www.sausagemaking.org

Whilst looking at something else I came across a superb tutorial/article on air dried sausage at:

http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/fermented-sausages.htm

The article covers all aspects including bacteria, water activity, use of spices to combat bacteria, PH etc; explaining them in easy to understand language.

I hope others will find it as interesting as I did.

Phil

thanks Phil, I'll have a read...

Dave

Superb, thanks again Phil.

Dave,
Since I am still learning and have not tried air cured sausage and the article is sooooo much data, can you give me your method for the pepperami you make.
I have lots of newbie questions but will hold off bombarding you with them until you tell me how you make them.
Thanks in advance

John

OK, we are loking at a "chorizo" flavored pepperami, not the real thing, but the process is pretty similar.

Take a kilo of really cold standard supermarket pork mince (15% fat)
add 50 g Franco's chorizo sausage mix, 2.0g cure #2 and 20g hot smoked paprika and mix by hand until sticky. Stuff into collagen casings (28 mm standard from Franco) and leave on the dining room table to dry. Roll over a couple of times a day. (hanging would be just as good and involve less effort). This way they will dry out in a week or so and be ready to eat. Just make sure that they have lost at least 15% of their weight. Also, as pointed out in that article it is important that they don't case harden on the outside and stop drying in the middle, they need to dry uniformly. Here are mine ready to eat:


While I would like to try some wider casings to get a thicker final product, for the above reason, I am concerned that drying a thicker product at room temperature may not be sensible, so it's not something I'm going to try.

For more authentic chorizo I would use 500g mince and 500g hand chopped belly pork (finely or coarsely depending how rustic you want it.)

I would also consider adding chilli flakes, garlic granules and a splash of balsamic vinegar to fine tweak the recipe.

Hope this helps, ask away if anything needs clarifying,

Edit: smaller picture, thanks Wheels

1. My attic is not converted so it is cold / warm like a normal unused attic. Would it be ok to hang them here, my wife, although she will devour them, will not be too happy having them lying around in plain view.

2. do you ever use 21mm casings
3.Is this the sausage mix:
Chorizo
Smoked paprika gives this famous Spanish sausage its unique flavour. This sausage can be used in many Spanish or Mexican recipes. Recommended for pork sausage.
This recipe is for a fresh (uncured) chorizo, for a cured (dried) chorizo seasoning please go to our salami ingredients section. From the web shop.

4. What length do you link them at
5. Do you link them before or after the curing process
6. Do you smear the casing with veg oil before linking
7. Do you simply twist or use twine
8. Can I eat the casing or must I take it off before eating.
9. these can be eaten without cooking in any way?

can't think of anything else right now, but will ask if I have any other concerns.

Thanks Dave.

The last batch of Chorizo I made I hung up outside in a shaded well ventalated place with no ill effects.

Cheers WW

oops, sorry about the photo, I'm not sure why it came out so big

johnfb wrote:1. My attic is not converted so it is cold / warm like a normal unused attic. Would it be ok to hang them here, my wife, although she will devour them, will not be too happy having them lying around in plain view.

I would try and ensure it stays between 20 and 26 deg C

2. do you ever use 21mm casings No, but only because I don't have any, they would make a slimmer final product
3.Is this the sausage mix:
Chorizo
Smoked paprika gives this famous Spanish sausage its unique flavour. This sausage can be used in many Spanish or Mexican recipes. Recommended for pork sausage.
This recipe is for a fresh (uncured) chorizo, for a cured (dried) chorizo seasoning please go to our salami ingredients section. From the web shop. yes that's the one, it's interesting that they now do a dedicated curing version

4. What length do you link them at
5. Do you link them before or after the curing process
6. Do you smear the casing with veg oil before linking
7. Do you simply twist or use twine
I tie them with twine before curing, at foot lengths I don't oil them but I do soak the casings in water on the horn for 10 minutes before stuffing, alternatively I cure as a single length and cut into portion sizes once they have started to firm up (a couple of days)
8. Can I eat the casing or must I take it off before eating.
you can eat the casing, sometimes it is loose and readily peels off, so you may prefer to do so as it can be a bit papery, sometimes it sticks and becomes part of the sausage, I'm not sure why.
9. these can be eaten without cooking in any way?
Yes, in this weather they dry quite quickly. They are completely safe to eat when they have lost 15% of their weight but continue to mature and improve in flavour as they lose more, but drying in the open they will turn into shoe leather eventually.

can't think of anything else right now, but will ask if I have any other concerns.

