Meats and Sausages
Lomo Embuchado
Lomo embuchado is Spanish dry-cured pork loin. The loin is marinated, stuffed into casing and dried whole. If the loin comes from pigs of Iberian breed, a distinction is made and we speak of Iberian loin embuchado. The embuchado loin is eaten raw, cut into thin slices and served as a tapa, sometimes in a sandwich.
| Meats | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Whole loin | 2- 3 kg | 4.4-6.6 lb |
Ingredients per 1000g (1 kg) of meat
| Coarse salt for salting loin | as needed | as needed |
| Cure #2 | 5.0 g | 1tsp |
| Pimentón, sweet | 25 g | 4 Tbsp |
| Pimentón, hot | 5 g | 1 tsp |
| Garlic, smashed | 7.0 g | 2 cloves |
| White wine | 30 ml | 2 Tbsp |
| Olive oil | 30 ml | 2 Tbsp |
Instructions
- Trim off the skin and connective tissue from the loin. Using force rub in a generous amount of coarse salt (as needed) all over loin. The loin should rest in a suitable container on a layer of salt and be well covered with salt all around leaving no exposed areas. Hold in refrigerator for 24 hours.
- Brush off the salt, wash briefly in running water and pat dry with paper towels.
- Mix all ingredients with wine and oil together to form the marinade paste. Remainder: multiply the above ingredients per weight of loin.
- Apply the paste all around the loin. Hold in refrigerator for 48 hours.
- Stuff the loin into pork bungs that will tightly accommodate the loin.
- Ferment/dry at 22-24° C (72-75° F), 85-90% humidity, for 2 days.
- Dry at 15→12° C (59-53° F), 85→75% humidity for 2 months. The loin should lose about 35% of its original weight.
- Store at 10-12° C (°F), <75% humidity.
Notes
The size of the casing is chosen to fit the loin snugly. A little oil is occasionally applied to the surface of the loin to make the operation easier. One end of the loin is tied with butcher twine and the loin is pulled through the casing. Then, both ends are tied and a hanging loop is created. Pork bung is a traditionally used casing for drying loins and its structure (surface holes) is perfect for extended drying. Artificial casings can also be used as long as they are permeable (allow moisture and smoke to go through), however, in most cases for artificial cases the drying cycle is shorter, so weigh the loin to verify that it lost 33% of its original weight.
