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by **Jonty** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 9:17 am

I'm relatively new to the forum, but I am very grateful to all the advice and knowledge being passed on. I made a couple of salami's before christmas using the recipe in HFW's river cottage book. It wasn't until I found the this forum that I became aware of the risks of not using a cure -many thanks especially to Franco, Oddley and Parsons for all the info posted on the site. So after buying some cure 2 and a bit of research, I now have a couple of rather fine looking strings of Salami & Chorizo hanging in my cellar. Which, hopefully, in a couple of months or so, I will be able to eat safe in the knowledge that I won't be poisoning myself of my family.

Thanks chaps

by **aris** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 9:32 am

Hi,

Can you tell us what recipe and method you used for your Salami and Chorizo?

by **Oddley** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 10:12 am

Well done let us know how they tasted.

by **Jonty** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:50 am

Aris,

the salami is a calabrese, the chorizo's predominant spice was cayenne, which surprised me as I was under the impression that it was usually paprika. Anyhow:

Salami

7lb lean pork
3lb pork fat
10tspn salt
9tspn crushed chilli
3tspn ground white pepper
2stpn cure 2
1/2 cup brandy
1/2 cup vermouth
2tspn anise extract

Chorizo

8lb lean pork
2lb pork fat
10 tspn salt
9 tspn cayenne
6 tspn black pepper
6tspn sugar
3 tspn crushed chilli
1tspn cumin seed
1tspn oregano
1tspn fennel seed
2tspn cure 2
3/4 cup brandy
1/4 cup red wine
6 tspn minced garlic

The process for both was exactlythe same:

Grind the pork and fat - I diced a small amount of the fat for extra texture
Add all the other ingredients to the meat
Mix thoroughly
Leave to cure overnight
Stuff into hog casings
Hang for approx 8 weeks

I know that the recipe didn't require a starter culture. I would appreciate any comments advice on usining these - at the moment I don't really have the ability to 'incubate' the salamis at a fixed temperature so I intentionally looked for a recipe which didn't require it.

I will be pleased to let youall know how they turned out.

PS on the isue of safe sausage making - porkert grinders and fingers do not make a very good combination - I managed to spend christmas with one heavily bandaged finger!!

by **Parson Snows** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 7:00 am

Jonty advised that

on the isue of safe sausage making - porkert grinders and fingers do not make a very good combination - I managed to spend christmas with one heavily bandaged finger!!

This is true for any equipment, especially motorised equipment. Typically when using a mincer/grinder a pusher/stuffer, normally made of pvc/plastic construction should be used exactly for that purpose. Avoid making "finger sausages". On the same theme it is better to work with sharp knives than dull/blunt ones. Statistics show that more accidents happen with blunt equipment.

kind regards

Parson Snows

by **aris** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:37 am

Jonty wrote:I know that the recipe didn't require a starter culture. I would appreciate any comments advice on usining these - at the moment I don't really have the ability to 'incubate' the salamis at a fixed temperature so I intentionally looked for a recipe which didn't require it.

Jonty,

Where did you hang it?

by **Jonty** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:33 am

Aris,

They are hanging in my cellar. It's dry with good air circulation. The previous batch I made dried perfectly well in there.

Cheers

by **aris** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:08 am

Interesting. How did the salami come out the last time? Was it dry, or was it moist, or a bit of both?

From what i've been reading, you need a humid but cold environment to mature salamis in. I'm curious to know how yours come out.

I make a type of dried sausage called Droewors - basically translated to 'dried sausage' I hang it in a home-made dehydrating box - and it takes about 5 days to dry (stuffed into sheeps casings). Droewors is dried until it is bone dry.

by **Jonty** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:33 am

The first salami's came out great, quite firm but still moist inside. I must admit that as per common opinion with HFW's recipes, they were a bit on the salty side. The new batch I've made has a lot less salt in, I reckon this could be because by using cure 2, this reduces the salt volume required to preserve the meat.

My cellar is very dry and airy, the only humidity there is comes from my tumble dryer which is down there.

I have seen your links to the drying box and I'm V impressed, I'm sure that I'll get round to producing something similar eventually. Time and space restrictions prevent this at the moment.

by **aris** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:41 am

Do you have a hygrometer by any chance? It would be interesting to see what the humidity & temperature level is in your cellar. Also - if possible, post us a picture of your salamis.

by **Jonty** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:08 pm

Aris,

Will post a picture when I can. RE the hydometer, I don't have one as yet, but from reading some of the threads, I'm alo interested to see what the conditions are. I'll let you know if I get one. As with every new venture, I have to start out with the basics and add to the equipment as and when. I must admit though, I do like the thought of curing a ham. This is what I'm eventually building up to once I become more familiar with curing techniqhes etc. The droewors also look good and will certainly be on my agenda.

Cheers

by **aris** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:19 pm

If you're looking for an inexpensive hygrometer which does temperature too:

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=010910180

For something a bit more fancy and wireless try one of the Oreon Scientific units:

http://www.oregonscientific.co.uk/subca ... sp?c=2&s=9

These can monitor multiple zones with no wires.

by **Jonty** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 1:36 pm

Thanks for the link. I didn't realise they were so cheap, there's a machine mart just round the corner from my office so I nipped out and bought one. Will post the info from my new toy shortly.

by **Jonty** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 8:50 am

Aris,

Since I bought the hygrometer, I've been taking min and max readings every 12 hours or so of the temperature & humidity in the cellar.

The average figures are temp: 12 degree celcius humidity:69%

According to the Len Poli site, he reccomends that the temperature should be between 12-18 degrees and humidity between 70%-80%.

So I'm pretty happy with the results, though I'm sure in the summer I'll have to find an alternative way of hanging them.

I'll hopefully get round to the photos this weekend, are they easy to post into the forum??

Cheers

by **aris** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 9:44 am

Hi,

Yes, it sounds like your cellar has perfect conditions! You lucky person :-)

To post images, go to: http://www.imageshack.us/ and follow the instructions.

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First attempt at safe curing.

First attempt at safe curing.

Stuffers

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