Salami 101

[Mercs Own]

Fantastic work Merc. I am drooling just thinking about those salamis!

I am a fresh sausage maker and have been closely following this thread for some time and feel very much inspired to have a crack next year. I have thought about home salami making for years but your step by step quide with pics make me feel a lot more comfortable. And I also now have a fathers day prezzy lined up...the Charcuterie book..
:beer:

Chilla, I am happy to give you the recipe for my salami, if you would like as I know they work and are safe providing they dry correctly. Either as a reference guide or to make out right let me know.

These are two books I refer to as well as the Charcuterie book and Hugh Fernley Whitingstall.



The Sausage Making Cookbook is my favorite as it doesnt use insta cures and pink salts etc it is more tradtional ie red wine, salt, pork, stuff, hang , dry and eat!

 

[Little_Squares]

Merc, I was wondering about the safety of not using those insta-cure type products. from the reading I've been doing (mostly online to be honest) the use of lactic starters and nitrate are widely used to kill off those nasty bacteria. Apart from wine and salt, what it is that does the job, so to speak?

 

[Mercs Own]

I just ate my last stick of salami that I made in July last year and it was BEAUTIFUL!! I am sorry to see it go and yet happy with its passing.

SO - it is time to make my next batch. All of my salami making friends and contacts have began the process of buying in their pork and mixing up their secret spices. A couple have already got their salami hanging in their garage - in fact a friend of mine hangs his at his mates garage as it has a better air flow no doubt he will visit once a week or more or he will send his mother to check that the sausage are not drying too quickly or too slowly and yes none of them are using nitrites or nitrates it is all done the old fashioned way.

i will be buying 10 kilos of pork this week and then mincing it up mixing in the spices and salts then letting it sit for a day or two before stuffing in into sheeps guts and hanging it in the garage until ready.

If you are thinking of making your own and you live in Vic, Tas or some place suitably chilly get going, the time is right, the time is now!

 

[Sprungmonkey]

Im going to have to go and take a photo for ya all to view. Be right back.

 

[Sprungmonkey]

Some Salami in Maturing room Hmmmm....

 

[NME69]

This is one of the most interesting post I have read on this forum. It's probably because I have been wanting to make these home made salami's for a while now.
I've got a Italian friend who's always giving me samples of his salami's and have to say they taste better then anything at a shop. I've tried to invite myself to one of those family salami making days but it seems as its some big secret mafia confrence which only the famalia cana coma.
Thank you Merc for your posts, good job.
I can see the days coming when the guys at the Illawarra brewers union enjoy a beer brewing day with home made beers, home made cheeses and
home made salami's
Ahhh just thinking about makes it me salivate

Three cheers for Merc, Hiphip hooray, Hiphip hooray, hiphip hooray Yay woo hes the man :icon_chickcheers:

 

[Mercs Own]

Some Salami in Maturing room Hmmmm....

Mmmmmm I think I need one of those maturing rooms for my next batch of salami!

NME69 keep an eye out here as i will post my straight pork and fennel salami recipe here ijh the next few days if you want to have a go at that - or you can make the recipe in this post it is nice too! But most people liked the straight pork more.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

MMM...A beer, Salami, Cheese thread...Yum


I make my own Pasta...so that could be another thread...

 

[Mercs Own]

MMM...A beer, Salami, Cheese thread...Yum


I make my own Pasta...so that could be another thread...

Mmmmm...... home made pasta....1 egg, two egg yolks, a splash of coopers best extra and 100g of flour, a little bit of salt, mix, knead, rest and roll out and cut into spag, fett or parpedalla you are more than half way there to a good meal. Dice some onion, crush some garlic, melt some anchovoies, chop some red chilli - fry it up then throw in some speck, pancetta or home made salami cook a little, toss in some crushed tomato, some torn basil leaves and some broccolini then the cooked pasta, mix thoroughly and then grate some fresh good parmesan over and serve.

Have with a glass of red or a leffe or an abbey ale or trappist tripple something hovering around the 8.5 as the fruit and the alc will complement the big flavours of the pasta - a Murrays Grand Cru perhaps.

Enjoy - I did!

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I'm about to launch into a bit of a meat and sausage bender.

Need to make Toulouse sausages for a casulet Mrs Thirsty has planned, going to use the leftover pork belly from that to have a small scale go at making some bacon - and then I think I will be having a go at some salami. (when Paul posts the pork & fennel recipe mmmm)

Couple of meals out of that - the casulet, the pasta from above, thick slices of bacon and some of the sauerkraut I made recently on crusty bread

All washed down with lovely lovely beer

Life is good

 

[fraser_john]

Finally caught up with this thread!

Where do you get the natural casings from?? We had given up making our own fresh sausages because we could not get the natural casings anywhere here.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Mmmmm...... home made pasta....1 egg, two egg yolks, a splash of coopers best extra and 100g of flour, a little bit of salt, mix, knead, rest and roll out and cut into spag, fett or parpedalla you are more than half way there to a good meal. Dice some onion, crush some garlic, melt some anchovoies, chop some red chilli - fry it up then throw in some speck, pancetta or home made salami cook a little, toss in some crushed tomato, some torn basil leaves and some broccolini then the cooked pasta, mix thoroughly and then grate some fresh good parmesan over and serve.

