Salami Krakowskie (Polish Dry Salami)

[geostriata]

To try and get better and hone my skills a bit, I'm going to try the Mariansky recipe for Polish Salami (Salami Krakowskie) from "Home Production of Quality Meats."

• All pork: 75% Lean Pork, 25% fatback
• Ingredients per lb of meat:
  • 8.18g salt
  • 1.14g cure #2
  • 0.91g pepper
  • 1.59g garlic powder

The plan is to follow the Mariansky instructions exactly. In situations where he gives a temp/time range, I basically picked the value I'd use so you all know exactly what I did:

1. Grind @ 4mm (I'll grind at 5mm) with pepper and garlic powder. Cover with butcher paper, and store 10-14days fridge temp
2. Stuff hang for two hours in well ventilated area
3. Smoke with thin hickory pellet smoke 145min @ 118F. Make smoke thicker after 30 mins in.
4. Bake with thin hickory pellet smoke 90min @ 170F. Ensure IT 150 or above.
5. Hang in drying chamber at 55F / 80% humidity for 5-6 weeks until loses 35% original weight.

Any thoughts or suggestions to the above before I get started in a few days? Will post results here, of course. Since this is my first time with this (and cure #2), I just wanted to ask in case there were recommendations/suggestions for my first time. I'm thinking maybe deviate by using Bactoferm 600, and maybe a coarser grind? 4mm seems a bit small...

 

[jcam222]

I'm in to see the finish if you post it

 

[SmokinEdge]

I’d bet this makes drama.

 

[indaswamp]

If you are going to cook it, why hold for 10-14 days?

 

[geostriata]

If you are going to cook it, why hold for 10-14 days?

To be absolutely honest, I'm not sure. So I suppose the answer to your question is: "because this is my first time with real Salami and Mariansky said to do it."

There's another similar recipe (the official polish recipe, it seems), where after stuffing it was held 4 day hold at fridge temp at 80% RH, then cooked. So as odd as it is, it does seem to be (to some extent) a common step.

My guess is that Marianski is trying to start the timer on the cure #2 for some reason? Possibly replicating the high humidity by wrapping in a tupperware container? What do you think?

His specific wording is: "Pack ground meat tightly into suitable containers (stainless steel, food grade plastic) and cover with a layer of skins or butcher paper. Keep for 10-14 days at
35-39F."

 

[geostriata]

Found a link to the official recipe the 1956 archives here: https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/fermented/polish/salami-hungarian-traditional.

I believe this is what Marianski took and revised slightly.

(Correction: The above isn't the official recipe. It looks to be a slightly different recipe. The marianski interpretation of the official recipe is posted in the next reply).

 

[indaswamp]

In the old days, potassium nitrate was used as the curing agent. Nitrate must be broken down by bacteria to nitrite for it to work at preventing botulism. Holding in cold temps. 10-14 days allows the flavor forming and nitrate reductase bacteria time to multiply while inhibiting the bad bacteria. That way, when the meat is brought up to chamber temps., the nitrate is reduced to nitrite by the bacteria. The flavor creation by the flavor forming bacteria is from protein and fat breakdown. This gets destroyed....or severely reduced....at cooking temps.
Marianski is specifically referring to COLD smoking which is a drying step at chamber temps. in the presence of smoke from a very small fire.

• Smoking:
• Hang in a shaded well ventilated area at 10º-12º C, 80 - 85 % humidity for 5 - 6 weeks until salami develops white mold on outside. In case the mold becomes wet and green in color wash the sausages with warm salty water and wipe them dry. Dry salami until it loses 35 % of its original weight.

https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/salami-krakowskie


Cold smoking will not destroy the flavor compounds created by the flavor forming bacteria. Though the tenderness from enzymatic activity will remain.

But I will admit-I am NOT Polish. I am not intimately familiar with the process used there. Just does not make a lot of sense to me to hold for 10-14 days (without drying) if you are gonna cook it.

 

[geostriata]

In the old days, potassium nitrate was used as the curing agent. Nitrate must be broken down by bacteria to nitrite for it to work at preventing botulism. Holding in cold temps. 10-14 days allows the flavor forming and nitrate reductase bacteria time to multiply while inhibiting the bad bacteria. That way, when the meat is brought up to chamber temps., the nitrate is reduced to nitrite by the bacteria. The flavor creation by the flavor forming bacteria is from protein and fat breakdown. This gets destroyed....or severely reduced....at cooking temps.
Marianski is specifically referring to COLD smoking which is a drying step at chamber temps. in the presence of smoke from a very small fire.



https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/salami-krakowskie


Cold smoking will not destroy the flavor compounds created by the flavor forming bacteria. Though the tenderness from enzymatic activity will remain.

But I will admit-I am NOT Polish. I am not intimately familiar with the process used there. Just does not make a lot of sense to me to hold for 10-14 days (without drying) if you are gonna cook it.

Thanks so much for your analysis!

I was thinking that worse case I hold it for 10-14 days and it does nothing (and I learn something), and best case is that it contributes some aspect I don't understand. However, I just learned that meatandsausages.com is actually Marianski's site! So the "alternate" recipe I mentioned was actually a more-up-to-date version of his recipe.

I think maybe I'll plan to proceed instead with the website's recipe. Possibly I can inquire on the website as to the difference and get an answer...

 

[indaswamp]

You might get an answer.....in a month or two.....the American side of the site is not very active. But if you can speak Polish, you can post it on the Polish side. Way more activity there.

