Joe Wood
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Posts posted by Joe Wood
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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
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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
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On 8/2/2020 at 5:21 PM, Joe Wood said:
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
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?
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On 8/2/2020 at 5:21 PM, Joe Wood said:
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
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
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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...
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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...
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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 {?}
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On 8/9/2020 at 3:27 AM, HKDave said:
1 - assuming your curing chamber wasn't too cold, you fermented your salami; your neighbour dehydrated his (because not much fermentation happening at 4 degrees Celsius). There should be a difference in taste.
2 - doesn't make much difference. Did you soak your casings in non-chlorinated water, and mix your M-600 with lukewarm non-chlorinated water? That makes a difference.
3 - I'd say there was no point taking them further. That's at the upper end of weight loss for most formulations.
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?
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On 8/9/2020 at 2:46 AM, HKDave said:
Joe, did you see my post (from 2011!) above? If you're getting liquid fat, it probably means things got too warm at some point.
Re moving it to the fridge, what weight loss were you aiming for? For most dry salami, I'd probably bag and fridge at around 33% weight loss. Over 40% will usually give you pretty hard salami.
Re dark vs light, most people (and I) cure in the dark. Not sure about the science.
Re vac-bagging, obviously moisture loss stops as soon as you bag it. I don't think you need to worry about further aging in this case. One thing I've noticed with vac-bagging is that if you've got a "case hardened" salami, where the outside is hard from moisture loss but the inside is still a bit soft, vac-bagged for a time lets things even out.
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
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Makes good enough sense to meTeo... I'm tossing it!
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Thank you Teo... Good advise
.. Do you make this stuff too? Any secrets?
Joe
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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
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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
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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?
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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...
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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
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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
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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?
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On 12/19/2018 at 8:15 AM, Glen said:
On page 125 of "The Art of Making Fermented Sausages" it reads...."Remember, however, that slow-fermented sausages are made with a little sugar so the pH usually remains at pH 5.8 or higher. Ensuing removal of moisture guarantees security."
I would be so appreciative of any feedback on this. I am new to this site and not sure how to engage folks with experience on this topic. Much thanks.
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?
On 2/14/2019 at 12:55 PM, Glen said:Just a little update for anyone that might be interested. Seems like an additional 2 months at the recommended storage temp of 55 deg. And 75% humidity has my weight down to 66%. Still a bit fatty (mix and grind issues) but the texture has really firmed up and it is a really enjoyable product. Thanks again for this forum and assistance. I’ll keep at it.
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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
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On 2/13/2010 at 7:04 PM, Chris Hennes said:
Of late I've become much more interested in dry-curing my own salami. I make a lot of fresh sausage already, but dry curing is a great and unique challenge, and well-made salami is one of my favorite foods. I think I got hooked for good after making the peperone out of the Ruhlman and Polcyn book (I wrote about that over here). I had made the Sopresatta first, and it was good, but that peperone was AMAZING.
I have quite a few books on charcuterie, including the Marianski book dedicated to dry-curing. I do my curing in a wine fridge, I've got a smoker set up, I use the Northern Tool grinder, and a cylinder stuffer with a 5lb capacity. Hell, I've even got an old slicer I got off eBay. I should be totally good to go. But sometimes, you just have one of those days...
This morning I threw away twelve pounds of salami that I started curing last weekend. The problem? I killed the starter. Somehow. Dunno what I did, but when my new pH test strips arrived (thanks for the recommendation, Dougal, they worked great), to my surprise the pH had not dropped one bit. But, it turns out the three-year-old bottle of distilled water I was using to make the meat slurry had a pH of 5.5!!!
So, this topic is for advice, assistance, and general commiseration about how everything woulda been just fine if only...
Advice point 1: when that package of starter culture says "use no less than 1/4 of this package," they have a reason. Because instead, I foolishly followed the Marianski recipe to the letter and included only 0.6 grams of starter. The results speak for themselves. Hey, maybe that's not what did it, maybe there was something else wrong. But $45 in trashed meat later and I'm seriously regretting my decision to skimp on the starter.
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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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My FIRST BATCH of hard salami
in Cooking
Posted
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