Got my Sopressata press made...

[indaswamp]

Happy Birthday to me! My uncle was home today and offered to help me make a salami press today...best gift I got today!

I still need to buy the all thread and some washers and wing nuts, but the press should be operational by this weekend. I'm about to fill up the chamber again....

I made two sets of blocks, 1 1/8" for salami up to 2.25" dia. and 1 3/8" for larger up to 4" dia.
I should be able to fit 6 salamis 2.25" dia. 21" long on the press which is a 5Kg. batch of salami.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Interesting, didn't know it gets pressed. Looking forward to it getting put in use. You definitely have alot of talent with all you do and smoke!

Ryan

 

[chef jimmyj]

Looking forward to the action...JJ

 

[ChuxPick]

Inda, Im lookin forward to watching this one. I've made your boudin, Tasso, and red beans. Never had boudin before came out it wasn't quite the flavor profile I had expected, had a heck of a time finding pork liver. I work with a guy from Louisiana that tried some and said it was pretty close to what he was used too, so I took it that I must have followed your recipe pretty well.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Makings of a fine press, Inda, standing by.

 

[indaswamp]

Interesting, didn't know it gets pressed. Looking forward to it getting put in use. You definitely have alot of talent with all you do and smoke!

Ryan

Thanks Ryan! It depends on what region in Italy the salami is made. It is pressed in the southern regions, and left round in the north. The reason for pressing is to speed drying time during the mild winters in the south....smaller window of optimum conditions for making salami.

Looking forward to the action...JJ

Thanks chef jj... I am really looking forward to making some salami with that wild hog meat, but I gotta wait for it to deep freeze for at least a month, so in the meantime, I'm gonna make some using commodity pork; caught a sale...$0.99/#....

Inda, Im lookin forward to watching this one. I've made your boudin, Tasso, and red beans. Never had boudin before came out it wasn't quite the flavor profile I had expected, had a heck of a time finding pork liver. I work with a guy from Louisiana that tried some and said it was pretty close to what he was used too, so I took it that I must have followed your recipe pretty well.

Thanks ChuxPick, Greatest compliment ever is to use a recipe someone posts and give them feedback. Glad you and your cajun friend enjoyed it.

Makings of a fine press, Inda, standing by.

Thank you SmokinEdge..

 

[pineywoods]

Looks like a good start would like to see more pics of the press. Looking forward to seeing it in action as well.

 

[indaswamp]

This is the youtube I that got the idea for the press...


...though mine is narrower. I will likely add more boards so I can stack higher and press more salami. I used scrap wood in the wood shop.

 

[indaswamp]

So I made some more Calabrian Sopressata today to give the press a whirl. Made a few mistakes in the process. I should have weighed the mixed mince then divided that number by 4. That would give me 4 roughly equal weight salamis. But I just started stuffing, and over filled the first two...they were too long for the press. I did get it all lined out, had to squeeze some out of the first two and fill the third the old fashioned way, by hand with golf ball sized meat balls of mince (easier to fill by hand than to run the motorized stuffer up and then back down).

Then, I stuffed them too tight to press. I keep forgetting to leave them loose when I will press the salamis. It's a hard habit to break trying to stuff sausages tight to remove air pockets, but it is not necessary when pressing as the press will remove the air.

Ended up with 5225kg. Calabrese, 4 salamis. They are in the press fermenting now, will check pH after 24~30 hours fermentation with flavor of Italy.

Here's a pic. of the press in action...

I have the salamis sandwiched between damp kitchen towels both the keep the salami from sticking to the wood and to keep the humidity up for fermentation.

 

[indaswamp]

I need to add some strong backs top and bottom, the plywood had a slight bow in it. I'll fix that for the next go around. The box end wrench.....yeah, I dropped a wingnut somewhere in the kitchen and had to improvise in a pinch. It will turn up when I clean up. right now, I'm sitting down taking a break from being on my feet most of the afternoon.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Your work and thought process is fascinating!...JJ

 

[indaswamp]

Your work and thought process is fascinating!...JJ

Thanks chefjj! Also- I had to redrill the holes oversized...it was a PITA to slide the plywood off with the holes the exact size of the all thread. More salami on deck...stay tuned...

 

[Brokenhandle]

Sure looks good! Thanks for sharing, it's an interesting process

Ryan

 

[indaswamp]

Worked like a champ!