Basturma - Out of the cure and into the casing

So I totally forgot about this Basturma that's been sitting in the cure since March 30th... Yikes!!

It was supposed to come out on April 10th, but I finally took it out on April 26th.

I had a brilliant idea to soak it in clean water to try to flush out some of the salt, so I did that.. changing the water ever 4 hours.   I'm hoping that did the trick, although if It's too salty for humans, my good friend Paul H ( also known as Alligator Arms ) will take it.

Since my last Lonzino Da Diavalo lost a lot of the heat when I rinsed after the cure and before stuffing, I decided to try something new.

After the hour long soak, I put them out to dry for a good hour... during which time I created a hot spice mixture of

2-TBSP Cayenne Pepper
2 - TBSP Chile De Arbol
1TBSP Garlic Powder
2TBSP Red Pepper Flakes


I then took both halves of the Basturma and rolled it around in the spice mix, making sure it's coated thoroughly and well rubbed in.

I then squeezed those puppies into a 100mm collagen casing (  I like them.. they seem to work well for me ) and then tied it up as tight as I can.

I left it out in the mancave for a few days for the preliminary drying ( it's about 58Degrees, with about 70-80% humidity, being springtime in Oregon ).

I'll move it to the curing fridge in about 2 or 3 days or when it warms up.   I expect that the basturma will be ready in about 4 weeks, but stay tuned.