#ItalianHurricaneParty....

[indaswamp]

I pressed them down to ~1 1/8" which is traditional for 2-2 1/2" dia. beef middles.

 

[indaswamp]

So...on the advice of someone way more experienced making salami, I scraped most of the mold off the Calabrese and Nduja. I should have wiped the salamis down after I pressed them to remove the extra water, but did not know I should do that. What happened is the meat juices coated the casing and when the mold grew back, it was thick and populated the meat juices on the outside forming like a paste. This paste is said to block moisture removal (slow it way way down).

After scraping, I wiped the salamis down with white wine and hung them back in the chamber.

 

[73saint]

Useful information for sure. Glad you got ahead of what could have been a bigger issue!

 

[indaswamp]

Well...the Nduja was the first to the finish line with 25% weight loss (that's 15% salami and 10% added water from my mistake). Took 15 days, but it is 50% fat in the salami. All I can say is WOW! Spicy, smokey, complex, rich, buttery.......savory and off the charts umami! With just a little tang. I love it!!! I checked it earlier today and it still needed to lose about 3 grams. Just went and checked at 11pm at night and boom! Done! Could not wait to sample it....well worth the undertaking, even though I had to do 3 grinds on it!!! (pro tip-get that grind super cold so the grind freezes into pellets, easier to grind that way on successive grinds)

*all I had was stale wheat sandwich bread in the house......but it was ok toasted.. I'll be buying french bread tomorrow to make crustinis.

 

[73saint]

Man, that’s just beautiful! I can practically taste it from here. I’ve got to do this.

 

[indaswamp]

Another tip I learned....cut it on an angle, that way you can fold the casing over to hang back in the chamber if you don't use it all...

 

[indaswamp]

73saint... this is nothing like mettwurst or teewurst... It's really, really good! So good in fact, I'll mail you one to try!

 

[indaswamp]

Calabrian Soppresatta is done..

Vac packed and in the fridge. Just in time to clear out some room for the Milano salami in the fermentation chamber trash can...

 

[indaswamp]

The smallest pepperoni salami reached 33% weight loss tonight. It was firm, and figured it sliceable so I could not wait any longer...had to check it. Wow! This one is better than the first one I made!

I used some beef in this one, last one was all pork. And for the fat, I got some heritage breed pastured pork fat from a local butcher shop. I feel the porky flavor and the buttery smoothness of the fat made all the difference!

 

[indaswamp]

 

[indaswamp]

The smallest dia. Genoa salami reached 34.5% last night so I had to cut into it....

I prefer the Genoa a little drier, closer to 38-40%, but the flavor is very good. The heritage breed pork fat I used made a huge difference in the flavor.