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so you want a big old salami?
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The primary concern for the home meat curer is having a space to cure. There’s a list of credentials for the space but ultimately, after up to and beyond 3 months hanging, it comes down to the undefinable character of the space, so try a few spots.
The apparent parameters are:
Decent humidity; so the meat doesn’t dry too fast, hardening from the outside before the inside gets a chance to cure properly.
Temperature, meat will go off above 12°c and wont cure below 4 or 5°c roughly.
Darkness, the fat will go rancid in sunlight.
Airflow, beware the smell of wet dogs. The air is what essentially gives the character and keeps the meat fresh while it cures.
These have seemed to me to be general guidelines, getting great salami from spots that don’t adhere and failures from spots that do.
Essentially all you need is salt, meat and a case to put it in. Beyond this a few things help:
Wine, alcohol is a great deterrent to many of the unwanted bugs.
Acidophilus, bought in tablets in health food shops. This is the bug in yoghurt, it encourage the right mould before the unwanted ones get there.
Flavour, go nuts, be creative. I’ve found some things to work better than others, some strong flavours disappear, fewer surprisingly last and enhance during the long curing process. The classics are the best, pepper obviously. get adventurous though, kawakawa leaves for example.
Saltpeter, or potassium nitrate. this helps in 2 ways, it eliminates any risk or botulism though the risk is minimal anyway and it causes the meat to cure a deep red colour. It also, i have a hunch, enhances the tangyness of the salami, though just a hunch. It is hard to find though as it is also used to make explosives. it can be found in a pre mix with salt called
'pink salt" dyed pink to save mixing it up with normal salt. Its not the best for you in any significant quantity, so if you do find it a match head or 2 will be enough for your whole salami.
Classic Italian Felino Salami.
(1) 400gm pure lean pork, (2) spend some time trimming all sinews and fatty shizer, eliminate as much white as you can. (3)(4) mince the meat, try coarse or fine, this can be done by hand if you are committed to the character of tradition and handling.
200gm pure pork back fat. you have to get to a proper old school butcher and request this normally. trim all from it that is not like soap, no sinews or skin. (5) dice the fat into small cubes, pea size or smaller.
keep it as cool as possible, keep it in the fridge while not working on it, best not to let is start glistening.
(6) Mix the two together by hand with 2% if its total weight in salt (12gm in this case) a slog of red wine, a capsual of acidophilus if you have it and 20 odd pepper corns. mix it until the fat starts to emulsify with the meat–your hands will get sore.
Pack into the case. I found some synthetic cases at a meat supplies distributer (7). Ideally you’d find ox runners, though in NZ I’ve found them impossible to source, damn food safety. Thinner salami could be packed inside sausage casings, ask about it when you get your back fat.
Now they ready to hang.
(8)(9) Possibly here you can cold smoke them. My smoker was made out of a 44 gallon drum, fire below a buffer plate with the wood chips on it, I had to keep hosing it down to keep it cool for the cold smoke. a hot smoke will cook the meat, this is not good, no salami cure once cooked! Contrary to popular belief, smoking does little to cure the meat, its the salt that cures it by drawing to the water that usually provides the environment for bacteria to live and decompose the meat. The smoke will help the preserving with its extremely complex chemical make up, but not preserve it on its own.
Now the hanging. Hang with no contact anywhere. they must hang in a space with the above criteria for at least 2 months. in this time they will loose up to a 3rd of their weight as the moisture draws out. ((11) shows uncured, uncured and smoked and cured with good white mould) The skin should shrink with the meat, if not there’s trouble. You will also see some mold appear, the white powdery mould is ideal, this forms a filter that allows our friend the air through whilst bouncering the bogan drifters. The bad moulds are the multi coloured party moulds, fun to look at but only there to wreck havoc leave a mess for you to clean up the next day. In saying this, I’ve had some good salami come from such parties, don’t worry too much, just gently evict them with your thumb nail once you’ve had your entertainment. Those green ones are the worst, they eat through the skin and into the meat if left too long. Note that it's easy to mix up the good white mould with the salt that has draw to the outside with the moisture, not to worry though, both are good times.
After at least 2 months the salami should be quite firm to the squeeze and if so–and if not smelling like wet dog–will be ready to eat. It can be left longer, if so becoming more hard and oily, which can be a good thing–I think so.
On eating, cut as thinly as possible, this is a food for flavour, not for filling you up, indulge in a nice home made pasta with vegetarian sauce to follow for the filling up of yourself.
buon appetito