 

[Fueling Around]

I've got a copy of Rytek Kutas "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing"
He has a recipe for Dry-Cured Polish Salami (Salami Polskie Sucha) that applies the cure with the 6-12 day rests before and after grinding. It is cold smoked after a 6-8 week time out in the curing chamber. It is not cooked.

 

[chopsaw]

I just looked at the Marianski formula on the webpage .
I look at his stuff a lot , and this is just an observation and thoughts on my part . I think there are somethings that get lost or maybe mixed up with some of these recipes .
He mentions " Smoke " , and that's it .
No times , temps or cooking schedule .

Just does not make a lot of sense to me to hold for 10-14 days (without drying) if you are gonna cook it.

For me that would be a post smoke thing , as a lot of his recipes have as an option .
14 days would be extreme . I have used a starter hung overnight then smoked / cooked . Hung to dry .
I agree with you , just thinking out loud .

 

[geostriata]

You might get an answer.....in a month or two.....the American side of the site is not very active. But if you can speak Polish, you can post it on the Polish side. Way more activity there.

Well I fired of an email anyways. We'll see!

 

[geostriata]

I just looked at the Marianski formula on the webpage .
I look at his stuff a lot , and this is just an observation and thoughts on my part . I think there are somethings that get lost or maybe mixed up with some of these recipes .
He mentions " Smoke " , and that's it .
No times , temps or cooking schedule .

Ah, good catch! That's an error on his webpage that didn't make it into the book. In the book, the smoking instructions follow (which is what I plan to do here. Steps listed in my first post).

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Hey you can always go old school

 

[indaswamp]

He mentions " Smoke " , and that's it .
No times , temps or cooking schedule .

The recipe I referenced does give temp. and humidity for the smoke...chamber temps.; 10-12*C, 80-85%RH......it is assumed the reader would understand this is cold smoke but not stated explicitly.

 

[geostriata]

The recipe I referenced does give temp. and humidity for the smoke...chamber temps.; 10-12*C, 80-85%RH......it is assumed the reader would understand this is cold smoke but not stated explicitly.

That's the error was talking about. This is not a cold smoke recipe. In my first post, I translated what I would do based directly on the steps in the book. Here's the original text:

5. Smoking:
A. Smoke/dry with thin smoke for 20-40 min at 112-122F (45-50C)
B. Smoke with thick smoke for 90-140min at 104-122F (40-50C)
C. Bake with thin smoke for 70-100 min at 167-194F (75-90C)
6. Hang in a shaded well ventilated area at 10-12C, 80-85% RH for 5-6 weeks until salami develops white mold on the outside.

So when it was copied to the website, it cut off the A,B,C part. If you add the above to the website, you'll have the full original hot smoke recipe that's in the book. That's the recipe I'm following.

 

[chopsaw]

The recipe I referenced does give temp. and humidity for the smoke...chamber temps.; 10-12*C, 80-85%RH......it is assumed the reader would understand this is cold smoke but not stated explicitly.

There's 2 different methods . One is dry cured , the other is listed as " baked "
He gives temps and humidity in the dry cured method as you say above . That's step 6 .
Step 5 says smoking and gives no info . That's a big assumption in my opinion . Must be what he's trying to say , but leave it as one step .
I've mentioned before about the guys I know that dry cure in a barn with a burn barrel .

So when it was copied to the website, it cut off the A,B,C part. If you add the above to the website, you'll have the full original hot smoke recipe that's in the book. That's the recipe I'm following.

The book doesn't always match the website . There's 2 methods on the website . One is listed under " Cooked ready to eat " The other is in the " Fermented and Dry "
Pick one and follow it .

 

[indaswamp]

Step 5 says smoking and gives no info

I read it to mean smoke conditions were stated in part 6 because of the *colon.

Smoking:

But I agree, it could have been written more clearly.

*edit- I was thinking colon and typed hyphen....off for another cup of coffee!! LOL!!

 

[geostriata]

There's 2 different methods . One is dry cured , the other is listed as " baked "
He gives temps and humidity in the dry cured method as you say above . That's step 6 .
Step 5 says smoking and gives no info . That's a big assumption in my opinion . Must be what he's trying to say , but leave it as one step .
I've mentioned before about the guys I know that dry cure in a barn with a burn barrel .

The book doesn't always match the website . There's 2 methods on the website . One is listed under " Cooked ready to eat " The other is in the " Fermented and Dry "
Pick one and follow it .

The baked-only version is: "Salami Krakowskie (Salami krakowskie pieczone suche)" I'm not following that recipe.

The recipe I'm following is the recipe in the book, but does match the description of the "dry cured" website recipe here: https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/salami-krakowskie. That being said, the website recipe should not be followed since it's missing smoking instructions (and because it also uses cure #1, which I just noticed).

 

[geostriata]

I read it to mean smoke conditions were stated in part 6 because of the *colon.

Smoking:

But I agree, it could have been written more clearly.

*edit- I was thinking colon and typed hyphen....off for another cup of coffee!! LOL!!

This is an error. This is not a cold smoke recipe! I don't want people going to this thread and attempting to follow the website recipe. It's wrong. Step 5 is for smoking details, and Step 6 is for drying.

The correct steps are this:

5. Smoking:
A. Smoke/dry with thin smoke for 20-40 min at 112-122F (45-50C)
B. Smoke with thick smoke for 90-140min at 104-122F (40-50C)
C. Bake with thin smoke for 70-100 min at 167-194F (75-90C)
6. Hang in a shaded well ventilated area at 10-12C, 80-85% RH for 5-6 weeks until salami develops white mold on the outside.

I let them know about the website recipe error, and hopefully they'll fix it later.