Salami 101

[brettprevans]

Been mentioned before and I thought about going to abbutcher or similar and get a scraping od thebwhite mould on their salami and mixing it with somw red wine as per mercs posts and seeing if its takes as an extra precaution and flavour additive. Its what a lot of cheeses do after all.

Looks good. Brendo and mine salamis get stuffed and hung tonight.

 

[punkin]

You ask any old italian family if they use nitrates when making salami / curing meats....The answer will be 28grams sea salt every time.

When was the last time someone died from a confirmed case of salami botulism?

2005
http://www.listeriablog.com/listeria-watch/smallgoods-listeria-strain-matches-sample/

1995
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-22/garibaldi-e-coli-contamination-legal-case/3686838

“From 1991 to 2008 there were 13 foodborne illness outbreaks in Australia attributed to
smallgoods products, which led to over 460 people falling ill and three deaths,” he said

source...
http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/_Documents/media_releases/mr-2009-aug-13-smallgoods-pass-safety-test.pdf

 

[scon]

Nitrates also apply to cold-smoked sausages so surely it's relevant here also?

 

[pcmfisher]

You ask any old italian family if they use nitrates when making salami / curing meats....The answer will be 28grams sea salt every time.

When was the last time someone died from a confirmed case of salami botulism?

And that same old Italian family still makes their wine by wild fermenting too because that's how they have always done it.
The length of time you do something is not an indicator of whether its the best way or not.


Do you think its coincidence that people do not die of botulism any more since we have be using nitrates as preservatives?

 

[Fents]

2005
http://www.listeriablog.com/listeria-watch/smallgoods-listeria-strain-matches-sample/

1995
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-22/garibaldi-e-coli-contamination-legal-case/3686838






source...
http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/_Documents/media_releases/mr-2009-aug-13-smallgoods-pass-safety-test.pdf

I'd nearly bet both those case's are commecrial suppliers who use nitrates in their products.

 

[brettprevans]

I'd nearly bet both those case's are commecrial suppliers who use nitrates in their products.

garabaldi small good is in that time frame and was the largest outbreak from a single supplier from memeory.

 

[punkin]

I'd nearly bet both those case's are commecrial suppliers who use nitrates in their products.

Yes, if you follow the links you'll find that's true. The quote you left out tells more of the story though. The backyard operators wouldn't nessercarily show up on a google search as they could well just go down as food poisoning etc.

But the question asked was when was the last death by botulism. I think i answered it fairly well considering a short search.

 

[benno1973]

Looks good Kaiser, what beer will you pair with it?

I like a good IPA anytime. But maybe a dry pale ale to wash the oils away

Been mentioned before and I thought about going to abbutcher or similar and get a scraping od thebwhite mould on their salami and mixing it with somw red wine as per mercs posts and seeing if its takes as an extra precaution and flavour additive. Its what a lot of cheeses do after all.

Looks good. Brendo and mine salamis get stuffed and hung tonight.

Looking forward to the pics CM2. I've bought a nice mouldy salami and just hung it with mine to encourage mould growth. Seemed to work pretty well. Didn't have a mouldy salami on this run, so I used some camambert mould and it obviously took. I've heard you can just get a little cam rind and mix it with some water and spray that on. Would probably be a cheaper alternative than buying a salami, although I think they are different strains of mould.

 

[brettprevans]

@ KS. yeah ive hears the mould trick works so ill check out some cam and salami tomorrow whilst doing the grocery shopping.

ok so sole pic so far is below. we got a bit slack with pics.

getto rig! its an old wire draw basket suspended rom a beam in my outside room.

now to care for it over the next 5 weeks.

i was rereading mercs original posts and he said he started to wipe bhis down with some red wine every few days to help stop the outside drying out too fast (ie before the inside). so ill do that if i cant get any mould to take. we lost 2 salamis whilst trying them off ie the skin broke. we would have had 20 40cm+ salami otherwise. fried it off and damn mofo they are hot!

 

[brettprevans]

Bought some nice looking salami with mould on it this morning. Got home and started to scrape off the mould. ..no mould! Its a patterned casing the cheeky bastards! Wasnt cheap either. Ill go some camambert rind. At least I know thats real.

