Author Topic: My First Home Made Salami  (Read 7793 times)

Offline Al Lewis

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My First Home Made Salami
« on: October 11, 2015, 01:50:34 AM »
Decided to do my first home made Salami today.  The make went very well but only time will tell if the resulting salami is as good.  Got the recipe from Michael Ruhlmans's book "Salumi".  First off, you should put your pork and fat in the deep freeze, if it wasn't already frozen, at 5° F for 30 days.  This should eliminate any possibilities of trichinosis surviving on, or in, the meat.  The curing salt will take care of the rest.

4 pounds lean pork partially frozen
1 pound pork fat partially frozen
2 ounces Sea Salt
1 teaspoon #2 Pink curing salt dissolved in distilled water
1 tablespoon Bactoferm dissolved in distilled water
2 teaspoons black peppercorns roasted and ground
1/4 cup chilled dry red wine.  I used Ruffino Chianti
Mold 600 dissolved in distilled water in a spray bottle
2 Collagen casings I soaked mine in distilled water
Hog rings and sausage cords

First step is to sterilize everything.  Then dissolve the various powders/salts in distilled water.
« Last Edit: October 13, 2015, 05:39:44 PM by Al Lewis »
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Home Made Salami
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2015, 04:46:45 PM »
The next step is to cut the fat and meat into 1" cubes.  Be certain to keep the meat and fat very cold during this entire process.  If not the fat will begin to soften and turn to mush when you mix it.  If necessary you can place the bowl for the meat into a second bowl filled with ice.  I kept mine partially frozen.  Mix the meat with the salt, pepper, curing salt.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2015, 04:59:19 PM by Al Lewis »
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Home Made Salami
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2015, 05:05:05 PM »
Give the mixture 30 minutes in the freezer to keep it cold.  Next step is grinding.  You can use a hand crank grinder, your kitchenmaid, or an electric grinder.  If you plan on grinding a lot of meat I would highly recommend an electric grinder.  I looked at several and finally decided on the Kitchener #12  1/2 HP.  It met all of my needs and I found that I could get one for $99.00 at Northern Tool while the exact same grinder was $80.00 more everywhere else.  Regardless of what you use you will need a 3/8" die in the grinder.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2015, 05:11:37 PM by Al Lewis »
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Home Made Salami
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2015, 05:15:44 PM »
Once the meat is ground you will want to mix in the wine and Bactoferm.  This can be done by hand or using the paddle attachment on your mixer.  Keep the mixture cold and do not over mix and this will cause heat in the mixture.  The recipe calls for a dry red wine so I selected a good Chianti.  Thought it was somehow very fitting.  Besides, you only use 1/4 cup leaving plenty for the sausage maker.  ;D
« Last Edit: October 11, 2015, 05:20:54 PM by Al Lewis »
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Home Made Salami
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2015, 05:25:15 PM »
Time to prep your casing.  I used collagen casing that I soaked in distilled water prior to use.  I also closed the end with a hog ring to make sure it didn't open up.  You can tie it off with a knot in butchers cord if you don't have hog rings.  If you want to use them you can get some, as well as all of the other supplies, at http://sausagemaker.com and several other retailers.  With the casing prepared slip it over the largest stuffing tube you have.
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Home Made Salami
« Reply #5 on: October 11, 2015, 05:39:21 PM »
Now for the easy part.  You'll want to fill the casing completely.  Air pockets are the enemy here.  Just fill it steadily feeding the casing out as it fills until you have a salami 16" long.  Stop at that point and twist the end and place another hog ring on the end, or a knotted cord.  Either way you will need a looped cord on one of the ends to hang the salami.
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Home Made Salami
« Reply #6 on: October 11, 2015, 05:43:30 PM »
With the salami made you will have to prick it.  You can use a needle for this or a  sausage pricker.  I went for the later as it was fast and thorough.  Be sure and prick any air pockets you see.
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Home Made Salami
« Reply #7 on: October 11, 2015, 05:48:09 PM »
Next step is to hang your salamis somewhere that you can get up to 80° F.  I placed an electric heater in my downstairs bathroom as it was the smallest room in the house.  Worked great.  The salamis have to hang at 80° F for 12 hours.  This will dry them and allow the Bactoferm to incubate.
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Home Made Salami
« Reply #8 on: October 11, 2015, 05:58:16 PM »
Once the 12 hours is over you will need to weigh your salamis and record their weight.  This is very important because you will have to hang them in a drying chamber at 60-70° F with good air flow.  Prior to placing them in the drying chamber mist them with the Mold 600 you mixed.  This will give them the familiar white coating and protect them from outside bacteria.  When your salami have lost 30% of their weight they are ready to eat.  They should be solid, not mushy, and smell good.  If they don't turn out don't get too upset as even professional sausage makers have these things go bad.  I'll finish off the thread when mine are ready. ;D
« Last Edit: October 13, 2015, 11:56:01 PM by Al Lewis »
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Offline OzzieCheese

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Re: Home Made Salami
« Reply #9 on: October 12, 2015, 03:02:51 AM »
Amazing.... and a cheese is needed  well two really .. One to put with the Salami and one for the Salami.  Looks stunning from this end.. :)

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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Home Made Salami
« Reply #10 on: October 12, 2015, 04:30:42 PM »
Thanks Mal!  This is my first attempt but seems to be going well.  It dried well in the 80° period and this morning I can see hints of the Mold 600 growing on the skin so I think I may have actually gotten it right.  Only time will tell.  The hardest part about this so far was posting this thread.  Every time I added a photo the thing jumped back to a white screen.  I had to post the text and then hit modify and add the photos one at a time.  What a pain.  Very time consuming. :o
« Last Edit: October 12, 2015, 05:42:55 PM by Al Lewis »
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Offline OzzieCheese

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Re: My First Home Made Salami
« Reply #11 on: October 13, 2015, 02:33:31 AM »
It's a large size photo - I don't have much luck posting them that size.  I cut mine down to about 150 kb.  The Salami looks amazing... Ummm could be something I could try :)

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Offline awakephd

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Re: My First Home Made Salami
« Reply #12 on: October 13, 2015, 08:24:32 AM »
Yes, Mal has it right -- even though what is shown on screen may only be 800x600 or so, the "legend" at the bottom indicates that your photos are full resolution (4608 x 3456). Not only does it take longer to upload, it can affect the download for people viewing -- and as you have found out, it can cause you to have to upload one at a time. :(

This discussion came up a while back, and some programs were mentioned which make it easy to reduce the size of the photos ... but of course, I can't remember what any of them were. (I use a command-line utility in Linux, but not many people will find that helpful. :)

By the way, I should have said FIRST: this was an amazing and wonderful photo-essay of making the salami -- have a cheese for helping us to understand exactly how it goes together!
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Home Made Salami
« Reply #13 on: October 13, 2015, 05:44:46 PM »
Live and learn.  Guess I'll have to re-size them in the future.  Thanks for the tip and the cheeses guys!!
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Offline Jules

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Re: My First Home Made Salami
« Reply #14 on: October 13, 2015, 08:23:11 PM »
Wow, that salami looks amazing. Any idea how long it will take to cure before it is ready?

I am going to have to give this a try one day.
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