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New-Question reguarding finished salami

PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 3:21 am
by Reed
Hey everyone, recent lurker, first post. Over the last month, I've been dry aging my first attempt at homemade salami, and while I think it turned out ok, I have some questions to clear my mind. I made two versions, finocchiona (white wine, fennel and dill) and some classic red wine/black pepper. As far as I can tell, no case hardening occurred, but the finocchiona has several pockets inside the casing that I'm a bit worried about.

There's no foul, or concerning odor, and I tasted some; couldn't taste anything rancid, or off. I spent years in restaurants, and think I would be able to tell, but this is all new waters for me.

What concerns me more, however, is when sliced, and pressed, a thick, oily liquid comes out. Is this normal? I couldn't find any frame of reference online for it, nor anything to explain it. Pictures included don't show the liquid very well at all, I'm afraid, but might show some case hardening that I can't see?

http://imgur.com/z4M13tf
http://imgur.com/U101nlT
http://imgur.com/9lQPVY2

Hope I provided enough information, and thanks.

Re: New-Question reguarding finished salami

PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2017 8:37 pm
by NCPaul
Welcome to the forum. :D I would like a few more details, did you use cure #2 and a fermentation culture? What was your weight loss?

Re: New-Question reguarding finished salami

PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 7:38 pm
by Reed
I used cure #2, and a guide, I think on this site actually, to determine the amount. No fermentation culture, I wanted to do a more traditional European style, and used quite a bit of wine for an acid replacement. I used https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O_5KVr7Nxs to determine the amount of wine. (scaled his recipe to mine)

I added a mold culture during the drying, as I got worried just letting random mold grow on it. Washed down with vinegar, then applied the culture via spray bottle, but it only sort of took. probably added too late to really take off, or the vinegar made it mostly inhospitable.

Unfortunately, I didn't record the individual weights of the salamis (I know, stupid mistake, I've been kicking myself for a while over that one), so i cant tell you for certain, although they did shrink considerably.

Re: New-Question reguarding finished salami

PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 8:54 pm
by montanaSalami
From the look of those pictures, they look sickly. Discard immediately.

Re: New-Question reguarding finished salami

PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 12:21 pm
by NCPaul
I would guess that the salami did not acidify properly judging by their color. I would try again using a fermentation culture. The oil part may be due to how severely they dried or to the quality of the fat used; I make a point of using the best back fat I can find in salami.