Make Italian Coppa at home- A delicacy

In this post I show you how you can make Coppa yourself. With a moderate effort you achieve a super tasty result.

Coppa is an air-dried Italian specialty and is made from a piece of pork neck. 

The special feature of this air-dried ham is that the meat is dried and matured in a beef casing. Wafer thin on a freshly baked loaf of bread, the coppa is a treat for the palate. 

The recipe is from my ham book “Make Dry-Cured & Cooked Ham Easily At Home Step-By-Step Instructions & 28 Delicious Recipes”.

Here you can find the complete Coppa recipe as a video or to read through.

Have fun and good luck making it yourself!

Making your own Coppa – What do you need?

Ingredients for 1 kg

• 1 kg pork neck 

Spices for 1 kg of meat: 

• 31.5 g salt
• 2.5 g Cure #1
• 3 g black pepper
• 3 g sugar mixture (50% dextrose / 50% sugar – alternative sugar only)
• 1. 5 g thyme
• 1.5 g bay leaves
• 1 g allspice
• 1 g mace
• 1 g fennel seeds

Equipment for making Coppa

Spice grinder / mortar

To grind your spices, it is best to use a spice mill. Alternatively, a mortar is also suitable. Or you can use already ground spices. I recommend to grind them yourself. 

Sausage casings

The coppa is matured in a beef butt. I recommend you beef casing caliber 120/140.

Sewing needle or sausage pick

You need the needle when air has come between the casing and the meat.

Make Coppa yourself- Step-By-Step Instructions

1. Remove any tendons, fibers and silverskins from the meat. Make sure there are no large cuts or “pockets” in the meat. Weigh the meat. Note the weight and then calculate how much salt and seasoning you need. Weigh all the ingredients afterwards.

2. Put all the spices in a mortar and grind coarsely. 

3. Mix the salt and spices together and rub them evenly on all sides of the piece of meat.

4. Put the meat in a bag with the remaining salt and spices. 

5. Vacuum seal the meat. 

6. Place the bag in the refrigerator for the minimum curing time (1.5 days / cm of meat thickness). Turn the bag over occasionally. My piece was in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks. 

7. After the curing time you can take the meat out of the bag and rinse it.

8. After that you can dry it with a kitchen towel.

9. Put the meat in the beef casing and remove the air. 

10. Knot the end. 

11. Tie a net around the piece of meat. 

12. Pierce the air pockets with a needle. 

13. Hang the meat in a dark place to dry. It should ideally be around 12 degrees Celsius (53,6 °F) and 75% humidity.

14. Leave the meat to dry and mature for 2-3 months. Check it regularly. It should lose about 30% of its weight during this time. If you lose weight too fast, you can vacuum the coppa again and let it ripen in the refrigerator.

15. Your Coppa is ready😄. Enjoy it. 

What is the shelf life of Coppa?

The coppa can be kept for several months. 

To prevent the ham from drying out or losing its flavor, it’s best to pack it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

In general, I would also recommend consuming it sliced within 7 days. This should not be a problem because of the delicious taste ;).

Packed in one piece, you can store it in a cool place for several months.