Homemade Italian Capicola Recipes

HOW TO MAKE CAPICOLA

Steps:

• Trim the pork. Use a heavy serrated knife to trim away the outer fat, revealing the muscle bundle beneath. Remove any excess fat from the surface, and shave away meat from the muscle bundle to round it off. Note that if you use a pork shoulder cut of meat, the muscle bundle you are trying to obtain is the portion that would like just to the side of the shoulder blade. If using pork butt, opt for Berkshire rather than Heritage since the latter has more fat and less muscle fiber content. If you cannot find Berkshire, however, commodity pork will also work. You can save the trimmings to make sausage, if desired, or you could discard them.
• Chill the meat. Wrap the pork in wax paper and place it in a cool sanitary area, like a meat locker or refrigerator. Allow it to reach an internal temperature of 36 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius). Note that you should check the temperature of the meat using a meat thermometer. Avoid guessing; for health reasons, you should make sure that the meat completely cools to this temperature.
• Grind the dry ingredients into a blend. Place the salt, sugar, pepper, cure #2, garlic powder, juniper berries, and mace in a spice mill. Grind them down until thoroughly pulverized into a powder. Note that cure #2 is the same thing as Prague powder #2. It contains 6.25 percent sodium nitrite, 1 percent sodium nitrate, and 92.75 percent salt. In general, cure #2 breaks down at a slower pace, which makes it safer to use for meats that have a prolonged curing time, like capicola. Overall, this powdered cure blend you create must contain a minimum of 4.5 percent salt based on the weight of the meat before you cure it. This is the only way that the Trichinella sp. bacteria will be destroyed.
• Thoroughly rub the pork with the cure blend. Divide your spice-cure mixture in half. Thoroughly rub one half of this mixture over all sides of the pork. Save the rest of the spice-cure mixture in an airtight container until ready to use.

CAPICOLA (COPPA)

Steps:

• Add the fine salt, sugar, ground red pepper flakes, and Prague salt into a spice or coffee grinder (or use a mortar and pestle) and grind them. It is essential that the Prague salt is evenly distributed in the ground mixture.
• Place the pork in a large bowl or on a work surface and rub all the meat with this spice blend, making sure to spread it out over the entire surface.
• Wrap pork tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 5 days.
• After 5 days, turn it over and refrigerate for another 5 days.
• After 10 days total, unpack the meat which will be firmer to the touch.
• Rinse it thoroughly with cold water to remove all the spices and set aside while preparing the seasoning.
• Seasoning
• Add the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, anise seeds, red pepper flakes and black peppercorns in a spice or coffee grinder (or use a mortar and pestle) and coarsely grind them.
• Lightly pat the coppa with paper towels.
• Spread this spice rub on a plate or a work surface and roll the coppa in it, coating all sides well. Use all of the spice mixture to coat the meat.
• Cut a piece of elastic meat netting a few inches longer than the capicola. Stretch the elastic net and pass the coppa through it.
• Preheat the oven to 250°F (120˚C).
• Fill a container with water and place it on the middle rack of the oven to create humidity while the capicola is cooking and to keep it moist.
• Place the capicola on a roasting pan with a rack and place it on the upper level of the oven.
• Cook the capicola for an hour, then turn it over and cook for an additional 2 hours or until the internal temperature reaches around 150°F (65˚C). Do not overcook or the meat will be dry.
• Remove the coppa, place it on a dish and refrigerate uncovered for 5 hours.
• To taste the capicola, cut it into thin slices.