Salami 101

[Mercs Own]

I thought I had done 15 kilos before but when I hung them I ran out of room on my specialised salami hanging rack! Some are touching just a little which is not ideal butu I figure once the start to dry I will move them around so that none touch.

Looking good though and the smell.......you can smell right at the other end of the house - yes even lying in bed, I dont mind it but the wife and daughters arent too crazy about it!

 

[DU99]

:icon_drool2: :icon_drool2: :icon_drool2:

 

[Silo Ted]

One day I'll try my hand at salami making. Can you just cure them in a temp controlled fridge, or is fresh air exchange essential ?

Failing air exchange facilities (I dont have a shed) what are some other ways to cure a sausage for a cold-cuts style of meat? For example can I slow-smoke them in a weber, then vac seal them for long term refrigeration storage?

I was speaking to an Italian guy earlier this year who my partner works with, and he & his parents, grandparents and siblings still do the old-country family events such as wine, passata & salami making. He gave me a couple of links, but I have to say that the smell & taste were very very strange, not at all like any spice I have ever tried (and I am quite the cook). Not worth risking a serious sickness, I chucked them :icon_vomit:

 

[Mercs Own]

One day I'll try my hand at salami making. Can you just cure them in a temp controlled fridge, or is fresh air exchange essential ?

Failing air exchange facilities (I dont have a shed) what are some other ways to cure a sausage for a cold-cuts style of meat? For example can I slow-smoke them in a weber, then vac seal them for long term refrigeration storage?

I was speaking to an Italian guy earlier this year who my partner works with, and he & his parents, grandparents and siblings still do the old-country family events such as wine, passata & salami making. He gave me a couple of links, but I have to say that the smell & taste were very very strange, not at all like any spice I have ever tried (and I am quite the cook). Not worth risking a serious sickness, I chucked them :icon_vomit:

You can set up a fridge to do salami but you need to maintain the correct temperature and humidity. Some on on here has done it - cant remember who but if you go back through the posts on this thread you will find out who and how.

I have given people my salami and told them when you taste it if you dont think it is quite right then ditch it - no point persevering with a not quite right salami only to die afterwards.

 

[benno1973]

We ad our sausage making day last weekend. 200kg of pork shoulder arrived at 9:30 and the whole thing was done and dusted by 3:30, which is a bit of a record for us. We made 125 pepper/aniseed and 130 chilli/aniseed. Currently I have them hanging in my fridge with temperature control and a fan for air circulation. Still haven't hooked up my hygrostat (will do one day!), but the humidity is fairly high in there for now, so I'll just monitor it as I go.

 

[Mercs Own]

We ad our sausage making day last weekend. 200kg of pork shoulder arrived at 9:30 and the whole thing was done and dusted by 3:30, which is a bit of a record for us. We made 125 pepper/aniseed and 130 chilli/aniseed. Currently I have them hanging in my fridge with temperature control and a fan for air circulation. Still haven't hooked up my hygrostat (will do one day!), but the humidity is fairly high in there for now, so I'll just monitor it as I go.

Must be a bloody big fridge!!!! Show us a pic of that.

Nice work by the way!

 

[benno1973]

Must be a bloody big fridge!!!! Show us a pic of that.

Hmmm... I wish I had a fridge that big! Actually, I only took about 25 of the sausages and have them in my fridge. The rest are hanging in a few garages around Perth!

I'm on holiday at the moment - not sure what the sausages are doing. Hopefully they're ok. My brother checked on them and said that they had a good fluffy covering of white mould and smelled like cheese. Nice!

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Thanks to Peels and Fents pointing me towards constante imports... Love that place. Went nuts and bought all manner of casings and netting and crap.

Got a little excited so i have 5 hungarian salami stuffed and drying, a panectta thats finished curing and has been rolled and drying for a couple of days now, chunks'o'pork for a sort of Coppa that need a few more days in their cure, as does the Breasola - the Lonzino should be ready and tonight I'll stuff it into a casing, net it and hang it to dry.

My modest salami effort

i have decided I want to do this stuff all year round, with small 1-2 item batches - what do people think of using my temp controlled fermentation fridge as the drying chamber... And every time i brew a lager and its set to 9-13C for a month, I simultaneously cure a small batch of salami? I think that the active fermentation should provide enough humidity, especially if i run the CO2 through a blow off tube and it bubbles out through a jar of water.

Comments/Suggestions....

 

[benno1973]

I'm on holiday at the moment - not sure what the sausages are doing. Hopefully they're ok. My brother checked on them and said that they had a good fluffy covering of white mould and smelled like cheese. Nice!

And the moral of my story is... don't go on holidays while your sausages are experimentally hanging in a fridge.

One of the sausages fell onto the fan, which meant that there was no air circulation. And all the other sausages went wet and drippy, and then a few more fell down onto the floor of the fridge. And a heavy coating of mould. And then somehow a fly got in there, which wasn't good news. Anyway, 25 sausages went into the bin today.

