Finished my first cure in my chamber

[KevinsMeats]

Just finished my first cure in my chamber, Salami Finocchiona. The taste is a little bland definitely could use more spices and fennel as well as salt. Used Brian Polcyn recipe from Salumi but only did a half recipe. It took 57 days to cure. The salami has a nice pork flavor. At least it is edible. Please see the picture for the end result

 

[smokin peachey]

Looks good from here

 

[indaswamp]

Yep, looks good. The first salami is always a test anyhow just to see if your procedures are spot on and nothing spoils. Also, to test your camber to make sure it works...
What percentage of fennel did you use? And were the spices new or old? I find it helps to toast the fennel and anise seeds a little prior to grinding....did you grind them?

 

[KevinsMeats]

Yep, looks good. The first salami is always a test anyhow just to see if your procedures are spot on and nothing spoils. Also, to test your camber to make sure it works...
What percentage of fennel did you use? And were the spices new or old? I find it helps to toast the fennel and anise seeds a little prior to grinding....did you grind them?

I used fresh fennel seed and fresh black pepper as well as sea salt. I did toast everything. I used a mortal and pastel to grind them down. I'm not sure the percent of fennel I used but I would say give or take less than one percent.

 

[daveomak]

The following tables are reprinted with permission fron the book "Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages" Chapter 12 Creating Your Own Recipes and will help you create your own recipes. This is how much spices the professional sausage maker adds to 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs) of meat.
Spice in grams per 1 kg of meat
Allspice 2.0
Bay leaf 2 leaves
Cardamom 1.0 - 2.0
Caraway seeds 2.0
Caraway powder 0.5
Cayenne pepper 0.5
Celery salt 1.0
Chillies 0.5
Cinnamon 0.5 - 1.0
Cloves 1.0 - 2.0
Coriander 1.0 - 2.0
Cumin 1.0
Curry powder 1.0
Fennel 2.0
Fenugreek 1.0
Garlic paste 3.0 - 5.0
Garlic powder 1.0
Ginger 0.5
Juniper 2.0
Mace 0.5
Marjoram 2.0 - 3.0
Mustard 2.0
Nutmeg 1.0
Onion (fresh) 10.0
Onion powder 2.0 - 5.0
Paprika 2.0
Pepper-white 2.0 - 3.0
Pepper-black 2.0 - 3.0
Red peppers 0.5
Thyme 1.0
Turmeric 2.0 - 4.0
Other Ingredients in g per 1 kg of Meat
Non fat dry milk powder 4.0
Soy powder concentrate 1.0 - 3.0
Sugar 1.0 - 2.0

 

[daveomak]

Fresh vs. dried have different amounts to add... Some have more flavor when fresh and some have more flavor when dried...

Marianski's recipe.... FWIW.....

Salami Finocchiona

There is a story, that a thief stole a fresh salami at a fair near the Italian town of Prato, and hid it in a field of wild fennel. When he picked it up a few days later, he discovered that the sausage developed a wonderful aroma from the fennel.

Meats	Metric	US
lean pork trimmings (butt)	400 g	0.88 lb.
beef (chuck)	400 g	0.88 lb.
pork back fat or fat trimmings	200 g	0.44 lb.

Ingredients per 1000g (1 kg) of meat

salt	28 g	5 tsp.
Cure #2	2.5 g	½ tsp.
dextrose (glucose), 0.2%
sugar, 0.2%
white pepper	2.0 g	1 tsp.
black peppercorns	4.0 g	1 tsp.
whole fennel seeds (dried)	3.0 g	2 tsp.
garlic	2.0 g	1 small clove
red wine (Chianti)	25 ml	1½ Tbsp.
T-SPX culture	0.12 g	use scale

Instructions

1. Grind meat and fat through 3/16” plate (5 mm).
2. Mix all ingredients with ground meat.
3. Stuff firmly into beef middles or 46-60 mm protein lined fibrous casings.
4. Ferment at 20º C (68º F) for 72 hours, 90-85% humidity.
5. Dry at 16-12º C (60-54º F), 85-80% humidity for about 30 days. The sausage is dried until around 30-35% in weight is lost.
6. Store sausages at 10-15º C (50-59º F), 75% humidity.

Notes
The following spice and herb combination can be found in some recipes:
spices: 4 parts coriander, 3 parts mace, 2 parts allspice, 1 part fennel.
herbs: 3 parts marjoram, 1 part thyme, 1 part basil.
To make 5 kg sausage about 7 g of spices and 4 g of herbs are needed.