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Cured Meats & Food Preservation => Cured meats & Food Preservation => Charcuterie: Ham, Bacon, Sausage, etc. => Topic started by: africanmeat on May 20, 2012, 06:58:35 AM

Title: 2 dry cure salami
Post by: africanmeat on May 20, 2012, 06:58:35 AM
 
On my last trip to the USA  i got cure#2 
 
so i can do cure salami ,got few pointers from nepas (thanks ) .
 
i made 2 type of salami
 
beef salami  picanto and salami  bastardo.
 
in the picanto i did not have marsala wine and fennel so i replace it with ouzo  and for more rad color i add tomato paste.

this is the picanto
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Aiaqxc4Yc2E/T50_sXjliZI/AAAAAAAABHc/m1s2gTtQQ6I/s800/DSC07247.JPG)

this is the bastardo

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-N-TubCidd6I/T50_zW1TiWI/AAAAAAAABH0/MQxzC5ygUFg/s800/DSC07250.JPG)

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-GuS7QuzRpe4/T50_5hO6T_I/AAAAAAAABIM/Lw-qrn6oD94/s800/DSC07253.JPG)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-xEJCfdZ7n_8/T57AzXiZb5I/AAAAAAAABIo/m4DwOcwHzxc/s800/DSC07258.JPG)

now for 3 to 4 weeks of  magic

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-YGf72dQg5lE/T57A11taDqI/AAAAAAAABIw/TiFum5gwXsE/s800/DSC07259.JPG)

This is the third week  the salami lost 35%  to 39 %  of its weight .
 
removed it. it is firm and looks good.
 
the bastardo got a light Cinnamon flavor and it malts on your tongue.
 
the picanto got a mild heat to it and also malts on you tongue.
 
the only problem is there are air pockets and it did not get the white mold around it

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-9D-EPxyZfv4/T7jAu9ZMxTI/AAAAAAAABXM/oFfArweLTmQ/s800/DSC07363.JPG)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cV-gJz_cQw4/T7jAxGW2xiI/AAAAAAAABXU/oCXhLYmv38c/s800/DSC07364.JPG)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9fGX5k35MGo/T7jA1iWWYlI/AAAAAAAABXk/K-itCRViBC8/s800/DSC07366.JPG)

The one on the left is the bastardo and on the right is the picanto

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5MWUoZFMl9c/T7jA3hmrLUI/AAAAAAAABXs/06vbBT3cyi8/s800/DSC07367.JPG)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-KtoR4IL2FFQ/T7jA5lrTSlI/AAAAAAAABX0/01C5PWjfEao/s800/DSC07368.JPG)

thanks for looking
Title: Re: 2 dry cure salami
Post by: teesquare on May 20, 2012, 08:55:34 AM
looks like you did a great job to me! DOes teh whit mold influence the flavor of the finished product?
Title: Re: 2 dry cure salami
Post by: africanmeat on May 20, 2012, 10:08:50 AM
Quote from: teesquare on May 20, 2012, 08:55:34 AM
looks like you did a great job to me! DOes teh whit mold influence the flavor of the finished product?

no it just looks rustic
Title: Re: 2 dry cure salami
Post by: muebe on May 20, 2012, 10:18:25 AM
Ahron the finished product looks good to me ;)

But the mold is desired as it imparts flavor, helps the drying process and prevents spoilage during the curing process. But it does not appear to have affected your batch too much :)
Title: Re: 2 dry cure salami
Post by: africanmeat on May 20, 2012, 03:19:23 PM
Quote from: muebe on May 20, 2012, 10:18:25 AM
Ahron the finished product looks good to me ;)

But the mold is desired as it imparts flavor, helps the drying process and prevents spoilage during the curing process. But it does not appear to have affected your batch too much :)

no not at all it got a great taste . just don't know what went wrong with the mold.
Title: Re: 2 dry cure salami
Post by: smokendevo on May 29, 2012, 11:32:12 AM
Hello and great looking salami. If I may comment on the salami you can see in your pictures the darker color at the edges. This could be do to case hardening. I noticed you used your wine cellar for the curing chamber. Nice. How was the temp and R/H during the drying stage. You also mentioned no mold. What kind of cultures did you use? Some help to develop the desired mold. For the case hardening I have read once your sausage have reached the desired dryness. If they are case hardened, vac seal them and then freeze them for a week. Then bring the vac packed sausage out of the freezer and let thaw in the fridge for a few days. This slow thaw re-distributes the moisture and clears up most case hardening or Len Poli's suggestion was to wrap the case-hardened salami in damp towels.

Love the texture of the salami
Title: Re: 2 dry cure salami
Post by: africanmeat on May 29, 2012, 01:08:32 PM
Quote from: smokendevo on May 29, 2012, 11:32:12 AM
Hello and great looking salami. If I may comment on the salami you can see in your pictures the darker color at the edges. This could be do to case hardening. I noticed you used your wine cellar for the curing chamber. Nice. How was the temp and R/H during the drying stage. You also mentioned no mold. What kind of cultures did you use? Some help to develop the desired mold. For the case hardening I have read once your sausage have reached the desired dryness. If they are case hardened, vac seal them and then freeze them for a week. Then bring the vac packed sausage out of the freezer and let thaw in the fridge for a few days. This slow thaw re-distributes the moisture and clears up most case hardening or Len Poli's suggestion was to wrap the case-hardened salami in damp towels.

Love the texture of the salami

Thanks for your comments  and the info
the tamp was 16 to 19 c and 65 to 70% humidity
yes it is a mild casing hardening due to 40% lost of weight .i love a concentrated strong  taste .
i will try next time to freeze it as you suggest.