Salami 101

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Mercs Own

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I am not an expert and I dont know that much about salami processing etc but I have been making my own salami at home over the last couple of years without killing myself, kids, wife or friends. What follows is my process of making salami which I learned from talking to my local butcher, reading some of a book or three and chatting to friendly grocery check out ladies - you know the old Italian types at specialty grocery stores.

The recipe I will take you through is one that I have never made before today and one that I put together after consulting a couple of books and getting in the mood to get creative. So here goes....

Oh THIS IS IMPORTANT - making your own salami and hanging them in the garage is climate specific. You can only really do it mid to end of June and into July. You also need a good flow of cold air through your garage. Making your own salami is a bit like brewing your own Lambic the old way - it is climate/time specific. So if you were thinking of making your own you should make it this weekend whilst the weather is still cold. If you live in QLD and the temp is up around the 15 I would do some research to see if that is okay - I would think maybe not. Humidity also plays a part in how your salami dry's but as I said I am not an expert so you should look into that your self.

So on to my version of a pepperoni or sopressata which is what I have made today.

The ingredients
ingredients.JPG

1.7k pork neck
1.3 girello (beef)
95g of fine crystal Iblea sea salt - 30g per 1 kilo of meat is the rule of thumb for salami
8g roasted chillie powder
8g smokey paprika
8g of fennel powder
9g freshly crushed black pepper 8 cloves of garlic pound into paste in mortar and pestle
1/2 cup of conseria Peperone dolce - capsican paste...basically boiled down red capsicans
1 cup of red wine

Cut the meat into cubes that are easy to place itno the feeder of your mincer or porketta.

meat.JPG

note the run of fat in the pork neck. You can also use pork shoulder as it also has a good meat to fat ratio.

ready_to_mince.JPG

mincing.JPG

make sure as you place the meat into the mincer that you put some beef followed by some pork and then followed by beef etc so that you get the two meats well and truly combined. When you have finished the first pass flatten the meat out in a large tray and check for fat content.

fat_content.JPG

I am pretty happy with the look of the balance so I wont add any of the pork fat I had on hand. It will go in the freezer for another day. If you think you need to add some pork fat just chop it up real fine and mix it through the meat.

Now it is time to add our spice mix, salt and garlic. I sprinkly half of each spice evenly over the meat and then give it a really good mix. I then flatten the meat out again and repeat the process with the remaining spice ingredients.


spice.JPG
 
More more more :)
 
Great article Merc.

I was watching SBS last night and saw the tail end of Vasilis Garden - saw a big smoker for the snags/salami but missed the making of it. Thanks for the time you put into it.

InCider.
 
Below is a picture of me delicately adding the spice and salt mix and getting my hands in there!

spicing.JPG mix_spice.JPG

Once this has been done put the mixture back through the mincer. I use the same sized cutting blade for all of this as there is no need to go down to a smaller size, you could if want but I dont see the need. Once you have finished pushing through the second mincing round I flatten out the meat and now add the wet ingredients. The capsican paste or sauce is basically boiled down red capsicans - this is used for colour, sweetness and it's preservative affect. In my all pork salami I use two cups to 4 kilo's of meat but for this recipe I only want a hint of it.

wet_ingredients.JPG

Once you add the wine you have a slightly wet meat mixture and now comes the all important secret to making a good salami - or so I am told by those lovely Grocery grannies and my butchers - you must give the meat a really really really good mix! The meat goes from a thin feeling wet mixture to a sticky gluey kind of consistency.

mix_for_10___15_minutes.JPG
 
Sorry I am doing this in bits but for some reason it wont let me post anymore pictures so I have to reply to myself. Hmmm not all that uncommon me replying to me!!

All done. Take a couple of small pinches of the meat, shape them into little patties and fry them in some olive oil to check for seasoning.

samples.JPG

It was perfect but you could always add some seasoning and give it another mix if you feel the need. All that is left is to cover the tray with glad wrap and stick in the fridge for two days for all those flavors to really meld. Beware the smell is strong and enticing unless your my wife or one of my three kids. Thankfully I can put it in my brew fridge in the garage.

cover.JPG
Notice the colour now that it has been really well mixed.

Clean up - we all know what that is like! Have a beer.

I will stuff these on Saturday or Sunday and I will be sure to take pictures of that process and then hang them in my garage next to my pork salami's that I made last week.
 
Nice work there Merc,

My mum just made 190 of them last week I'm waiting for them now to cure and dry so I can dig in big time.

