Salame Crespone

[redzed]

Years have passed since I purchased Ruhlman and Polcyn`s Salumi The Craft of Italian Dry Curing. There was one salami recipe in there that had a very interesting flavour profile and I promised to myself that I have to make it. Time slid by, but I finally got around to crafting it, and now I ask why did I wait so long? Salame Crespone is a captivating and delicious sausage that is aromatic, sweet and soft. It`s roots are in the town of Brianza , near Milano. What distinguishes it from other salami in the region is that the traditional version was made in hog middle cap (aka hog bung), in Italian referred to as "crespone". And tha is how it got it`s name. Rather than using hard back fat which is preferred in most dried cured sausages, here we use side pork (pork belly) which keeps it soft, even after 5 months in the curing chamber. For the most part I used the spices in Ruhlman and Polcyn`s recipe, but did not follow their wonky amount of 4.5g of starter culture per kilogram and I certainly did not ferment at 27C (80F)! In order to slow down the acidification using B-LC-007, I experimented with adding 1g dextrose and 3g of corn syrup solids per kilogram of batter. The rationale for this was that the 1g of dextrose and the portion of dextrose in the corn syrup solids will start working immediately and the remaining maltodextrins in the solids will only start working after a lag phase, theoretically extending the fermentation period. I believe that I was somewhat successful here in that the pH dropped to 5.1 after 44 hours in a temp of 19-20C. In my previous efforts with 007, I was getting a drop to 5 or slightly lower in 30 hours using 3g/kg dextrose. And rather than tying the sausage to give it that traditional country sausage look, it was netted. I made only one sausage, but it weighed 3.5kg, (that`s 7.7lbs for the metrically challenged ). Due to the higher fat content, weight loss was only 32% after 5 months of maturation.



Recipe

Meats
2kg kg lean pork, no fat or connective tissue
1.5kg fatty side pork

Ingredients per 1000g (1 kg) of meat
Salt 23 g
Cure #2, 2.5g
Dextrose, 1g
Corn syrup solids, 3g
Pepper, finely ground, 3g
Coriander, 1g
Ginger, 1g
Mace, .75g
Cinnamon, .5g
Granulated garlic, 2g
Sodium erythorbate .4g
Sauvignon blanc 30 ml
.5g Bactoferm B-LC-007

Instructions
1. Cube the lean meat and side pork, keeping separate.
2. Partially freeze the lean meat and freeze the fat completely.
3. Re hydrate the starter culture in a small volume of non-chlorinated water for 15-30 minutes.
4. Combine the lean and fatty cubes, mix in the salt and Cure #2 and grind using the 6mm plate.
5. Add the starter culture, spices and wine and mix thoroughly. Make sure that the batter stays very cold, and don't over mix to avoid fat smearing. This is especially important with this recipe because of the softer fat used.
6. Stuff as firmly as possible into a hog middle cap, taking care not to tear the casing. Hog middle caps are not very strong.
7. Ferment at 20-21C, 90% RH, until pH drops to 5.2
6. Dry for 4-6 months at 12-15° C (54-59° F), 75-80% humidity.

[cathouse willy]

That looks very good, It's on my short list of recipes to try however I shut my cureing cab down for the summer so it'll have to wait for next oct. Where do you get your Bactoferm products?Ive been using the mondostart cultures but I'd like to try the bactoferm.

[bolepa]

redzed, your salami looks impressive! I just checked several US based suppliers (sausagemaker, butcher-packer, waltonsinc) and non of them carrying HOG MIDDLE CAP casing. Is this only you can find in Canada? If this is a case, can collagen casing be used for this salami and if yes, what diameter would you recommend? Thanks!

[Bob K]

Craft Butchers Pantry has them, and a lot of other hard to find casings.
https://www.butcherspantry.com/natural-casings/

[StefanS]

In order to slow down the acidification using B-LC-007, I experimented with adding 1g dextrose and 3g of corn syrup solids per kilogram of batter. The rationale for this was that the 1g of dextrose and the portion of dextrose in the corn syrup solids will start working immediately and the remaining maltodextrins in the solids will only start working after a lag phase, theoretically extending the fermentation period. I believe that I was somewhat successful here in that the pH dropped to 5.1 after 44 hours in a temp of 19-20C. In my previous efforts with 007, I was getting a drop to 5 or slightly lower in 30 hours using 3g/kg dextrose.

Very, very interesting. It means that you finish fermentation phase at pH 5.1 after 44 hours? Chris - Any thoughts on lowest pH in your salami?
Also - it is possible get pH readings at this moment? (interested in - how much pH climbed during ripening/drying period).

[bolepa]

BobK, thank you for the link - good to know. I never dealt with them before....

[Bob K]

Boris -
Neither have I however many of our members have, all with good reviews. The owner is accessible for questions and I understand quite knowledgeable.

