Bresaola – to tie, or not to tie

[Thea]

Thank you for writing. Not tying your bresaola won’t cause any big problems. We didn’t tie our first bresaola, but wished we had for two reasons:
1) more even shape leads to more even aging
2) the finished product has a much more professional appearance
I loved the taste of our untied piece. However, the eye of round we had was left in its natural shape–kind of a lopsided pyramid on its side. Hardly a lovely presentation. Also, the narrow end aged more quickly, while the wide end had more variation of color and texture because it was much, much thicker. The more even your entire whole muscle, the more balanced the dry curing.
Hope this helps!
BagLady
aka Thea