I learned about this type of meat and would recommend other try it.

Dorm Fridge Curing Chamber

Ingredients:

• Version 1:
• 1235g Pork Neck
• 37g salt (3%)
• 10 hrs Cold Smoke
• Red Wine to wet meat (Chiante)
• Spices:
• 0.5 Part Brown Sugar
• 1 Part Garlic Powder
• 1 Part Black Pepper
• 1 Part Herbs de Provance
• Version 2:
• 1471g Pork Neck
• 45g salt (3%)
• 10 hrs Cold Smoke
• Red Wine to wet meat (Chiante)
• Spices:
• 1 Part Garlic Powder
• 1 Part Black Pepper
• 1 Part Chipotle Chili Powder
• Version 3:
• 1453g Pork Neck
• 44g salt (3%)
• Spices:
• 0.5 Part Brown Sugar
• 1 Part Garlic Powder
• 1 Part Black Pepper
• 1 Part Herbs de Provance
• Version 4:
• 1335g Pork Neck
• 40g salt (3%)
  
• Spices:
• 1 Part Garlic Powder
• 1 Part Black Pepper
• 1 Part Chipotle Chili Powder

Process Details:

• 5/31/26:
• Removed the coapa from 4 boneless pork shoulders.  I located it using a seam of fat and pretty much just cut straight down from there.  I chose not to spend much time trimming the pieces
• Weighted out 3% salt, sprinkled it over each piece individually, and then moved them to 1 gal ziplock bags.  These were then kept in the fridge
• 6/14/24:
• I've decided to attempt cold smoking for the first time.  I built a soldering-iron based smoke generator which I'll use for this.  I'll convert a metal garbage can as a smoker.  Cold smoking imparts flavor but should be cool enough to not cook the meat or render fat.  There was set to be a night in the Low 60s/High 50s in a couple days which seemed like the closest to suitable temperatures I was likely to see in summer
• Picked 2 of the roasts to smoke.  Removed them from the bags and set them up on a cooling rack in the fridge to dry the surfaces.  This is important for safety as the wet surface is necessary for harmful bacteria to thrive

• 6/15/24:
• Built the garbage can smoker

• Tied up the meat for hanging with butcher string.  The surface of the meat had dried very nicely
• Started smoking the meat at 9 PM when it was in the mid-70s.  The smoker produces a good amount of smoke and is fairly cool.  I used hickory wood chips which produce very nice smelling smoke

• 6/16/24:
• When I checked on the smoker at 5 AM the chips had burned down to coals and there was enough heat to have maybe slightly cooked a small part of the roast (enough to cause a couple drips).  Added more chips to get smoke going again.  I removed the meat at 7 AM (10 hrs of smoking).  The meat has a very intense smoky character - very nice 

Post 10 hr smoking

• Poured wine onto the meat to wet the surface for spice adhesion (for the smoked version - the unsmoked were still moist enough on their own).  Rubbed the spices over the mean.  Wrapped them in a collagen sheet and then in muslin sacks which I tied tightly to hold shape.  Added a hanging string.

• Measured the weights at this point as follows:
• Version 1:
• Starting weight:  1235g
• Post smoking weight:  1165g
• Packaged weight:  1200g
• Version 2:
• Starting weight:  1471g
• Post smoking weight:  1367g
• Packaged weight:  1523g
• Version 3:
• Starting weight:  1453g
• Packaged weight:  1514g
• Version 4:
• Starting weight:  1335g
• Packaged weight:  1391g
• I'm shooting for a 40% weight loss from the starting weight so the final target will be:
• Version 1:
• Final target weight:  ~700g
• Version 2:
• Final target weight:  ~950g
• Version 3:
• Final target weight:  ~900g
• Version 4:
• Final target weight:  ~800g
• I've hung the meat in my temperature-controlled cheese cave to sit between 50 F and 60 F.  It is sitting about 70% humidity in there which should slow the drying process a bit and reduce dry ring
• 6/23/24 - Weights after 1 week of drying are:
• Version 1:  1073g
• Version 2:  1264g
• Version 3:  1341g
• Version 4:  1227g
• 6/30/24 - Weights after 2 weeks of drying are:
• Version 1:  1000g
• Version 2:  1192g
• Version 3:  1243g
• Version 4:  1130g
• 7/14/24 - Weight after 4 weeks of drying are:
• Version 1:  908g
• Version 2:  1083g
• Version 3:  1106g
• Version 4:  1000g
• 7/28/24 - Weight after 6 weeks of drying are:
• Version 1:  853g
• Version 2:  1010g
• Version 3:  1026g
• Version 4:  925g
• 8/10/24 - Weight after 8 weeks of drying are:
• Version 1: 816g
• Version 2: 966g (without wrapping 950g)
• Version 3: 975g
• Version 4:  878g

• I am going to call Version 2 done and give it a try
• Removed the netting and collagen (this came off very easily)

• The meat has a bit of green and white mold on it.  The cheese cave used to dry to meat had both green and white molds in it in the past - I expect this is where they came from
• Cut the meat in half and took a few slices.  No dry ring to speak of.  It probably dried to about 35 or 36% based on the final weights)

• The meat is very tender and has a melt-in-your-mouth character.  It has a strong smoke character throughout the meat.  It is quite salty but certainly not beyond the level of pleasantness.  The edge still has a lot of the spices left and is quite hot from the Chipotle powder.  Has a bit of a funky character to it as well.

• I think the cold smoking was a success.  The 10 hrs was definitely sufficient and I'm curious how the flavor would be if it smoked for a shorter period.
• 9/2/24 - Weight after 11 weeks of drying are:
• Version 1:  772g
• Version 3:  915g
• Version 4:  826g

• So, very close to the final target weights now.  I am going to let them finish their drying in the fridge over the next couple weeks 
• 9/13/24 - Final weights:
• Version 1:  750g
• Version 3:  900g
• Version 4:  800g