How to Make Capicola at Home?

The capicola or capicola is a delicious cured pork product, traditionally made in Naples, Italy, and it’s usually eaten in slices as an antipasto.

Capicola is a great meat for barbecues or grills. If you don’t have a grill, you can always roast this meat in an oven.

You should keep in mind that roasting capicola will result in a lump of very tough meat.

When cooking this cut, the fat content is the key to the success of your dish. The fat should be crispy and golden brown.

The fat mustn’t be overlooked. Capicola shouldn’t be overcooked to be tender.

For people who are looking to make capicola at home, there are certain things they should know.

Continue reading to learn more.

How to Make Capicola at Home? Things You Need to Know

First off, it takes a lot of time to make this masterpiece of meat. It usually takes around 6 to 7 hours for it to cook.

However, the process of making capicola can be simplified if you use store-bought capicola.

There are many good-quality capicola products available in grocery stores. You can also buy capicola online.

It’s best to buy a capicola that has been frozen. This way, the meat will be much easier to work with.

If you decide to buy capicola online, you should also make sure that it is packaged in a vacuum package.

The vacuum packaging makes the meat much more compact. This is a great advantage when it comes to shipping.

It is also important that the capicola is fresh. The meat should be very well stored. You should also try to keep it as cold as possible.

As you know that cooking a capicola at home is even tastier as you can whatever the ingredients you want and even healthier.

So here in this blog, we will tell you how to make a perfect capicola recipe at home.

Ingredients needed:

These are the ingredients you need to make a capicola.

• 25g sugar
• 3 tablespoons of black pepper
• 50g of salt (preferably kosher)
• 1g nutmeg
• 3 pieces of minced garlic
• 3 leaves of bay
• 2 tablespoons of chipotle
• 2/4 cup of paprika
• 2/4 cup of chili powder

Capicola recipe

Here are the steps you need to follow to create a perfect capicola recipe.

• First Pour the above-mentioned ingredients with exact quantities – sugar, nutmeg, bay leaves, paprika, powder, and salt into a blender and blend it properly.
• Now take a piece of capicola and rub it in the prepared mixture until it absorbs.
• Now put this capicola piece in a zip bag. Make sure the air does not enter the bag.
• Now put the capicola inside a refrigerator and let it stay there for at least ten days.
• Now Pour paprika, chipotle, and a little bit of chili on the wooden board.
• Follow the same procedure by taking the refrigerated capicola out and rubbing it on the wooden board so that the capicola piece will absorb them.
• Now put the capicola piece in the refrigerator. 
• Let it settle there for at least eight to ten weeks so that you get a perfect capicola.

Tips on how to make capicola at home

• Before preparing a perfect capicola at home you need to measure every ingredient precisely. For this, you can use a digital scale. If you haven’t used the ingredients correctly you will end up with a different taste.
• Some people advise you to net your capicola. But this is not needed. This is because netting requires a lot of skill and experience. If you are a beginner you can’t perform this accurately. So it is better to skip this step.
• Don’t be too hasty to open the vacuum bag. You will get a perfect capicola if it shrunk by at least 40 percent.
• Adding a lot of spice to your capicola is right. If you like too much spice in your food go ahead. There is no problem adding more spice.
• Packing and storing the capicola is essential. If you observed your meat has shrunk 20 percent then transfer it into another vacuum bag.

Netting the capicola

Many beginners will make a perfect capicola recipe. But they will feel netting the capicola is a daunting task. So here are a few tips and steps to get perfect results.

• First, you need a plastic bottom to get started. You can use the bottom of the bottle for this task.
• Now slowly put the net around the bottle and cover it completely.
• Put the capicola inside the bottle and make sure it is seated properly.
• Cut the net and let it loose.
• Now tie the net where you performed a cut.
• Now you have netted your capicola.

Storing Tips

Some people will store the capicola at freezing temperatures. This is a big mistake. Don’t store the capicola at freezing temperatures.

This will accelerate the shrinking process. Also if you froze the capicola it does not absorb the seasonings properly.

The perfect place to store your capicola is at a normal refrigerating temperature. If you fail to do this you will end up eating the meat raw.

FAQ

How long should my meat be cured?

You should cure your meats for at least one month at the most. If you do it for longer than a month you could be dealing with the problems of over-cured meat.

This is when you lose some of the meat’s original flavor and it could become very hard to chew.

Are curing salts necessary for this recipe?

The saltiness of the curing solution is the secret ingredient in this recipe. If you are interested in a dry rub, you might want to leave the curing salt out altogether.

Is it possible to cure the meat in the refrigerator?

Yes! When curing meat, you want to use the coolest part of the refrigerator. That means a bottom rack.

Use the refrigerator’s temperature control to adjust for the meat’s specific needs. In general, you’ll need to wait a minimum of five days for any meat to cure properly.

You can tell that it is ready by looking for a “bloom.” That is a white or pinkish tint that forms on the surface of the meat.

Conclusion

If you want to make a perfect capicola recipe at home you don’t need to be a professional chef. Follow the steps mentioned here. You will get a perfect capicola.