Have with a glass of red or a leffe or an abbey ale or trappist tripple something hovering around the 8.5 as the fruit and the alc will complement the big flavours of the pasta - a Murrays Grand Cru perhaps.

Enjoy - I did!

I make a simple Ravioli, Pasta dough with a filling of Roast Pumpkin, Ham,Chives and a bit of sour cream, made in nice big squares with a simple tomatoe & basil sauce...

 

[NME69]

Mmmmmm I think I need one of those maturing rooms for my next batch of salami!

NME69 keep an eye out here as i will post my straight pork and fennel salami recipe here ijh the next few days if you want to have a go at that - or you can make the recipe in this post it is nice too! But most people liked the straight pork more.

cool, thanks will do.

 

[Sprungmonkey]

just wondering if you guys are measuring the pH and/or Water Activity or even yeilds when maturing has finished? I would suggest measuring the pH after fermentation maybe around 48 or 72 hrs.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Finally caught up with this thread!

Where do you get the natural casings from?? We had given up making our own fresh sausages because we could not get the natural casings anywhere here.

I got some from here (under the Hi mountain section) and Country Brewer is also doing sausage making supplies and has casings etc - here

Cheers

TB

 

[Mercs Own]

I get my natural sausage casing from my butcher. Sadly a lot of butchers are now using the synthetic casings which you cannot use for salami and in my opinion are nowhere near as good for sausages. Find a butcher nearby who uses the natural casings and ask to buy some - they normally dont charge but hey it is only a dollar or two if they do.

Will post the pork and fennel salami recipe soon.

My salami doesnt ferment - I hang it and it dries. Since it doesnt ferment I dont need to worry about ph etc

 

[Mercs Own]

Straight forward recipe for my pork and fennel salami:

4 kilo of pork shoulder (or could use pork neck as both cuts have a good meat to fat ratio)
10g fennel seeds - give them a toasting in a dry fry pan over heat - dont burn - and then a gentle crush so as to release flavours
10g black pepper - give it a good crush
5g dried chilli flakes
10g garlic powder
2 cups of paprika paste - Conseria Peperone Dolce - you will get this at a good Italian grocery but have also used Marco Polo - Ajvar and my butchers Mums paste (the best!)
120 g of salt - I use Iblea sea salt fine crystals from spain but have also used maldon sea salt ground fine. General rule of thumb is 30g of salt per kilo of meat.
casings from your butcher - give them a rinse etc

Simply follow the 101 instructions keep it clean and hopefully if the temp and wind is right the salami's will be great. If in doubt throw it out.

Good luck and let me nkow how you go.

 

[Sprungmonkey]

Sounds a bit weird to me. How do you control the growth of pathogens in particular E.coli without droping the pH. 3% salt sounds about right but Im a little concerned with the fact that there is no culture unless you are cooking or heat treating afterwards.

Most of the commercial smallgoods use fiberous casing for salami's.

 

[Mercs Own]

Sounds a bit weird to me. How do you control the growth of pathogens in particular E.coli without droping the pH. 3% salt sounds about right but Im a little concerned with the fact that there is no culture unless you are cooking or heat treating afterwards.

Most of the commercial smallgoods use fiberous casing for salami's.

Sprungmonkey I cant answer your questions as I am no expert in salami making. As far as I can tell I am making salami the way the peasants have always done. Obviously when I make my mix Cleanliness is the key, keeping the meat as cold as possible also, making sure the salt ratio is right and that all the spices are mixed well and then mixed again and maybe a third time again all the time keeping all utensils clean and sanitised.

You can add store bought/internet bought instacures, started cultures etc that probably encourage fermentation or you can add dextrose to your meat mix as there is something in that that encourages the right kind of bacteria (lactic acid organism) in the salami causing a fermentation of sorts and the by product of that which is flavour a tangy zing - (a flavour I dont personally like) If you do encourage a ferment to happen in your salami then you also need to stop it, you do this by heating the product until then internal temperature reaches between 59 - 66 degrees celsius. Also if you ferment your sausage you need to keep a more accurate eye on temperature of the sausag and the hanging surrounds.

I dont know if my sausage has a quiet little ferment or not - taste wise I would say no - the amount of salt I use acts as a preservative and an antiseptic. It draws the moiture from the meat and because bacteria requires moisture to grow this therefore inhibits it's growth. Making them in winter when the temperature is low will also inhibit bacterial growth. From what I have read ideally below 4 degress c is the magic number but if this is not possible you can add a little more salt to make up for it. Alcohol also has antibacterial properties that will stop bacterial growth as well as add flavour.

Most of the people I know that make their own salamis do it the old fashioned Italian way using the above methods to produce safe and tasty product. They also know what to look for in the case it is not right - as I have said when in doubt throw it out. There is certainly risk but probably not as much as one might think. I reckon you are much more at risk of eating a good dose of E.coli when purchasing any fast food or take away product and lets not even talk about all you can eat serve yourself places!

The soures of my info are the two sausage books I put pictures of on this post.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Has anyone tried smoking salamies to cure them