First Salami Question

[drakesdad]

I did a salami using a recipe from Hank Shaw's website...honest food. I think everything is going just fine, but my salami seems to have cured rather quickly. I didn't use any culture, but did use the instacure...not sure if i got the fat content right, so maybe that's why my salami's have dried quickly.

my question is how fast is too fast, and what's the minimum time it should take to cure a salami in standard sized hog casings? mine have been hanging for 8 days now, and have easily lost 35-40% of their weight. they've been in 40 deg temps, and 70-80% humidity. no molds, no bad smells... in fact quite the opposite, smelling just like salami's should.

i cut one open couple days ago to check on the insides, and no issues there either. i've been spraying the outside with distilled water to keep once a day to keep the outside from drying too quickly. thoughts? suggestions?

thanks.

[Dingo]

Welcome Drakesdad, That's a hard question to answer. It's akin to smoking....do you go by time or internal temp of the meat?

Firstly, let me say that you are taking risks by not using the culture. The fermentation is an important step in the protection hurdles. That's not to say that fermentation didn't occur anyway and your salami is fine. or may be not. No one will be able to you advise you on that one.

In terms of drying time, my first salami was also done in hog casings and also lost 35-40% in around 8-10 days. I would say that if you used Cure#2, Lost >35% weight and dont have any case hardening you're probably good to go. I'd eat it, but don't take that as a recommendation I'll pretty much eat anything.

For the future...read lots of the info you'll find on this forum to get a better understanding of the science and you'll feel more comfortable with your results.
Hope that helps/

[Wunderdave]

man I wish it had been this easy for me!

40 degrees 70-80% humidity is a lot, lot drier than 60 degrees, 70-80% humidity. That's probably one big reason they dried so fast. Surprised you didn't see any case hardening. Post some pics!

[crustyo44]

My first introduction to salami making was with Italian friends that neither used cure #2 or a culture.
We made salamis for many years this way without any health issues whatsoever.
In the winter,the salamis were hung in a shed, very lightly smoked for the first week(mainly to keep the frost away) and than just hung until they were checked, squeezed etc etc.
The only additives were salt, hot chillie powder and ground black pepper.
After shifting to the Sub Tropics and joining this Forum I learned a lot about using cures etc etc and use them now when listed in the recipes.
Incidentally, my Italian friends still use their procedure as mentioned above without ANY ill effects.
Personally I think that your Dad's sausages will OK.
Cheers,
Jan.