Salumi Palooza Jan, 2025 (Culatello 2024)

[indaswamp]

So tomorrow I start bumping up the temps. in my old drying chamber. It will have been 18 days since salting, the slight increase in temps. will accelerate salt equalization. The whole pieces have already lost 9-10% weight so this helps concentrate the salt further on the surface, which increases salt gradient and drives salt in faster for equalization. By the end of the week, first mold fermentation will start with temps. 54*-58*F. In preparation for this, I took the pistachio & Lemon and Veneto salami and rolled the salami on each piece to transfer fresh live mold directly onto the surface of each piece. Very fast even coverage when I do this....

 

[indaswamp]

Pulled the American Country style bacon out of the fridge, cut it out of the bag and added hooks. Will hang in the curing fridge until tonight to form a pellicle for first round of cold smoke tonight. Was gonna do it last night but way too windy...

 

[indaswamp]

Bacon loaded up in the smokehouse for first round of cold smoke. Low of 45*F tonight so perfect. Was too windy last night so postponed until today...

Using fruit wood pellet dust tonight....

 

[indaswamp]

I put the covers on the whole muscles tonight as well...

Moved the Calabrian to the big chamber and put the Veneto in the old chamber...for more mold inoculation on the whole muscles. Started bumping up the temp. in my old chamber by 2*C; Avg. of around 50*F. Will raise another 1*C tomorrow.. this will kick off the first mold fermentation period on the whole muscles.

 

[indaswamp]

First round of cold smoke done...

 

[indaswamp]

Cold smoke round 2 done last night....

Time to make more of Dave Omak's pellet dust. 400g hickory, 200g Apple pellets inda bowl. Add hot water , let the pellets swell, stir with a spoon to break them up and mix, then dry in180-200*F oven for 4 hours or so, stir every hour or so....

 

[indaswamp]

Way too hot tonight to cold smoke bacon, and windy as hell blowing from the south. Will wait and do 3rd round tomorrow night after the front rolls through...

Also, Culatello covers are doing their thing..mold is taking off exponentially. this is 48 hours after bumping the temp. up to 53*F....

Fiocco

Culatello

I want the mold ultra thick on these whole pieces for maximum flavor creation. I expect ammonia production to intensify within a week....this is a good thing.....this is what first mold fermentation is all about.

 

[Fueling Around]

Dry cure Professor.

 

[indaswamp]

It is both art and science for me.....and I am very passionate about it!! There is a reason for everything they do with Culatello production in Italy. Doing it naturally with the open air, they light candles to heat the 32-40*F; 90%RH air coming in through the windows up to 48-54*F;75-80%RH... The fog creeps through the windows bringing the mold spores along for the ride. I replicate this with the covers from old casing. The RH% jumps 5-10% just under the casing hovering around 88-90%RH. Which makes the mold explosion happen!

 

[crazymoon]

IDS, Very impressive, everything looks great!

 

[indaswamp]

IDS, Very impressive, everything looks great!

Thank you Crazy!

 

[indaswamp]

3rd round of cold smoke done...

One more round tonight.

 

[indaswamp]

4 days later, temp. bump 1*F every day....almost complete mold coverage on all the whole muscle pieces in my old chamber. The smell of ammonia is intensifying so this is excellent. Developing right on schedule. Will leave the temp. @58*F; 80-85%RH for minimum of 24 hours, then start bumping it back down to around 52-54*F for another 3 weeks. This will max out flavor development to the extreme!

Culatello #1:

Culatello #2

 

[indaswamp]

Bacon is done smoking. 60 hours cold smoke (5 nights @12 hours per night)....

 

[indaswamp]

With the frigid temps and ultra dry air outside (I live in an old drafty house), I was able to snap some pics. of the salami hanging in my big chamber (Norcini Nirvana) without the RH spike that would normally occur. So here is the salami zone in my chamber (which is on the right side)....Nduja in front, Pistachio and Lemon 2nd, Sopressata di Calabria 3rd, and Soppressa di Veneto last in the back. The yellow string marks the salami I am weighing to track weight loss....

 

[indaswamp]

The Calabrian now has full mold coverage after being transferred to the big chamber about a week ago...

It is at around 26% weight loss right now and should be close to 40% right around March 7-10. So around 5 weeks of drying. This should be the first product to finish drying from Salumi Palooza 2025...

Oh- and the ammonia is so strong when I open the old chamber door, it almost makes my eyes tear up!! MY God these pieces should be AWESOME!!! All that ammonia is a proxy for flavor creation!!!!! It also will breakdown to form nitrates, then nitrites within the meat which will give the cured color.....

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

What a thread Keith, this all is just simply amazing to me. You are truly talented!

 

[indaswamp]

What a thread Keith, this all is just simply amazing to me. You are truly talented!

Thank you man! I am a meticulous student of the craft. All the honors go the true masters in Italy. I am glad the internet exits for me to learn what I have learned on Salumi....

 

[indaswamp]

So, update....
I emptied the 1 gallon condensate collection jug from on side of the chamber. Almost full after about 1 month of drying....

The Culatello mold coverage was complete about a week ago. Very intense ammonia production now in my old chamber!!

Both Culatelli have lost 15% weight since salting them. A traditional equalization cure would have taken 36-40 days to complete and would have occurred in a ziplock bag. No weight loss would have happened.
Once 15% weight loss has been achieved-no more worry about botulism...not enough Aw (water activity) for the bacteria to make the toxin.

And...Mount Nduja!

Packaged it all up tonight. weight loss is right at 18% when I take into account the 10% addition of wine. Dry enough with all the added fat in the Nduja. Got a stash to last a while now!!! It will continue to develop flavor in the package while in the chamber. The rest of the salamis will finish up drying in the next 7-10 days...though I pulled some early when my cousin was in town, it was barely dry enough at 30-31%. The Lonzino should be the first whole muscle project to finish drying. It is now around 23% so far...Will let it go to about 35%.

 

[DRKsmoking]

Keith your end products are amazing,
And I know I have said this before. But it's the science that is astounding to me.
And the patients to have a long term goal .

Love reading your posts on your different products , even if sometimes I duck and it goes right over my head. But I would have no problem sampling any of them.

David