Salami Vicentina
Salami Vicentina
I used both Marianski's and Len Poli's recipes along with the PDO regulations for Vicentina, which hails from the Veneto province in Northeastern Italy along the Po river. This salami has the fat finely ground with the lean a little larger. It is very thoroughly mixed, and upon drying it is much softer than most salamis. It is one of the oldest salamis on record, being easily identified by the unique spice profile of cinnamon, clove, and rosemary. Merchants and Traders were said to be able to identify the salamis from the region from the spices.
I reduced the spice profile of Len's recipe by about 1/3rd. I ran the fat through 4.5mm plate, lean through 6mm plate. Used Chianti wine for the high acidity and steeped 8 cloves of crushed garlic in it overnight. Stuffed into 60-65mm beef middles.
Recipe I used:
Sopressata Vicentina
Lean Pork; Leg, loin, shoulder 700g
Fat; Back & Belly 300g
Initial pH of pork was 5.94
Sea Salt 22.5g
Cure #2 3g
Dextrose 4g
Black pepper, coarse ground 2.7g
sugar, raw 3g
*cinnamon 0.235g
*clove 0.15g
*rosemary 0.15g
3 cloves garlic steeped in 20mL chianti overnight.
1.25g Flavor of Italy starter culture in 60mL distilled water
2g mold 600 in 1/2 cup distilled water (mix at least 5 hours before application)
(3) 60-65mm beef middles, 24-25" long
*If only making 1kg. I recommend multiplying the amounts by 5 so you have enough to whiz in a spice grinder. Then weigh out .535g of the spice blend on an accurate scale.
Fermented @ 70*F for 27 hours to pH of 5.19.. I dried this salami down to 37-38% weight loss. I like this salami and how it turned out for my first attempt at it. I am glad I reduced the spices. The rosemary is right where it needs to be, the clove could be a little more pronounced, the cinnamon could be reduced by 1/2 as it overpowers the other spices in the profile. It is really good with fruit and mild cheeses. Very floral salami.
I reduced the spice profile of Len's recipe by about 1/3rd. I ran the fat through 4.5mm plate, lean through 6mm plate. Used Chianti wine for the high acidity and steeped 8 cloves of crushed garlic in it overnight. Stuffed into 60-65mm beef middles.
Recipe I used:
Sopressata Vicentina
Lean Pork; Leg, loin, shoulder 700g
Fat; Back & Belly 300g
Initial pH of pork was 5.94
Sea Salt 22.5g
Cure #2 3g
Dextrose 4g
Black pepper, coarse ground 2.7g
sugar, raw 3g
*cinnamon 0.235g
*clove 0.15g
*rosemary 0.15g
3 cloves garlic steeped in 20mL chianti overnight.
1.25g Flavor of Italy starter culture in 60mL distilled water
2g mold 600 in 1/2 cup distilled water (mix at least 5 hours before application)
(3) 60-65mm beef middles, 24-25" long
*If only making 1kg. I recommend multiplying the amounts by 5 so you have enough to whiz in a spice grinder. Then weigh out .535g of the spice blend on an accurate scale.
Fermented @ 70*F for 27 hours to pH of 5.19.. I dried this salami down to 37-38% weight loss. I like this salami and how it turned out for my first attempt at it. I am glad I reduced the spices. The rosemary is right where it needs to be, the clove could be a little more pronounced, the cinnamon could be reduced by 1/2 as it overpowers the other spices in the profile. It is really good with fruit and mild cheeses. Very floral salami.
Re: Salami Vicentina
Mmmmm that looks delicious!
Re: Salami Vicentina
Interesting spice combination I might have to give it a try. How was the flavour using that starter vs say TSP. It’s seems like a fairly quick ph drop
Re: Salami Vicentina
From my limited knowledge base:
Flavor of Italy is a fast ferment culture. It uses a pediococcus and Lacto. Sakei strains that have bioprotective qualities against lysteria. Flavor devopment and nitrogen reduction is from the Staphylococcus Carnosus Utilus strain that is said to handle lower acid environments below pH5.0 and down to pH4.7. Though I have not viewed the spec sheet to verify this claim.
So-you get the safety benefits of fast pH drop, but you also get the flavor development to mimic slow fermented products.
It does have a great flavor if you have not tried it yet.
Flavor of Italy is a fast ferment culture. It uses a pediococcus and Lacto. Sakei strains that have bioprotective qualities against lysteria. Flavor devopment and nitrogen reduction is from the Staphylococcus Carnosus Utilus strain that is said to handle lower acid environments below pH5.0 and down to pH4.7. Though I have not viewed the spec sheet to verify this claim.
So-you get the safety benefits of fast pH drop, but you also get the flavor development to mimic slow fermented products.
It does have a great flavor if you have not tried it yet.
Re: Salami Vicentina
That is what I’m trying to achieve with the Göttinger Stracke I have fermenting. I’ll have to look into it’s availability in Canada
Re: Salami Vicentina
What was the pH after 72hrs?
Re: Salami Vicentina
I did not check it at 72 hours redzed once pH dropped below 5.2 I moved them to my drying chamber. The pH may have dropped more, but the final salami does not have any noticeable tang....no acid taste...
This salami was made after the Pistachio and Lemon, so I bumped the dextrose up by 1 gram thinking I might not have added enough...after 27 hours the pH dropped 3.5 points lower than the pistachio did. I also made the pH test piece a larger dia. equal to the salamis so it would track more true.
Last edited by Indaswamp on Tue Mar 09, 2021 19:57, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Salami Vicentina
I am now hanging the test piece instead of placing it on top of the poles as when using a heater during winter, the heat rises and it is hottest near the top of the fermentation can lid.....
Re: Salami Vicentina
A better question for me to ask is how much dextrose and raw turbinado sugar do you suggest I add to drop the pH from 5.94 to about 5.2 using the Flavor of Italy started culture fermenting @ 70-71*F?
Re: Salami Vicentina
5.94 is up there, so more carbohydrate would be necessary. I would add 2.5g glucose and 2.5 sucrose. Turbinado sugar is usually coarse grained so it should be ground to a fine powder or diluted before adding to the farce. If it drops to less than 5.2, but not lower than 4.9, it will still be fine since the pH will rise by several points by the time it's finished. If the salami will be stuffed into a large diameter casing such as a bung, one more gram of sugar could also be added.
Re: Salami Vicentina
yes, the initial pH was 5.94.
Re: Salami Vicentina
Albertaed, I was asking redzed how much total sugar he would recommend, he answered with 2.5g dextrose and 2.5g sucrose, with the possibility of adding an additional gram if stuffed into a large diameter casing.