Salumi filetto di manzo

Salumi filetto di manzo. Just a fancy way of writing in Italian Salumi beef tenderloin. I am spending so much money on this I wanted it to sound fancy. This is the center cut of the mighty beef tenderloin!!! Not know for its flavor but its tenderness. Also a very lean piece of meat too.  

What is a tenderloin? The tenderloin is

an oblong shape spanning two primal cuts. 
The short loin and the sirloin.  
The tenderloin sits beneath the ribs next to the back bone.  It has two ends, the butt and the tail. The center cut is used primarily for the very familiar Filet Mignon.  It is also used for Chateaubriand and the famous Beef Wellington. We are interested in the center cut or at least I am because I am going to make a very expensive Salumi from this piece. I purchased my Tenderloin from Costco.  

This Salumi project came to me in a dream.  I wanted to make something different , something knew and something I have never seen or read about. 


As I put my thoughts to this blog the Center cut Loin is sitting in

my refrigerator curing. It will cure for 14 days. As of right now I have know idea how it's going to turn out. 

I started this Salumi project started on Jan 4, 2014 which just so happens to coincide with my birthday(finished curing on Jan 18). This is my present to my self. Check out the big bad boy Tenderloin, it's huge. 

I have to trim down the whole Tenderloin to just the center cut.

Again all I need is the center cut and rest will be incredible stew meat or maybe a small roast.

  
To be honest I have never butchered a tenderloin before so I turned to YOU-TUBE to learn how to do it.  

After I butchered it this is what I was left with.  I will be using the additional meat for a scrumptious beef Hodgepodge that I am planning.  So what did I learn from doing it my self.  
That I need to do it several more times.  I did OK for my first time out but I could have done a better job!! 

The Final numbers were as follows. The whole untrimmed Loin weighed 7.29 lbs or 3298 grams.  After trimming the center cut weighed 2.16 lbs or 980 grams. Based on my estimates I think this Salame will cost me about 43 dollars a pound. I hope it's worth it. 

I did not want this Salame looking or tasting like a Bresaola so I decided to come up with my own unique flavors. Again while sleeping (yes I dream about food) I started brainstorming while I was sleeping and than it hit me.  I love Italian sausages and their flavors so why not use some of those ingredients in this Salame and that's exactly what I did. 

Note: No weights are given because the weights of meats vary. Everything is a percentage of the meats weight after trimming. Example- Meat weight 2393 grams and we want to find out the amount of salt we need in grams- 2393 X 3.5%=83.755 or 2392/100 X 3.5 =83.755 grams. 

I combined all the above ingredients and placed them in a container.  I than massaged the meat with mixture.

The meat is all vacuumed up and will sit in the refrigerator until Jan 18 which will give it 14 days to cure. 

Today is Jan 18 and the curing process is complete.  I am going to rinse off the Tenderloin and get it ready for the drying process. 

All rinsed off ready to get vacuumed sealed in side my UMAI drybag. 

All vacuumed sealed and ready to be tied.

ALL READY FOR THE LONG DRYING PROCESS.
It weighs 980 grams and must lose at least 30% of its weight.  30% of 980 is 294.  Target final weight for the Salame will be 686 grams. 

Today is Feb 9, 2014 and the Salame filetto di manzo hit the magic number of 686 grams which came out to a 30% weight loss.  If you look closely you can see the dark mahogany color that the filet took on and the obvious weight loss. 

Now on to the taste profile. One of the best tasting whole muscle Salamis I have ever eaten. Now I am not just saying this because I made it either. If it tasted like crap I would be honest about it. The Salame melted in my mouth and the flavor was subtle and smooth. Moister than my Bresaola and richer too. The most delectable Salami I have ever eaten. 

It tasted like a cross between a Genoa salami and an Italian sausage but much milder. I was shooting for the Italian sausage and was not planing on the Genoa salami profile but it came out delicious.  

In the end this thing cost about $62.44 (just the meat) dollars a pound to make and I think it was worth it. I may try a different cut next time out of curiosity.  I might try a whole Loin next time.  

About the cure.....Next time instead of mixing the cure and spice/herbs together I think will apply the cure first than the spice/herb mixture. There were so many herbs and spices I had concerns that the cure did not reach the whole muscle but in the end it did. To alleviate my concerns I will apply cure first just in case.