Salami 101

[gregs]

Well I finally got around to making salami for the first time with some help from Andrew and Scott.

After butchering a pig during the week we got to making the salami yesterday, their now hanging in the temp/humidity controlled fridge so hope all gos well.

 

[gregs]

A pic of the control box

 

[gregs]

The guys hard at it.

 

[AndrewQLD]

And don't forget the 20kg of sausages we did as well Gregs, it was a mammoth effort and a fun day to boot, but why do I have such a bad headache this morning?

 

[benno1973]

Nice work guys!

Out of interest, how do you control the humidity? I was thinking of just sticking a small bowl of water in the fridge (ala someone else's post at the start of this thread), but that's not very scientific. You seem to have a humidifier hooked in to the control box? Or at least you have a hygrometer (is that what it's called?) in there to tell you what the humidity is?

 

[gregs]

Nice work guys!

Out of interest, how do you control the humidity? I was thinking of just sticking a small bowl of water in the fridge (ala someone else's post at the start of this thread), but that's not very scientific. You seem to have a humidifier hooked in to the control box? Or at least you have a hygrometer (is that what it's called?) in there to tell you what the humidity is?

Looking at the fridge full of salami you can see in the bottom a small bucket with a computer fan on the top; this is full of water with a small single disc pond fogger floating in it. A pond fogger is an ultrasonic device that when activated creates a cool mist. The lid has four 12 millimetre holes drilled in it so as the fog gradually filters out through the fan when activated. All this is connected to the humidity controller.

This type of unit works if your fridge when cooling actually lowers the humidity, as most fridges do. The controller I think is called a Hygrostat.

Cheers.gregs.

Another pic

 

[brettprevans]

2 questions

1. do i have enough time left in winter to make salamis?
2. anyone had any experiance making twiggy sticks? is it just using really thin diamater casings and making little salamis with a finer grind?
3. I might just hanf mine in the fridge thats outside and not currently on (like gregs pic above but without humidity control). its cold enough at the moment. although i can use a temp controller if needed.

 

[Quintrex]

3. I might just hanf mine in the fridge thats outside and not currently on (like gregs pic above but without humidity control). its cold enough at the moment. although i can use a temp controller if needed.

Nope, you need air movement they'll go mouldy/off hella quick. Hang it somewhere that stays reasonably constant temp wise but has some air movement. The humidity should be ok this time of year in melbourne afaik.

Cheers
Q

 

[Kleiny]

I reckon you still have heaps of time to make it CM2

The above recipe says 3-4weeks cureing and id say we have at least 6-10weeks of cold weather still.

 

[brettprevans]

Nope, you need air movement they'll go mouldy/off hella quick. Hang it somewhere that stays reasonably constant temp wise but has some air movement. The humidity should be ok this time of year in melbourne afaik.

Cheers
Q

hmm forgot about that. i need to wire up a computer fan. not that i know know to do that. i suppose i could use my outside room (a converted garage) and leave the window open. it should gives some air flow. ill have to break out the heatpads for my beer though.

cheers Q

 

[hairofthedog]

2 questions

1. do i have enough time left in winter to make salamis?
2. anyone had any experiance making twiggy sticks? is it just using really thin diamater casings and making little salamis with a finer grind?
3. I might just hanf mine in the fridge thats outside and not currently on (like gregs pic above but without humidity control). its cold enough at the moment. although i can use a temp controller if needed.

1.Plenty of time left mate if you use 25mm casings they will dry in about 2 weeks if you want to do 50mm casings (salami) they take about 6 weeks so you can probably sneak them in as well
2.the thinest ones seen are made with sheeps intestine maybe 10mm when dry but a lot of work
3.dont worry about a fridge just hang them in a dark dry shed with a small amount of draft

 

[AUHEAMIC]

OK so here is this years effort. I ordered 5 pairs of pork shoulder on the bone which is about 120kg. Once it was boned and skinned it was 78kg of clean meat. One of the benefits of buying it on the bone is the bones themselves which are half spareribs and the slabs of skin (crackle).

 

[AndrewQLD]

Impressive Peels, they look great, what was your recipe if you don't mind my asking?

Andrew

 

[benno1973]

Bloody hell Peels, that'll keep you going for some time!!

How do people keep rats away from nibbling at the salamis while they're drying? Last year I hung mine from a rope, with paper plates at either end to act as rat barriers, but this year I'm looking for something different.

 

[Fents]

you are a machine peels. get a leave pass and bring some to the swap.

 

[AUHEAMIC]

Impressive Peels, they look great, what was your recipe if you don't mind my asking?

Andrew

The recipe (and inspiration) came from thread originator. I based it on Mercs recipe in post 57 minus the fennel seed, plus chilli power, with different proportions (except the salt).

This is the mincer/filler I built for the occasion. Still needs a couple of finishing touches such as levelling feet, a coat of paint and a better foot switch. I made the foot switch in a drunken hurry so its a little bit sh!t.

 

[AUHEAMIC]

Well I finally got around to making salami for the first time with some help from Andrew and Scott.

After butchering a pig during the week we got to making the salami yesterday, their now hanging in the temp/humidity controlled fridge so hope all gos well.

How do you reduce the initial high humidity of all that wet meat?

 

[gregs]

How do you reduce the initial high humidity of all that wet meat?

The initial humidity was hovering around 80 83% although this is considered high the salamis lost 14% of their original weight in the first week and the humidity during that time has been slowly decreasing, so after 7 days the RH is sitting at 70 74%.

Im assuming that soon the RH will be low enough to activate the humidifier and hold it at around 70%.

Pic of a salami after 1 week in the fridge.

 

[Steve]

OK so here is this years effort. I ordered 5 pairs of pork shoulder on the bone which is about 120kg. Once it was boned and skinned it was 78kg of clean meat. One of the benefits of buying it on the bone is the bones themselves which are half spareribs and the slabs of skin (crackle).
View attachment 39077
View attachment 39078

:icon_drool2: nice one peels

 

[AndrewQLD]

The initial humidity was hovering around 80 83% although this is considered high the salamis lost 14% of their original weight in the first week and the humidity during that time has been slowly decreasing, so after 7 days the RH is sitting at 70 74%.

I'm assuming that soon the RH will be low enough to activate the humidifier and hold it at around 70%.

Pic of a salami after 1 week in the fridge.
View attachment 39143

I can't wait to hook into those gregs, that looks great.

Andrew