Finocchiona Salami

[MeatCharter]

I made the Tuscan Finnochiona from 2 guys and a cooler.

I got my own fennel pollen, and it's a LOT of work for very little. Got basically 3 trash bags of fennel and ended up with only about 40g or so.

I noticed a lot of commercial fennel had the flowers, stems, and whatnot. I put everything through a fine mesh strainer, just to make sure I was only getting the fennel pollen.

For my lean, I used pork tenderloin which seems a little darker than loin meat. For the fat, I used fatback from Berkshire pigs. Cased with the laminated hog casings (2.75"X20") from Butchers Pantry. Will see how this turns out.

Fennel flowers:

Fennel Pollen

....Will see how it goes.

 

[indaswamp]

Looks awesome! I bet that fennel pollen is potent! Looking forward to the finish. Did you inoculate with mold?

 

[indaswamp]

Question though....

Did you pasteurize the fennel pollen in a warm oven? It is recommended. Commercially bought spices are either irradiated or pasteurized (heat or pressure) to ensure that the spices are clean.

 

[MeatCharter]

Looks awesome! I bet that fennel pollen is potent! Looking forward to the finish. Did you inoculate with mold?

I did, and I'm hoping everything in my fridge grows more than it has been. I sprayed everything, and now the 2 main fans are off in my curing fridge. I definitely had too much airflow.

If it doesn't grow well, I'll be out of ideas. My humidity is probably closer to 75% than 80%+, but that's the best I can do with this setup. That's the only thing I can think of, or my mold 700 is bad, but from what I've read if it pours out of the package/doesn't clump, then it's good, and it's definitely been doing that. I've also given it plenty of time to hydrate before applying, like 8+ hours.

 

[MeatCharter]

Question though....

Did you pasteurize the fennel pollen in a warm oven? It is recommended. Commercially bought spices are either irradiated or pasteurized (heat or pressure) to ensure that the spices are clean.

I didn't. I was considering something like this because my concern would be bug eggs, but I froze it for about a week prior to using, and hoping that's enough to kill the eggs.

I don't know if I could sous vide the pollen and just hold the temp at pasteurization temps a while.

 

[Dave in AZ]

Looks great! Some serious effort! I like Finocchiona... have recently been buying all sorts of salami to see what I like enough to be worth making, and the finocchiona was top 3. I saw the pollen use at 2guysandaCooler, but my impression from reading other recipes has been that normally just the fennel seeds are used? What do you think? I would just be replicating finocchiona bought at Kroger, so Murrays or Boars Head. Thanks forbyour thoughts on this!

 

[indaswamp]

I didn't. I was considering something like this because my concern would be bug eggs, but I froze it for about a week prior to using, and hoping that's enough to kill the eggs.

I don't know if I could sous vide the pollen and just hold the temp at pasteurization temps a while.

I was referring to wild yeasts and bacteria being introduced into the salami. Did not think about insects (or their eggs). But if you inoculated with a culture you should be fine...should over power any introduced strains.

 

[MeatCharter]

Looks great! Some serious effort! I like Finocchiona... have recently been buying all sorts of salami to see what I like enough to be worth making, and the finocchiona was top 3. I saw the pollen use at 2guysandaCooler, but my impression from reading other recipes has been that normally just the fennel seeds are used? What do you think? I would just be replicating finocchiona bought at Kroger, so Murrays or Boars Head. Thanks forbyour thoughts on this!

Honestly, I couldn't tell you. This world is all new to me. I don't know how the fennel pollen would be in the salami compared to one with just fennel seeds/ground fennel. LoydB said pollen was more floral. I know some fancy restaurants sprinkle it on things, like cheese.

For me it was more just a fun project to get me out of the house, go hiking, and forage. I might hate it. LOL.

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