First dry cured sausages

cdn offroader · Sep 1, 2014

So took the plunge and started a couple batches of dry cured sausages. First one is a farm house salami and the other is a Portuguese chourico. Both were from len poli recipes. Used natural yoghurt for starter culture, ground, stuffed and sprayed with mold. Chourico got 2 hours of cold smoke. anyways here are the initial hang pictures, more to follow.

Salami

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cdn offroader
Sep 1, 2014

Chourico, nice and red from the paprika

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cdn offroader
Sep 1, 2014

daveomak · Sep 1, 2014

.....:popcorn...... Looks good so far....

szynka · Sep 2, 2014

Which Poli's recipes did you use? I like to look through his site and have not seen any that call for yoghurt. And whch active bacteria were in the yoghurt you used? What were your pH readings?

driedstick · Sep 2, 2014

Thats lookin good from here, I'm in!!

DS

cdn offroader · Sep 2, 2014

I used the salami cascina and the Portuguese chourico recipes. The yogurt contains Bifidobacterium lactis, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus acidophilus. I used that instead of the starter culture. The portuguese sausage didn't even call for it, so I'm thinking it can't be that critical. The outside has been sprayed with Penicillium nalgiovense, and is already developing into a nice white coating. Anyways initial ph was just around 5.8, so we'll be shooting for under 5.2. Also both recipes contain cure #2.

mds51 · Sep 2, 2014

Would you be kind enough to provided the temperature and location that you are drying these sausages? I am also interested in trying dry cured Salami and other types of meats.
Thank You
mds51

cdn offroader · Sep 16, 2014

After 2 weeks of drying, the sausages are already at 30% loss. This is likely because of using hog casing so they are thinner than a normal salami.

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cdn offroader
Sep 16, 2014

The salamis developed the mold very nicely, I'm definitely ready to sample one.

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cdn offroader
Sep 16, 2014

The chourico only has patchy mold, I suspect the smoking has inhibited the growth. Sadly one of these sausages has not made it, and was converted into a fine Portuguese stew.

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cdn offroader
Sep 16, 2014

cdn offroader · Sep 16, 2014

mds51 said:
Would you be kind enough to provided the temperature and location that you are drying these sausages? I am also interested in trying dry cured Salami and other types of meats.
Thank You
mds51

MDS, sorry for the delay, my basement cellar holds temps ~58f and humidity around 75-80% year round. I can bring down the humidity if required using my room dehumidifier. Make sure you read up on dry curing before starting, it is a different beast than regular sausage making.

atomicsmoke · Sep 16, 2014

Nice mold growth there.

mds51 · Sep 17, 2014

Thank You for responding to the questions on temperature and location. I just finished making several Salamis using Cure #1 and smoking them for five hours and then a hot water bath to get the internal temperature up to 152 degrees. Then I took two of the Salamis and hung them in a cool and dry room for two weeks. The results were a weight loss of 30 % and a very firm and great flavor hard Salami. There was no mold and the Salami did not drip fluids or smell. I will start reading up on the dry curing process but I have watched many people over the years dry Salamis like this with excellent and safe results. Once again thanks for the information.

mds51

rob sicc · Sep 17, 2014

They look great. nice job.

How long do you normally dry Salami?

With winter coming I am seriously considering trying to dry some in my basement.

Since they are cured, how long do you think they will last once they are ready to eat? Can they be frozen?

rgautheir20420 · Sep 17, 2014

Rob, the length of time for drying a salami is largely dependent on your weight loss goals and the size of the salami. For salami's made with hog casings, it can be as little as 2 weeks but larger casings would take longer to get to the weight loss for a finished product. As CDN said, temp and humidity regulation is VERY important in making these.

CDN, those look great. Let's see a cross section slice!

cdn offroader · Sep 17, 2014

Gave into the temptation today, wiped one stick down with vinegar, left the other as is.

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cdn offroader
Sep 17, 2014

The money shot...

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cdn offroader
Sep 17, 2014

Thoughts: The salami is fairly mild, has a bit of the sour tang, and the occasional pepper bite. I can see how it would have been better in a larger casing. I realized after that the first bites were odd as the vinegar hadn't evaporated off fully. The later pieces i tried were much better. There wasn't a lot of flavor difference between the moldy/not moldy pieces. i think my next batch I will try something with a bit more heat, and try and source larger natural casings.

pc farmer · Sep 17, 2014

Man that looks very good.

rgautheir20420 · Sep 17, 2014

CDN, those look delicious!!! I've made 2 batches of dried salami using hog casings, and I saw similar drying issues as your seeing. Even at the short drying time, you're seeing a little bit of dry rim. I'm thinking that a higher humidity at the drying temps might help stave this away, but I've never tested that theory. I've got some beef middles (60-65mm) from butcher packer and I'll be using them in my next batch of salami. They are supposed to be the best option for that nice fat and evenly dried salami according to another forum I'm a member on. They are meant to be peeled away after also. I'm very excited.

Again, those look amazing. Next time try cracking the pepper corns and that might help with even distribution.Need my address to send some over?

atomicsmoke · Sep 17, 2014

Beautiful "cross-section"...and very graphical taste notes...I can almost taste it.

mds51 · Sep 18, 2014

I used the flat Collagen casings for my Salami that were 65MM or 2 1/2 in X 18 in. They come with a pre tied sting loop and hold about 2 1/2 pounds of meat. As I said in my previous posts I smoked the Salami for 5 hours and then hot water bathed them to get an internal temperature of 152 degrees. As a test I hung two of them up in a cool and dry room to cure for two weeks. At the end of two weeks they had lost almost 30% o their weight and had dried nicely without any mold , odor or drainage. The collagen casing shrunk wit the meat and adhered to the Salami nicely. The taste and texture were excellent and the process intensified the spice flavors. In fact I will cut back on the black pepper on the next batch. This was done using Cure 1 Pink Salt and was not a dry cured Salami but more like the ones you see hanging in the New York Delis. The flavor and texture were as close I as I could get to this type Salami without ordering one from Katz`s Deli.

mds51

rgautheir20420 · Sep 18, 2014

mds, you've just exactly described the process I'm about to undertake with a batch of Andouille. I'm planning on taking a couple links once the batch is smoked and cooled and hanging them in my curing chamber for 2 weeks. I want to see what the intensified flavor of the sausage is like when dried. It should be amazing. Thanks.

atomicsmoke · Sep 18, 2014

Wait...these were not made from beef , where they?

mds51 · Sep 18, 2014

The Andouille Sausage sounds good . I am looking into an old upright reach in cooler to transform into a drying chamber. I actually just hung these Salami in my spare bedroom closet with a towel underneath them. There was no dripping but I just wanted to be prepared. I also want to make Pepperoni, Lop Chong and Andouille this way using the smaller casings. I forgot to mention that these casings came from the Sausage Maker Company. I have had great results from their products and especially the Flat Collagen casings and the 19mm tubed collagen casing s for Snack Sticks. I slid the 19mm in the small Stainless Steel Tube that LEM makes for Snack Sticks and I can get enough of the tubed casing to do some nice long runs of Sticks. I hang my Sticks on dowel rods in my MES and I find that they smoke more evenly than when they are laid in the trays. I do want to learn the dry curing methods as well but the Salami that I make has less fat and a nice dense body of meat when it is finished just like the Deli Salamis. I am going to work on learning how to post pictures on the forum this weekend so everyone can see my results . I have taken numerous pictures of this process and want to share it with everyone.

mds51

First dry cured sausages

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