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Joe Wood

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Everything posted by Joe Wood

  1. HKDave... Thanks again for your input... I really want to produce some cracked black pepper coated salamis... But I'm not about to pay five or six dollars for ONE pre-peppered casing... Are you familiar with using a light wash of mustard and rolling the salami in pepper once the mustard gets tacky?. This is something I'm familiar with from smoking meat such as briskets or ribs... It worked well to hold the dry rub from falling off and didn't effect the taste... I just used simple generic yellow mustard... I also watched a video of someone cooking a combination of plain gelatin, karo syrup, and water into a slurry which was then painted on the salami and of course then being rolled in the cracked pepper... I'd love to hear of any other methods anyone may have to offer.... Joe Wood
  2. Thank you I will do exactly that... I find this rather exciting because I can reduce my original start to finish time from six weeks to four (ish)... l live on Cape Cod but spend winters in Florida... I plan to bring salami with me when I migrate this fall... Joe Wood
  3. Thank you for the info... Yes I used hog casings... I agree with you on all points... Once the desired weight is achieved what do others do at that time? Is it advisable to continue the cure or is it time to vac-pac? Or something else? Thanks in advance... Joe Wood
  4. I guess flavor is what I'm after... Everything I've read says 6 weeks or so for best results... Is this correct? And if so do I continue to leave it in the curing chamber {wine cooler} ? Or do I move it to somewhere else?
  5. A QUESTION FOR THE MORE EXPERIENCED... {THE PROS} I put up a batch of salami about three weeks ago... I was expecting the shrinkage to take about six weeks... I've reached the desired weight loss of 35 % in only three weeks... What do I do now to continue ageing it without it shrinking further? Thanks to anyone who has an answer... Joe Wood
  6. I have the greatest respect for the guys who've been doing this a long time... However I don't have their knowledge on the subject... But here's what I did: I temp. controlled the batch as best I could in a wine cooler... Yet I was surprised that my batch came out identical to the piece I gave to a friend to cure in his fridge which ran at fridge temp {near 40% ?}... We both achieved the same weight reduction at the same time... I like doing this so much that I might buy a second wine cooler so I can have more curing at the same time... Found one on Craigs List for $100.00... I'm not familiar with the dorm fridges...
  7. Thanks for looking at my posts... I certainly will post some pix of the final result... It'll be some time though... I checked them today and the "delicious" white mold has caught on nicely too...
  8. NO MORE AIR POCKETS IN MY HARD SALAMI... After seeing several air pockets forming while stuffing 55 mm collagen middles I came up with the idea of pricking the casings BEFORE filling them as opposed to after... The result was ZERO air pockets and easier filling of the casings... I was making a thirteen lb.batch of hard salami . I heard a lot of talk about using a coarse grind so I did that too {3/8}... I also hand diced the nearly frozen fat to achieve better definition in final product {read that on a blog too}.. All is in the curing chamber after 72 hrs. fermentation time... Again I saw somewhere that a long cure is better {?}
  9. I did soak the casings in chlorine free water and rinsed them in same. As for taste difference I never got o taste his but he liked it a lot. Do you have a preference of percentage for weight loss in salami?
  10. Hi ... Yes I got your post ...thanks a lot... I'm new to this site so I'm still figuring out how to maneuver ... I'm going to make another post today about salami stuffing... Thanks again, Joe
