Salami Questions

[ComradeQ]

Wow, been so busy I haven't really had any time for this hobby. Have a few days off and I pulled 15lbs of pork butt from the freezer, also picked up a beautiful chuck roast from the butcher. I am planning on making a batch of chorizo and some Genoa salami from Marianski's Art of Fermented Sausages. Now I have two questions: how much meat usually fits into a 60mm casing? I know it varies but any general suggestions on weight? The reason I ask is I want to try one version plain and one with the herb and spice suggestion he gives and I want a general idea of how much I should do for each so I don't end up with uneven sized salamis.

Second question, the recipe just suggests mixing the T-SPX culture right into the meat. Other recipes suggest dissolving it in some water first. Does it matter either way?

[DanMcG]

A 24 inch, 60mm casing will hold approx 2.5 lbs (according to The SausageMakers site)

[wheels]

Second question, the recipe just suggests mixing the T-SPX culture right into the meat. Other recipes suggest dissolving it in some water first. Does it matter either way?

I'd dissolve it in some chlorine free water first as per:

http://www.sausagemaker.com/productdocs ... _T-SPX.pdf

HTH

Phil

[ComradeQ]

Thanks guys! Yeah I figured dissolving in water was the way to go, it just never said to and I wondered if Marianski knew something I didn't or if dissolving is just implied but not printed.

[ComradeQ]

Got everything made, looks great! Four salamis and six chorizo links (five were done smaller). On the fermenting stage now, looks good! 20°C at 90-95% RH for 72 hours and it will be ready to cure. Thanks again for the help!

[NCPaul]

Good work!

[Wunderdave]

Good work!

And good luck! Hope they come out great for you.

[ComradeQ]

Thought I would take a minute out of this beautiful sunny day to post an update. Pulled most of my chorizo over the last week or so except these last remaining two. I found I prefer to take them to 40% weight loss for a firmer texture. Also, today was the first time I had a chance to try the genoa salami (this one had wine and herbs, made two others without). All I can say is WOW!!! This, my friends, is why we do this hobby! Dried rather fast (5 weeks at between 70-80 RH) and turned out better than I could have expected. A little firmer on the outside but no noticeable case hardening and a beautiful creamy fat content to add a nice textural contrast. Big thanks to all the great forum members for the invaluable knowledge and help!

Enough yapping, onto the money shots ...

[Wunderdave]

nice work there Comrade

[wheels]

They look

[protopigeon]

Good effort! they look amazing

[ComradeQ]

Thanks for the kind comments! The one in the picture had wine in the recipe which seemed to give it a darker ring around it. I had no signs of case hardening and the non-wine cured ones were a uniform colour throughout. I'm assuming then that it was the wine that caused the darker ring on the outside of the salami.

I thought it would last a while but I have already given away or eaten over half of the salami. It seemed to be a big hit as I have already had several requests for more. Seems the ones with wine and herbs have been the preferred one to the "purist" version that only had pepper and garlic.

My pregnant sister-in-law is hesitant to try, thinks it might be risky. Totally safe as can be and high quality meat, I think it should be fine if she is pregnant. Opinions on pregos and home cured meats anyone?

[wheels]

My advice?

Don't try to tell a pregnant woman anything!

Phil

[BriCan]

Thanks for the kind comments! The one in the picture had wine in the recipe which seemed to give it a darker ring around it. I had no signs of case hardening and the non-wine cured ones were a uniform colour throughout. I'm assuming then that it was the wine that caused the darker ring on the outside of the salami.

The only time that I have seen the dark rings on the salami (that had wine/rum in them) that I made at the smokehouse was always due to the start of case hardening

My pregnant sister-in-law is hesitant to try, thinks it might be risky. Totally safe as can be and high quality meat, I think it should be fine if she is pregnant. Opinions on pregos and home cured meats anyone?

So long as you keep it clean I see no problems and say nowt, there are more problems eating store bought stuff

[Wunderdave]

My pregnant sister-in-law is hesitant to try, thinks it might be risky. Totally safe as can be and high quality meat, I think it should be fine if she is pregnant. Opinions on pregos and home cured meats anyone?

The risk is that of listeriosis which is really nasty stuff. The bacteria can infect a fetus without showing any signs of infection in the mom, until it's too late.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Listeria

Really not worth risking it imo.