[Bob K]

That does look fantastic! What is really impressive is the minimal dry rim after 5 months in the Chamber Did you brush the mold off before slicing?

Also remarkable is how the salami was stuffed in the large diameter casing without any air pockets. Leaving air pockets will either cause spoilage or discoloration and is difficult to avoid. Something to keep in mind before attempting to make any large diameter salami.

[redzed]

redzed, your salami looks impressive! I just checked several US based suppliers (sausagemaker, butcher-packer, waltonsinc) and non of them carrying HOG MIDDLE CAP casing. Is this only you can find in Canada? If this is a case, can collagen casing be used for this salami and if yes, what diameter would you recommend? Thanks!

I got them from Craft Butchers Pantry. So far used this casing for Jesus de Lyon and a country style coarse and spreadable liver sausage. You really have to be careful working with the pork bungs as they tear easily. I suppose you can use any large diameter casing such as a beef bung or a 100mm+ collagen.

That looks very good, It's on my short list of recipes to try however I shut my cureing cab down for the summer so it'll have to wait for next oct. Where do you get your Bactoferm products? Ive been using the mondostart cultures but I'd like to try the bactoferm.

I buy Bactoferm products when I'm down in the Excited States. But I don't see myself buying B-LC-007 again. I have a good supply of Texel SA-301 which is much better suited for slow acidification. Nothing wrong with Mondostart SP for Southern European dry cured sausages.

That does look fantastic! What is really impressive is the minimal dry rim after 5 months in the Chamber Did you brush the mold off before slicing?
Also remarkable is how the salami was stuffed in the large diameter casing without any air pockets. Leaving air pockets will either cause spoilage or discoloration and is difficult to avoid. Something to keep in mind before attempting to make any large diameter salami.

After a couple of weeks of vacuum, the minimal amount of dry rim is now gone. Surprisingly there was only a small amount of white mould on the sausage after all that time, and no off colour spots indicating wild moulds. I didn't inoculate it with P. Nalgiovense, but other sausages in the chamber were. Usually when we use large casings for salami type sausages it is a good idea to press them and that usually takes care of air pockets. The Crespone, if you notice in the pics, was double netted, perforated liberally and gently massaged and luckily no air pockets. I was also lucky in this way when I made the Jesus de Lyon in the hog bung, it was stuffed rather loosely compared to other sausages and tied with string, but no air pockets either.

Very, very interesting. It means that you finish fermentation phase at pH 5.1 after 44 hours? Chris - Any thoughts on lowest pH in your salami?
Also - it is possible get pH readings at this moment? (interested in - how much pH climbed during ripening/drying period).

I think that the pH might of dropped one .1 or .2 after I transferred it into the chamber, but unfortunately did not check. And just for you I speared and tested the Crespone half an hour ago.

[StefanS]

I think that the pH might of dropped one .1 or .2 after I transferred it into the chamber, but unfortunately did not check. And just for you I speared and tested the Crespone half an hour ago.

Thank you. It help a lot.

[DanS]

Since Bactoferm in Canada seems to be 3x the price of Mondostart, my first attempt at salami will be with Mondostart. I’m confused with the ratios however. Ruhlman seems to suggest 20g of Bactoferm F-RM-52 fpr 5 lbs of raw product whereas the Mondostart package says to use 25 g for 80-100 lbs of meat!

Thoughts?

[Bob K]

Welcome to the Forum!

This will give you a guideline and I'm sure Redzed will add more info

Mondostart 2M culture, level 1/2tsp used for the 4kg meat block

The full post is here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7924

It is probably best to use Ruhlmans book to get ideas and not rely on it for cure, salt and culture amounts...many are WAY off.

Lots of accurate recipes here on the Forum and also here: https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes

[DanS]

That’s very helpful, many thanks!
-Dan

[redzed]

Hello Dan,
The advice to use a minimum of one quarter of a packet of starter culture was started by Butcher and Packer and picked up by a few writers of early charcuterie books. It does not come from the bacteria culture manufacturers. Dumping that much into a small amount of salami batter is unnecessary, wasteful and expensive. Mondostart cultures are good quality and reliable. They are actually made in France by Danisco, who make the Texel line of starter cultures. However, the bacteria cell counts in Mondostart cultures are considerably lower than found in Chr. Hansen products. And that is reflected in the manufacturer recommended amounts of starter that are to be added to the products. For example, 25grams of Mondostart are enough for 35kg - 50kg salami, while 25g of Bactoferm F-RM-52 is enough for 100kg, and 25g of T-SPX will do 200kg. To calculate how much starter to add, simply divide the number of grams in the package by total amount of kg that the starter can be added to. When making a small batch add a bit extra just to make sure there are enough bacteria in there to do the job. A large amount of the content is a dextrose carrier, so what you see when you open a packet, it is not all freeze dried bacteria cultures.

[DanS]

Thank you for the background and the great advice. I will absolutely put it into practice.