Salami 101

[Diced]

Hi all,

I have enjoyed reading this post. I have started making fresh snags and am now very keen to get into the world of salami!
As even in winter we don't really have the best conditions for salami making I have decided to make a curing chamber.
I have hooked up a Raspberry Pi (micro computer) to a bunch of relays controlling the fridge, humidifer and a computer fan to extract air from the fridge.

I am hoping to get some advice on how consistant the humidity needs to be. When the compressor turns on the moisture in the air is condesnsed which drops the RH dramatically. In the middle of the day (40 deg C) the fridge usually turns on for 15mins every 50mins and the RH takes nearly 10mins after it is turned off to get back to 70%RH. Is this too inconsistant?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers
Luke

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Would love to know more about hpw you logged the temp & humidity

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Saying that...long term avg looks reasonable

 

[Diced]

Hi Ducatiboy stu, as I am using the Raspberry Pi, which is just a credit card sized computer, as my controller when i wrote the code I programmed it to save Temp and RH to a log sheet so I could graph it later.
So as long as the average is reasonable the peaks and troughs are not so important?

Cheers

 

[shaunous]

Your troughs seem to only last a coupla mins, i wouldnt worry about that, the salami would big enough it wont have time to react to sudden temp and humidy spikes. Not that i've ever made salami, but same rules apply to any food really, if you were hanging little thin salami well maybe that would have time to react in a big way, decent size salami in my thinking wouldn't matter to much, as stu said, your average looks the looks. But some expert may help you better.

 

[void]

Hi all - first post to the forums but have been reading and brewing for about 2 months now. Read this thread from beginning to end and am now inspired to start curing meat. Have already forewarned SWMBO.

Has anyone tried making sobrassada? First tasted it a few years ago at a pub in Sydney (The Carrington in Surry Hills), and have been fascinated by it since. It's similar to salami in that it is a raw cured sausage, except instead of being dry, it is soft and spreadable, and utterly delicious. Perfect beer snack when spread on some toasted crusty bread with a splash of olive oil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobrassada

 

[Mercs Own]

I haven't made it or had sobrassada but I have been using Nudja which is pretty much the same thing but of Italian origin. A company here in Melbourne called Salume make a fantastic Nudja, Princi also make a fairly good one. I use it in a pasta sauce which is really damn good even if I do say so. I have a feeling some one here made some and there may be a recipe in this thread somewhere - there are plenty of recipes on the web. Have a go and let us know how it turns out.

Cheers

 

[pat_00]

I won't gloat too hard, but I just got back from 3 weeks in Italy.

The main culinary highlight for me was a random purchase of a skanky looking 3 Euro link of Salami from a Market in Florence. I found out that it was a truffle salami. One of the most amazing cured meats I have ever tasted. So intense.

Anybody tried making this? I suppose the local cost factor of truffles would be off putting?

 

[Muscovy_333]

Good read fellas...
Bumped into Merc last week at MPB and got talking about Salami over a beer (as you do)
Enough to inspire me to have a crack at my first 10kg batch this weekend!
Going to reduce some wild apples' cider that I brewed last season, spice it with sage and peppercorns and add it as one of my flavour variants.

 

[Aces High]

I've been making copa recently, its pretty damn easy I reckon. This was my first 1.7kg piece. If finished out at 1.1kg dry weight and tasted awesome... and didn't last very long. I just started another 6 kgs of copa to keep up with requests from some friends

 

[Mercs Own]

Muscovy how did the salami turn out, got any pics?

Aces looks pretty awesome mate!!

 

[Steve]

You still making your salami Mercs? Good memories of some of the salami you sent me in the chilli sauce/salami swap thread some 4 or so years ago.
Hope you are well.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Wolfman]

Hey Merc have you checked out my Mettwurst thread?

 

[Mercs Own]

Hey Merc have you checked out my Mettwurst thread?

no but I will!

 

[Mercs Own]

You still making your salami Mercs? Good memories of some of the salami you sent me in the chilli sauce/salami swap thread some 4 or so years ago.
Hope you are well.
Cheers
Steve

Hey Steve made 30 kilos this year! It never seems to last though!?

 

[Mercs Own]

Well it is almost that time of the year again and I am sure most you guys and girls are getting ready to put your orders in for pork or pigs, getting skins and capsicum paste etc I am really excited and cant wait to get all the goods and see those babies hanging in the garage!

I have a question and a problem that I am hoping some one can help me out with regarding one of my salami recipes. It is an equal mix pork and beef salami with an extra 10% pork fat added due to the leanness of the beef. Spiced up with black pepper etc and also red wine that has been infused with garlic and also a small amount of capsicum paste. The problem is I had to throw all 10 kilos of this out due to holes through the middle of them - holes cracks - so they oxidised a bit. It didn't matter if they were 42 m skins of the 55 mil ones it happened to all of them - and last years also.

I am wondering what is causing this? The process of making the salami is exactly the same as when I make my pork salami's so it is not the process that is the issue. They hung around the same time - made pork first then beef and pork a week later - so I don't think it is a difference in temps.

I am wondering if it is the amount of wine I am using - 700mil in 10 kilos of meat plus 600 mils of cap paste. (I use 5 cups - 1.25litres cap paste in 10 kilos of pork and fennel salami)

The meat doesn't feel too wet - is very sticky when I stuff it into skins - feels pretty well packed etc

Any one had this problem? Any one making salami with wine in it? Help and advice welcome!

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Maybe there is some fermentation going on inside that is causing gas pockets ...

 

[Mercs Own]

Boil the wine and reduce it a little to accentuate flavour and kill off any active yeast?

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Maybe the capsicum paste is fermenting...

other than that.....no idea...

 

[shaunous]

I've been making copa recently, its pretty damn easy I reckon. This was my first 1.7kg piece. If finished out at 1.1kg dry weight and tasted awesome... and didn't last very long. I just started another 6 kgs of copa to keep up with requests from some friends

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Fark that looks amazing, how long did that take to cure ??

Did you do it in a metered box or just hung in the shed?