Spanish Chorizo on Deck! First Salami in the New Maturing Chamber!!!!

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indaswamp

Epic Pitmaster
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Apr 27, 2017
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South Louisiana-Yes, it is HOT
So excited!!!! First salami in the new chamber! That is the project for this weekend, been looking forward to this for 6 months! Looking forward to the first salami in my chamber has been what has kept me pushing forward through the frustrations of the build. I chose Spanish Chorizo for a few reasons...1-It is on my list of new salamis to make. 2-It does not traditionally use beneficial mold coverage, and being a new chamber the flora has not been well established yet so this will help to keep the salami clean. 3. It is a small diameter salami which is preferred when dialing in the settings on a new chamber.

I have 5# of pork back fat and 11# of pork loin I just picked up from the grocer. Will start bright and early in the morning for those that want to ride along. I'll be using Cajuneric's Spanish Chorizo recipe here:

https://twoguysandacooler.com/spanish-chorizo/

 
that is going to be so good!! good luck, hope everything goes as planned for you with your new chamber!
 
So....looking at the sugars in ground paprika...
https://www.eatthismuch.com/food/nutrition/paprika,203/

0.8g total sugars in 6.9grams of paprika. That is 11.59% sugars in paprika powder.

simple sugars:
0.2g glucose
0.5g fructose

double chain sugars:
0.1g sucrose

Eric's recipe calls for 25grams of paprika. That's 2.9grams of sugars per kilogram of meat paste....more than enough to fuel fermentation so I will not be adding any dextrose. And this is adding mostly simple sugars.
 
Will also be using T-SPX to slow fermentation down to keep the pH from dropping to low. This worked extremely well when I made the last batch of Calabrian Soppressata.
 
A little more digging into the sugar content of paprika....

I am finding some places use 0.2g of sugars in paprika powder. For the recipe I am using, that would be about 0.9grams/kilogram mince. So I'm going to go middle of the road and use 1 gram/kg. dextrose. Still using T-SPX culture though...
I'll have 2-4g./kg. of available sugars.....we'll see what pH I get....
 
I understand your excitement. We’re all excited for you, too. This has been a long haul for you but it’s been filled with passion for this art. I’m looking forward to seeing all the projects you’ve had to delay by creating that incredible chamber. Even though you could have just bought a chamber, sometimes the journey is as much fun as the destination. It was great watching you plan, troubleshoot, adapt, and pivot on this project.

Congratulations!
 
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I share your excitement, I just got my chamber back up a couple of weeks ago! I also have a chorizo hanging now, looking forward to your progress pics.
 
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Well, the meat and fat is chunked and in the freezer now. Had to wait for the fat I bought to thaw as it was frozen solid. Put it in the refrigerator overnight. Got the spices weighed out and sitting on go. I also went to the grocer first thing this morning to pick up another loin...had enough fat to do a 20# batch so that is what I am making.

Did some more research on paprika and 10% is the common accepted sugar percentage in paprika powder so with that, I am backing off on the dextrose to 0.5g/kg. instead of 1g./kg.; still using T-SPX though.

I am also going to make some chorizo sticks....with about half of the mince; the other half will be in 32-35mm hog casings.
 
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O.K.! Let's do this!
The grind through 6mm plate...
IMG_20220730_192755.jpg

The seasonings, salt, cure #1, and I added 5ml/kg. chianti red wine.
IMG_20220730_193416.jpg

After mixing I added the TSPX culture.
IMG_20220730_194412.jpg

IMG_20220730_194420.jpg

The Zamorano sticks..
IMG_20220730_202721.jpg

The Coil of Chorizo..
IMG_20220730_202724.jpg

The Zamorano sticks inda fermentation can...
IMG_20220730_214154.jpg

I thought I'd try my hand at making a long chain of thin salami like they do with Cacciatore. Apparently Zamorano comes in many shapes and sizes so I thought why not? I've got the room now for odd shapes and odd lengths in my new chamber and I wanted the practice...
IMG_20220730_211207.jpg

Well, when I was stuffing I was thinking...stuff tight because I was doing salami. Was not thinking at all....should have stuffed loose like I do for fresh sausages that will be twisted. First 6-7 went great, then busted 3. Had to slow down and massage the links to get the crease for the twine.
IMG_20220730_211211.jpg

Ferementing now @69*F so should be about 30-36 hours with T-SPX.

Oh- and left-over beer and onion brat on a bun for supper...
IMG_20220730_215019.jpg
 
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I’m excited for you! I can’t wait to see how it turns out! So awesome that you did the build yourself! Impressive and inspiring as always!
 
Two hours later and the pH had dropped to 5.05...
IMG_20220731_220518.jpg

...so time to transfer to accelerated drying in my old chamber. Fermentation was a little fast for TSPX, but the temp. in my kitchen did climb to 74*F so that had to speed it up. Set the temp. in the old chamber 47-53*F to stop fermentation; RH% 74-80% for 24 hours. Will drop the RH 5% for the next two days, then reverse and increase the RH 5% for three days. At that point, should be ready to go to my new maturing chamber!
 
The Chorizo sticks are done...
IMG_20220810_211617.jpg

IMG_20220810_211708.jpg

Took them down to 45% weight loss. Great spice profile. Young salami flavor. The 32-35mm salami will be another 2-2.5 weeks yet to dry. They are down to 22% weight loss.
 
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