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I finally found some larger casings and will be making air-dried coarsely ground salami. After filling, should I prick the casings to eliminate air pockets?

Hi Andre,

I have always pricked mine to remove any little air pockets.

Richard

I've been making salami for years and have never bothered to prick the casings. I found that masaging the casings throughly (I hand-stuff) as I stuff tends to prevent air bubbles. I've had one air bubble in 100+ salami made over the years doing it this way.

Ok, thanks, guys! I just stuffed them. The problem never arose since I didn't find any air pockets!

I always prick, Andre. Get rid of air pockets and excess moisture.

Ok, I'll take a closer look. Thanks!

BTW, here is a picture of them, just stuffed and hung for fermentation:



The recipe is this one http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-re ... lami-genoa , but with a lower ratio of beef (what I had at home). I used the recommended 30 cc red wine/kg but no extra spices. I also used fresh garlic , although I myself advised against that some time ago. I'm taking the risk. I also cubed the back fat with a knife instead of grinding it which made a great improvement for the consistency when stuffing.

The total weight is 2½ kgs. The casings are beef with an average diameter of 50 mm/2''. They are sprayed with a mould solution from Lidl's Salami Pur Porc.

I'll be back with reports.

They look great Andre. I always prick my salami too, I feel it's better to be safe than sorry.
Keep us posted on your progress

Ryan

I found a few bubbles that I pricked with a sterilized needle. Here is how it looks right now, after the 72 hour fermentation. Nice mold. Now I will lower temperature and humidity (20 C and 97% RH up to now) and introduce some air flow.

Wow, that mould really is still active. Looking at that, I think that I bought the wrong one from Lidl.

Phil

I bought that Lidl 'Salami pur porc', peeled it and cut the skin in patches about 5x5 cm. I keep them in a jar, refrigerated. That way I won't need to buy a new salami every time I want the culture. I think that what made it this time was the fact that I let the skin lie immersed for a whole 12 hours in one cup water + 1 tsp dextrose. It may be that it needs some time to 'wake up'.

Thanks Grisell.

Phil

You want the one on the right Phil:



the 270g one not the 650g one.

Correct.

Thanks Dave, I think that's the one I got - certainly it wasn't as large as 650g. I probably didn't leave it to incubate for long enough. I'll try Grisell's method, that obviously works well.

Phil