Thanks Dave.

WW, where /how do you store them once they are ready? Did you take any steps to stop them drying further? It doesn't seem to be an issue in our house as they disappear all too quickly, but it would be useful to know.

Dave

Also WW,
How do you get over the vermin, fly and fly poop issue?

saucisson wrote:oops, sorry about the photo, I'm not sure why it came out so big

johnfb wrote:1. My attic is not converted so it is cold / warm like a normal unused attic. Would it be ok to hang them here, my wife, although she will devour them, will not be too happy having them lying around in plain view.

I would try and ensure it stays between 20 and 26 deg C

2. do you ever use 21mm casings No, but only because I don't have any, they would make a slimmer final product
3.Is this the sausage mix:
Chorizo
Smoked paprika gives this famous Spanish sausage its unique flavour. This sausage can be used in many Spanish or Mexican recipes. Recommended for pork sausage.
This recipe is for a fresh (uncured) chorizo, for a cured (dried) chorizo seasoning please go to our salami ingredients section. From the web shop. yes that's the one, it's interesting that they now do a dedicated curing version

4. What length do you link them at
5. Do you link them before or after the curing process
6. Do you smear the casing with veg oil before linking
7. Do you simply twist or use twine
I tie them with twine before curing, at foot lengths I don't oil them but I do soak the casings in water on the horn for 10 minutes before stuffing, alternatively I cure as a single length and cut into portion sizes once they have started to firm up (a couple of days)
8. Can I eat the casing or must I take it off before eating.
you can eat the casing, sometimes it is loose and readily peels off, so you may prefer to do so as it can be a bit papery, sometimes it sticks and becomes part of the sausage, I'm not sure why.
9. these can be eaten without cooking in any way?
Yes, in this weather they dry quite quickly. They are completely safe to eat when they have lost 15% of their weight but continue to mature and improve in flavour as they lose more, but drying in the open they will turn into shoe leather eventually.

can't think of anything else right now, but will ask if I have any other concerns.

Thanks Dave.

WW, where /how do you store them once they are ready? Did you take any steps to stop them drying further? It doesn't seem to be an issue in our house as they disappear all too quickly, but it would be useful to know.

Dave

This way they will dry out in a week or so and be ready to eat

Final question (I think) so after a week, seven days, I can eat them???

What should I be looking for to determine if it is ready to go.

The first thing to look for is the 15% weight loss, then a uniform cross section if you cut one open. If the centre is noticably paler, they aren't ready yet. If you have any doubts as to whether they are ready, ask here first.

Dave

Dave, will I see a mould on them and if so do I simply wipe it off with water??
Or should I remove the casing altogether???


What do you think of hanging them outside and the fly issue...God I HATE flies. Can they be hung out and covered in something??

If you get a white "cambert-like" mould, just leave them. If you don't want it or get anything you don't like the look of, wipe it off with vinegar. There are fairly lengthy discussions of mould in some of the salami threads. Again, if you are suspicious just peel off the casing, a good mould will not get through into the sausage and can help stop case hardening.

I've never dried outside, if I did I would probably use a camping type hanging larder with a fly screen. I don't know to what extent the casing itself and the heavy spicing keeps flies away, but I'd hate fo find out the hard way that they weren't a detterant.

Yeah, that unexpected little crunch as you eat it might suggest the flies did their best to get into them.........

saucisson wrote:
While I would like to try some wider casings to get a thicker final product, for the above reason, I am concerned that drying a thicker product at room temperature may not be sensible, so it's not something I'm going to try.

Dave, You could try cold smoking a thicker product, the picture is of my first chorizos in March the left side is unsmoked, smoked on the right. I got white mould on the unsmoked none on the smoked, maybe that's the extra protection you need.
What article are you referring to?


LD