Some Salamis are finishing...

[indaswamp]

So, I have been weighing the salamis near the door, those are my test pieces, and I have been weighing the ones in the back nearest to the airflow. My new chamber has 3 return vents spaced along the back wall, so the salame nearest to the vents have more airflow while the unit is cooling down. The ones in the back have dried 1.5% more than the ones in the front, so I will need to rotate product weekly. I.e. move the back one to the front, and #1 to #2, #2 to #3, #3 to #4 and so on.

Anyway, I had the smallest pistachio and lemon reach 35% tonight. Had to slice it. Got some dry rim but I knew that was a possibility having to run the chamber with ice and a fan when it went out until my new unit arrived.

Still a little wet in the middle. lemon is not as strong as I had expected, the pistachio is actually the dominant flavor. I will reserve judgement until it dries more.

Also, the salccicia is done..
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...weet-naples-salami.304820/page-2#post-2188334

 

[SmokinEdge]

Super nice Inda. Really a beautiful sausage.

 

[daveomak]

Hey inda, morning.... Nice texture... Do you grind through multiple plates to get large and small chunks of meat ???

 

[JC in GB]

Looks great. My larger salami are almost done. My new curing cabinet is working out very well.

Did you use T-SPX for that salami?

JC

 

[HalfSmoked]

Looking nice. Hey you can pick out the pistachios for me.

warren

 

[chef jimmyj]

Sure looks pretty. Your hard work is about to pay off...JJ

 

[TNJAKE]

Looks dang good

 

[indaswamp]

Hey inda, morning.... Nice texture... Do you grind through multiple plates to get large and small chunks of meat ???

I only grind once when making salami. No need to do multiple grinds because all the connective tissue has been removed, but I do separate the fat from the lean and grind on different size plates.

In theory, the meat will shrink more than the fat because it loses more water (75% water in meat verses 15% water in fat) So you can play with the final particle definition with the grinds you choose. If you want all the particles to dry to the same size, then the meat must be ground 35-40% larger than the fat. so using a 6mm plate for the fat and a 10mm plate for the meat will give you the same size particle definition when the salami dries....

I have been playing with different sizes. I just bought a 3mm, 8mm, 12mm, and 20mm plates with new knives to match. And sharpened all my old ones.....

 

[indaswamp]

Looks great. My larger salami are almost done. My new curing cabinet is working out very well.

Did you use T-SPX for that salami?

JC

Thanks JC, I used Flavor of Italy. I need to order more tspx.

 

[indaswamp]

Looking nice. Hey you can pick out the pistachios for me.

warren

HA! Thanks Warren.

Sure looks pretty. Your hard work is about to pay off...JJ

Thanks chef, I thought I had my chamber on autopilot until I discovered the coolant leak. These salamis have suffered from too much airflow and have more dry rim than I'd like. I am calibrating my humidity controllers and will try to slow the drying down a little by bumping the humidity up 2-3%.

Looks dang good

Thanks Jake. The pistachio was kinda bland. Need to develop more flavor and dry out in the middle, then I'll know what I got.

 

[pushok2018]

Damn That looks great! BTW, I cannot notice any dry ream from here....

 

[indaswamp]

Damn That looks great! BTW, I cannot notice any dry ream from here....

Thanks pushok2018... More noticeable on the right....darker line around the edge just under the casing.

 

[indaswamp]

The salccicia did not have any dry rim...it dried more uniform.

 

[HalfSmoked]

Looking nice. Hey you can pick out the pistachios for me.

warren

Thanks for the laugh indiswamp it is appreciated. But I do like pistachios and if they were to strong for you I can help.

Warren

 

[HalfSmoked]

Hey JC he made it sound like the pistachios were to strong for the salami so I love pistachios so pick them and I will eat them for you.

Warren

 

[daveomak]

I only grind once when making salami. No need to do multiple grinds because all the connective tissue has been removed, but I do separate the fat from the lean and grind on different size plates.

In theory, the meat will shrink more than the fat because it loses more water (75% water in meat verses 15% water in fat) So you can play with the final particle definition with the grinds you choose. If you want all the particles to dry to the same size, then the meat must be ground 35-40% larger than the fat. so using a 6mm plate for the fat and a 10mm plate for the meat will give you the same size particle definition when the salami dries....

I have been playing with different sizes. I just bought a 3mm, 8mm, 12mm, and 20mm plates with new knives to match. And sharpened all my old ones.....

I like your thinking about the shrinkage.... The sliced picture proves your point nicely... I'm a believer....

After the grind, do you mix the product until you get it sticky ??

 

[indaswamp]

After the grind, do you mix the product until you get it sticky ??

Yep, mix very, very well. I mix salami even more than I mix for smoke sausages as there will be no heat to fuse protein structure together. You are relying on the acid and the microbes....so I want all the salt soluble protein extraction I can get. Of course it also helps that salami uses a higher salt percentage, which aids in protein extraction...

 

[daveomak]

You use 2.75% salt + the cure ???

 

[indaswamp]

Usually 2.5% salt + 0.25% cure #2...

 

[indaswamp]

I'm also mixing the salt in with the lean first for an even higher concentration for protein extraction..