The smells and sights I saw when opening the fridge were not good - kind of like a nice mouldy cheese, except with a slight smell of rancid meat thrown in. Anyways, lesson learned I guess.

 

[Mercs Own]

And the moral of my story is... don't go on holidays while your sausages are experimentally hanging in a fridge.

One of the sausages fell onto the fan, which meant that there was no air circulation. And all the other sausages went wet and drippy, and then a few more fell down onto the floor of the fridge. And a heavy coating of mould. And then somehow a fly got in there, which wasn't good news. Anyway, 25 sausages went into the bin today.

The smells and sights I saw when opening the fridge were not good - kind of like a nice mouldy cheese, except with a slight smell of rancid meat thrown in. Anyways, lesson learned I guess.

Oh man!!! Feeling for you! I went away for 10 days but my daughter who helped me make the salami kept an eye on them - had to wash them down with wine and water a couple of times as the mould was getting a little tingey. About to cryovac them in a day or two.

Did they all go in the bin?

 

[Mercs Own]

3 weeks hanging and I had the first taste today!! Consistency and texture is really good and the taste is excellent!! Time to cryovac

The big boy will hang for another two or three weeks.

 

[benno1973]

3 weeks hanging and I had the first taste today!! Consistency and texture is really good and the taste is excellent!! Time to cryovac

Geez, they look great! Good effort!

All mine went in the bin, but I only took 25 away from the day, so there's still around 230 sausages being dried in a few other locations. So all's not lost, as my neighbour's drying about 100 of them and is a sharing kind of guy. Was a great day anyway, regardless of the outcome!

 

[Mercs Own]

86 salamis - 84 cryovaced today (two eaten) and the big one still hanging.

 

[kirem]

Local butcher grows a rare breed of pigs, not sure which breed, but they are apparently good for salt/air curing. So a guy I work with and I decided to give a capocollo and a prosciutto a go.

I used 12kg of local Murray River salt, purchased for $6/6kg bag.

The butcher prepared the legs for a prosciutto and all we did was pack them in salt. He removed the bone and vein for us as well, he left the trotters on. Any opinions on if I should fill the bone cavity with salt or not? Given my previous thoughts on nitrite, the butcher convinced me to use some nitrite.......

The cap is under salt as well. It will be removed from salt after 3 days, washed with red wine, then put in an ox bung and some netting and hung to dry for atleast 6 months

The prosciutto is under salt for 15 days. 2 days per kg, then

Anyone done these before? Any opinions, advice?

 

[kirem]

decided to stuff the cavity with salt.

 

[ledgenko]

Hey Guys ... Thanks heaps for this thread .. It has made me feel like the ultimate under achiever !!! LOL ... I got into brewing AG about 18 months ago ... have moved from Brisbane to Perth and have started all again .. SWMBO .. has been patient and now will be ever sufferign as I am dead keen on making salami ... The best Thread yet ...

Very much appreciated !! Thanks Merc ... I am booking in for class in Ingelwood on Air drying salami !! 3 hours = $99 ... and a feed !!! totally pumped !!

Matt

 

[Thirsty Boy]

decided to stuff the cavity with salt.

Better safe than sorry - can only improve the penetration of the salt and nitrites. Will the "gap" in the leg be an issue during drying do you think? Or will it get pressed closed during the curing time?

 

[Fents]

i have decided I want to do this stuff all year round, with small 1-2 item batches - what do people think of using my temp controlled fermentation fridge as the drying chamber... And every time i brew a lager and its set to 9-13C for a month, I simultaneously cure a small batch of salami? I think that the active fermentation should provide enough humidity, especially if i run the CO2 through a blow off tube and it bubbles out through a jar of water.

Comments/Suggestions....

i think it might be fine to do, dont forget you need some air movement as well, maybe rig up a PC fan? and im sure i dont need to tell you to make sure your fermenters airtight as the salami's / meat may grown mould?

 

[benno1973]

Hey Guys ... Thanks heaps for this thread .. It has made me feel like the ultimate under achiever !!! LOL ... I got into brewing AG about 18 months ago ... have moved from Brisbane to Perth and have started all again .. SWMBO .. has been patient and now will be ever sufferign as I am dead keen on making salami ... The best Thread yet ...

Very much appreciated !! Thanks Merc ... I am booking in for class in Ingelwood on Air drying salami !! 3 hours = $99 ... and a feed !!! totally pumped !!

Matt

Hi Matt,

If that's the Mondo's air dried salami course, then it's great - I've done it twice now, and the tasters alone are worth the course fee!

 

[kirem]

Better safe than sorry - can only improve the penetration of the salt and nitrites. Will the "gap" in the leg be an issue during drying do you think? Or will it get pressed closed during the curing time?

the meat parts get sealed with a lard and herb mix. So I don't think it will be an issue.