www.sausagemaking.org

Hello everyone,

I am new to the forum. Thanks to all that have welcomed me, it's good to be here. I want to start this post by say, I have become obsessed. I started making sausage in the beginning of June and love it.
The long and the short. I cure in my basement I have enclosed an area with 6 mil black plastic and suspended a metro shelf from the joists. It works well.
I am almost completely reliant on the natural temperature and use a small ultrasonic humidifier to control RH. I know there are easier ways, but I am on a tight budget. I monitor the room 2-4 times a day. Things have worked out well so far.
Because my curing time is limited by the seasons I do large batches of salami and other cured meats. Also, because this is seasonal I don't stuff into large casings because they need to cure in a set amount of time (everything is in narrow beef middles) except for a few in fibrous casings.
The 2 new salamis come from recipes out of The Art of Sausage Making--Salami-Hungarian p.210 and Goteborg p.173.

L to R: Saucisson Sec (narrow), Hungarian Salami, Goteborg, Coppa

<a href="http://s1122.photobucket.com/albums/l536/Papanaq/Charcuterie-%20Almost%20from%20the%20beginning/?action=view&amp;current=IMG_1526.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l536/Papanaq/Charcuterie-%20Almost%20from%20the%20beginning/IMG_1526.jpg" border="0" alt="New to the fold, Hungarian Salami and Goteborg, Both smoked,"></a>

Goteborg Experiment: No smoke, Bactoferm 600 bath, looking good!

<a href="http://s1122.photobucket.com/albums/l536/Papanaq/Charcuterie-%20Almost%20from%20the%20beginning/?action=view&amp;current=IMG_1528.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l536/Papanaq/Charcuterie-%20Almost%20from%20the%20beginning/IMG_1528.jpg" border="0" alt="Goteborg, no smoke, 600 bath"></a>

Lil' Gotes

<a href="http://s1122.photobucket.com/albums/l536/Papanaq/Charcuterie-%20Almost%20from%20the%20beginning/?action=view&amp;current=IMG_1530.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l536/Papanaq/Charcuterie-%20Almost%20from%20the%20beginning/IMG_1530.jpg" border="0" alt="Lovely lovelies"></a>

I will be doing as many more salamis as possible in the next 3-4 weeks and will stop because of warmer weather. Tomorrow I will case a fiocco and I will case the culatello in 14 more days. Pictures to accompany. I will also harvest a lamb coppa that has been hanging almost 1 month tomorrow with pics.

Looks amazing!

Y@T,
They look great, professional even ! By the way, there IS a summer in Goteburg ?
I have a niece living there, she complains that such products are not easily bought there, at least not artisan made. You should introduce the people to the real stuff !

I'm really curious what "Goteborg" is. I assume it has something to do with Sweden's second largest city, Göteborg/Gothenburg?

A couple of the salamis are ready. The flavor on both of these is very good. The salt is just right and there is just a hint of smoke on the Hungarian.
Other than Spanish Chorizo, these are my first dry cured salamis that have finished curing.
The biggest thing I have learned and observed is how important it is to remove connective tissues when making salami. This may not be important to some, but for me, it is what separates a great salami from something that I would consider less than spectacular!
The lighting sucked, but I think you get the picture:
Goteborg, left Hungarian, right

<a href="http://s1122.photobucket.com/albums/l536/Papanaq/Charcuterie-%20Almost%20from%20the%20beginning/?action=view&amp;current=IMG_1872.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l536/Papanaq/Charcuterie-%20Almost%20from%20the%20beginning/IMG_1872.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s1122.photobucket.com/albums/l536/Papanaq/Charcuterie-%20Almost%20from%20the%20beginning/?action=view&amp;current=IMG_1873.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l536/Papanaq/Charcuterie-%20Almost%20from%20the%20beginning/IMG_1873.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

They look amazing!

Looks great! Congratulations. Are you hooked now?

Those are beautiful!