Franko
 
Nice work there Merc,

My mum just made 190 of them last week I'm waiting for them now to cure and dry so I can dig in big time.

Franko

Grazie Franko!

190!?!?!? My butcher friend boned out two 180 kilo pigs for all his family last weekend and they all came round and did the salami and procuitto etc - I would have loved to have been there to be a part of it!

What is your Mums recipe? :D family secret hey maybe you could show her mine and she could give me some feedback on tweaking it.

Ps I hope you helped out your Mum!
 
Nice stuff Merc.

I recently convened with a local family for their annual salami get together. At a secret garage at 6am on a cold Sunday morning we chopped up 2 and a half pigs. Lots o' salami, sausages, procuitto, et al.

Can't beat those gatherings. One of the sons (a police officer) suggested a break for drinks. Break out the scotch and coke at 8.30am :blink: Quickly followed by a second round, then breakfast with red wine at 9.00am :huh: Then lunch at 12.00pm. Needless to say, when my wife picked me up I was a little chatty.

Glad most of the chopping was done by then.
 
Nice stuff Merc.

I recently convened with a local family for their annual salami get together. At a secret garage at 6am on a cold Sunday morning we chopped up 2 and a half pigs. Lots o' salami, sausages, procuitto, et al.

Can't beat those gatherings. One of the sons (a police officer) suggested a break for drinks. Break out the scotch and coke at 8.30am :blink: Quickly followed by a second round, then breakfast with red wine at 9.00am :huh: Then lunch at 12.00pm. Needless to say, when my wife picked me up I was a little chatty.

Glad most of the chopping was done by then.

Ah yes but I want recipes, authentic recipes!! Sounds like a damn fine day!
 
top thread mercs, I'm actually going to a "how to" session of salami making at the end of this month.

So looking forward to it.
 
Hey Merc
This is a great thread, but ya shoulda posted it a few weeks ago so lazy bums like me could get everything ready before it warms up too much :lol: Anyway, keep it all coming, next june and july is only 11 months or so away, plenty of time for me to get organised. In the meantime I will just bust out the food dehydrator and make some hickory smoked beef jerky (using liquid smoke from the states). How many does that mound make? Is it something that will last the year, or do you have to do it weekly through the "salami season"?
Trent
 
Hey Merc
This is a great thread, but ya shoulda posted it a few weeks ago so lazy bums like me could get everything ready before it warms up too much :lol: Anyway, keep it all coming, next june and july is only 11 months or so away, plenty of time for me to get organised. In the meantime I will just bust out the food dehydrator and make some hickory smoked beef jerky (using liquid smoke from the states). How many does that mound make? Is it something that will last the year, or do you have to do it weekly through the "salami season"?
Trent

I checked the weather for the next week and it is good for salami here in Melb - so get going Trent.

I love the sound of the hickory smoked jerky but it is a shame that you are using liquid smoke - why? Cant you smoke it on the bbq for an hour or so? Never made jerky myself must do that soon. Or smoke the meat in the bbq for an hour or so before you put it in the oven for the drying out process. You will get a good smoke flavour that way.

Devo where is the how to session? Love to hear how it goes.
 
Out at an friends farm in Werribee. Apprently the folk who own the wine making supply joint near the vic market put on the demos.

I'll let you know how it goes and report back.
 
Merc,

No wonder you need that cholesterol reduction margarine.

My Doc has warned me off all snags due to high cholesterol. Apparently my ratio is god but the individual levels are too high. All things in moderation of course (including moderation, I sez).

Let us know how they go, coz I love a good "wog sausage", and if Trent makes some, feel free to bring a few to a HAG event.

Best of luck to all. I stare in awe at sausage making.

Trent, I'm happy to dry stuff for ya in my drier ( not been used for a while).

Les out :p
 
thanks for the how to merc! what sort of beer is that i see in most of your pics? :p

-Phill
 
Thanks Merc,

Top pics and description will look for some info re temp, can you use a temp controlled fridge at say 12 or do they need air circulation? Sorry to keep bugging you with questions.

Screwy
 
As far as I know you need air circulation. I have heard of some people who have their salami in the garage with out good air flow and they have fans going all the time. I have read sites where they have speacially made fridges where they can control temp, air flow and importantly humidity. As I said I am not an expert but a novice so I would suggest finding some good sites about making and storing your salami's.

oh pass on any good sites you find!
 
Hey Devo, I know the store you mean - it's run by ther Biaggio family isnt it? Is the workshop open to anyone or invite only?
 
There is a lonk to a good site in the links section.

They pretty much cover everything.

cheers
johnno
 
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