  11. Makes good enough sense to meTeo... I'm tossing it!
  12. Thank you Teo... Good advise .. Do you make this stuff too? Any secrets? Joe
  13. Okanagancook, Your end product looks delicious!... Lots of coriander...I did more research on my white powder mold... It's called Penicillium Nalgeovense... {Not standing behind the spelling but you get the drift}... It's a good mold like you may see on aged salami. You can see this in some photos I posted of some hanging to dry... This is the mold that fights {and wins} against the bad stuff
  14. Hello to any BILTONG makers... I tried my first batch using the conventional blend of coriander, salt and black pepper... {This after the brown vinegar & spice soak}... I hung the strips in an open wine cooler {unplugged} ... Covered the opening with cheese cloth and placed a fan in front of the cooler on 'low' setting... Three days later the biltong pieces are pretty hard BUT.... I see some white mold almost like a dusting of Mold600... Does anyone know if it could have come from the wine cooler as that is where I age my hard salami? Please see five photos... For those not familiar with biltong ... It ALL looks pretty ugly.. 1. Vinegar soak for three hours 2. Strips laid out to be seasoned 3. Seasoned and ready to hang 4. & 5. After three days in the wine cooler Thanks in advance... Joe
  15. HK Dave.. thank you for the quick responses and the information... so nice to have other folks interested in the same thing as we are.... always looking in to save money I found that buying vacuum bags on a site called webstaurantstore. Com is the least expensive way... 50 foot rolls foe about $7.29... Do you know of any other source of penicillium nalgiovense other than Mold 600? Can the mold be transferred from an earlier batch to a new batch?
  16. Thanks guys I appreciate the responses and the information... Gonna try to make some BILTONG pretty soon... I stumbled on this when looking up salami curing tips on YouTube... It looks like fun & you get a quick result... Ready to eat in 4 or 5 days... Stay tuned... P.S. there's a pretty funny video on YouTube of a man with an Australian accent making biltong in what he calls his (tongue in cheek) "BILTONGANATOR 3000" which is basically a plastic storage box you buy at Walmart for about $3.95... Pretty funny but effective...
  17. There are two things I need help with in making dry salami... If anyone can shed light on them I'd be most grateful... 1... When curing dry meat is a DARK area better than a well lighted area? 2. .. If a dried salami is Vac-Sealed will it continue to age beneficially? Thanks again, Joe
  18. I just had the same experience with fat dripping... Red in color and oily... Please see photos. First photo shows bowl of water for humidity... Second photo shows the reddish melted fat drip... These have lost 43% of green weight at 3.5 weeks.... I'm thinking of moving them to a conventional refrigerator... Does anyone have an opinion on this move?....... Thanks, Joe Wood
  19. Me again, Joe Wood... Product looks great and tasty... I hope to reach that level myself... Being brand new at this I'm quite excited... Can you tell me what spices you used? Did you use any Mold600?
  20. Glen I cannot help you with the PH thing... I'm brand new at this too... But I'd like to compliment you on the mold accumulation. Looks like man made casings?
  21. Throwing out $45.00 in meat not to mention the invested time and effort is a real bummer... I'm in the early stages of dry curing salami myself... Still finding my way... I found that my local supermarket butcher will happily grind any meat at no charge... This is a time and mess saver to say the least... I do have a Kitchenaide grinder/stuffer and also a 5lb. barrel stuffer... I use a wine cooler to cure the batches... One of my biggest concerns is the cost of things like starter, Mold 600, casings, etc... Does anyone out there have an alternate supplier that is more reasonable? $28.00 for 1 oz. of this stuff is quite an investment ... Does anyone know of another source of Penicillium nalgiovense that doesn't break the bank? Thanks and all thebest to all of y ou... Joe
  22. Hello to all... At this stage of my dry salami making I'm afraid I have more questions than I'm entitled to. However any help I receive will be most appreciated. 1. I followed directions on the 5 lb. batch as well as I was able... Three weeks into this I have achieved about 43% reduction in weight on all links. I use a wine fridge to cure.. My neighbor took one link home at the same time and just "hung it in his refrigerator" with no special settings for humidity or temperature... This one came out IDENTICAL to all the rest in appearance and weight reduction of 43%. How can this be? 2. I put the left over Mold 600 in a bowl in with the drying salami links. Is this good or not good ? 3. Now that desired weight has been achieved is further aging beneficial? Thanks so much for offering a site like this... All the best to all of you... Joe Wood
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