 

[benno1973]

Just made some kimchi salami this morning. For some reason I've never gotten around to buying any commercial salami starter culture, and instead I've been using milk kefir as my starter culture. It works really well, and gives a really nice tangy flavour to the salami. I've never gotten around to testing pH to confirm a quick drop - should do that one day.

Anyway, today I used kimchi juice for the starter culture, so it'll be interesting to see how this turns out. Followed my general sopressa recipe, but swapped the chilli for Korean gochugaru chilli flakes, added 1/2 a cup of kimchi juice, and finely diced some kimchi as well. Currently incubating for 24 hours before being hung in the curing fridge.

 

[brettprevans]

Just made some kimchi salami this morning. For some reason I've never gotten around to buying any commercial salami starter culture, and instead I've been using milk kefir as my starter culture. It works really well, and gives a really nice tangy flavour to the salami. I've never gotten around to testing pH to confirm a quick drop - should do that one day.

Anyway, today I used kimchi juice for the starter culture, so it'll be interesting to see how this turns out. Followed my general sopressa recipe, but swapped the chilli for Korean gochugaru chilli flakes, added 1/2 a cup of kimchi juice, and finely diced some kimchi as well. Currently incubating for 24 hours before being hung in the curing fridge.

love an experiment. Please post a review once ready.

 

[benno1973]

Absolutely! I fried up a couple of patties and they tasted really good. 2% salt, so I'm at the low end of the safety range, but given that it has cultures and nitrites/nitrates, I'm pretty happy with it.

 

[benno1973]

Well, I hung the salamis last night after about 60 hours fermentation. One of the casings broke as I was hanging it, so I had a chance to measure the pH. It was 4.6! That's presumably pretty low, and they had a distinct sour smell. I fried some up, and it tasted 'tangy' but still delicious! Will be interesting to see how they turn out.

It was fascinating to see how the meat had changed in just that short space of time (generally they are encased, so I don't get to see). The meat was spongy, almost rubbery. It had bound together, and while it was still moist, there wasn't a lot of free liquid. Just thought it was interesting.

 

[brettprevans]

Im suprised that after a week mine smell like salami and less like raw meat.
Ive got some nice camembert rind and some goats cheese ash for good measure and will spray the salamis tonight.
Heres a shot

 

[brettprevans]

Im suprised that after a week mine smell like salami and less like raw meat.
Ive got some nice camembert rind and some goats cheese ash for good measure and will spray the salamis tonight.
Heres a shot

20130621_144545.jpg

after spraying the salami every 2 or so days with the camembert water mix there are finally signs of some mould forming. They are also dehydrating very quickly now as the casings are getting some slackness. Around them.

 

[Mercs Own]

I've been missing in action from the forum for a fair while and can see I have a bit of reading to do to catch up with all the posts! Just thought I would share a photo or two of yesterdays work. 10 kilos of pork and fennel salami and 10 kilos of pork/beef red wine garlic and black pepper salami.

I used casing for the first time one being 50mm round and 450 mm long. The other were 42mm round in one long continuous tube which I cut and tied my own lengths. They all get soaked in warm water before filling. They seem to work well and are a mix of reconstitutes skin and collagen I think - they certainly stink like skin.

54 salami's in total.

 

[punkin]

They look the goods mate.

 

[doon]

My sisters husband and his mate made 150kg of salami you can smell it coming out of the shed with door closed. Will have to get her to send me a picture I thought I took one when I was up there

 

[brettprevans]

I've been missing in action from the forum for a fair while and can see I have a bit of reading to do to catch up with all the posts! Just thought I would share a photo or two of yesterdays work. 10 kilos of pork and fennel salami and 10 kilos of pork/beef red wine garlic and black pepper salami.I used casing for the first time one being 50mm round and 450 mm long. The other were 42mm round in one long continuous tube which I cut and tied my own lengths. They all get soaked in warm water before filling. They seem to work well and are a mix of reconstitutes skin and collagen I think - they certainly stink like skin.54 salami's in total.

nice merc! Did you use preservatives or just salt etc.