Lonza Taste Testing

Tonight was taste testing time. I cut up the peppered and bay/thyme/juniper lonzas up into 3 pieces each. A piece of each lonza was kept out for near-term consumption while the rest were vacuum packed. Here's what they look like:

Lonza flavored with bay leaf, juniper, thyme and pepper.

Pepper Lonza

Bay/thyme/juniper/pepper Lonza

A delicious plate of both types. Bay on the left, pepper on the right.

Portioned out and sealed for later consumption.

Overall, the flavor wasn't overpowering on either lonza, and interestingly the pepper lonza was the crowd favorite. The salt content may have been slightly on the high side for my tastes, but paired with bread it goes quite well. The texture was the most noticeable thing that engendered comments. The meat was a bit more moist than expected, it wasn't bad, but could have stood an extra few more percentage points of weight loss. In the future 35-40% weight loss may be more desirable than 30%. Also, I noticed that in my setup, I kept the meat in the same orientation with respect to facing front or back of the wine fridge. The side facing the back was exposed to more air flow from the fan and therefore got a bit more dry. The asymmetry was noticeable from a gentle squeeze on the loin before it was cut. It was also somewhat noticeable on the sliced finished product. Rotating sides in the future would be desirable for more even drying. I also felt that the meat would have benefited from a slight bit of cold smoking, so I may attempt that in the near future. Overall, the product was definitely edible and quite delicious, and if/when I make it again, I will know which knobs to turn.