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Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2015 21:42
by Butterbean
Redzed, could you talk a little about the pressing? I was wondering if you used wood and if so was it sealed wood or raw wood and any issues you need to be careful of when pressing.

Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2015 09:04
by crustyo44
It's amazing what a few weeks of vacuum packing any kind of cured and dried meat can do if you have a dry rim.
Your Spaniata Romana finished up looking wonderful.

FWIW, when I make Csabai, I always salt and spice the meat cubes and cure it in the fridge for up to 3, sometimes 4 days, depending on what I am doing. I never had a dud yet.

My Csabai was very much appreciated at the Christmas party and following dinner, just finished this afternoon.
2 kg of the mild and hot variety disappeared in no time at all. Then it was back to the commercial made rubbish with all the appropriate comments.

Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2015 21:49
by redzed
Thanks everyone for your kind comments. The spaniata romana was definately a hit over the holidays. Too bad I could not share it with you guys! :cry:
Bob K wrote:Culture - did you use the Gewürzmüller Bitec LS-1 culture? I can't find any info for Bitec LM-1
See the spec sheet below. I really like this culture.
Butterbean wrote:Redzed, could you talk a little about the pressing? I was wondering if you used wood and if so was it sealed wood or raw wood and any issues you need to be careful of when pressing.
One of these days I will get around to building myself a proper press. What I used for this project was very simple. I pressed the spaniata between two large polyethylene cutting boards. I had to place 60lbs of weight on this particular sausage before it would have any effect.
crustyo44 wrote:My Csabai was very much appreciated at the Christmas party and following dinner, just finished this afternoon.
2 kg of the mild and hot variety disappeared in no time at all. Then it was back to the commercial made rubbish with all the appropriate comments.
Hey Jan, how about some pics and an updated recipe of your csabai! You could probably cold smoke it, dry and call it Spanish chorizo! :grin:

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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:20
by crustyo44
Red,
I will take some photo's and post them, with my version of Snagman's original Csabai recipe when I make my next batch.
This will be soon as I don't even have enough sausage left to add to a gallon jar of picked eggs.
Cheers,
Jan.

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 17:09
by Butterbean
One of these days I will get around to building myself a proper press. What I used for this project was very simple. I pressed the spaniata between two large polyethylene cutting boards. I had to place 60lbs of weight on this particular sausage before it would have any effect.
Thanks. I've also have been considering building a press of sorts. I thought I might build it similar to a cheese press with some camming levers mounted on rods. I was curious if you had any thoughts on whether the press should be somewhat porous or sealed. I have a plenty of polyethylene scrap boards I could use but was wondering if raw wood wouldn't be better since it could provide some wicking like with cheese.

Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 19:47
by Bob K
Thanks for posting the spec sheet

Hmm I did not see any of the Chr Hansen cultures that use that (Kocuria (Micrococcus) ) strain.

I am jealous of the color!

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 08:49
by redzed
Even though the Spianata was a huge sausage, it disappeared over the holiday season. Definitely a favourite when I served it with other sausages and meats. About 10 days ago I made another one, this time weighing almost 6kg (13.2lbs)! I used only 80% Class I meat from fresh hams and 20% hard back fat. Did not change a thing as far as the ingredients. The second picture puts its size into perspective. :grin:

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Fermented and pressed

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Kinda dwarfs the rest of the chamber occupants!

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 13:44
by Bob K
Wow that is Huge! Why not make in two sections so you could could hang it vertically?

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 10:27
by redzed
Good question Bob, and one that I asked myself. But then it looks so beautiful, how could I sever it in two? :shock: And then it would no longer have the honour of being the largest sausage I ever made. :lol:

Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 04:42
by redzed
After 31/2 months it was time to pull the Spaniata. It dropped 36% from 5640g to 3610g. Slight case hardening, but if you look at the slices on the last pic, it was all gone after 3 weeks in a vacuum. Looks like I will have enough for many happy hours over the summer months. Taste is excellent and the only thing that I will do next time I make it, is to substitute Calabrian peppers for the generic hot pepper flakes. Notice that I saved the skins since this big sausage had a nice clean coat of p. nalgionvense.

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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 01:25
by Butterbean
Beautiful. Another to add to the list.

Re: Spianata Romana

Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2021 17:27
by jjnurk
Quick question. I'm still a rookie when it comes to the starter cultures and fermentation. I would like to make some more of this, however I cant find any of the bitec lm-1 that I used before on the market. I'm sure there's an equal substitute however, I'm not sure which bacteria I'm looking for to replicate this soppressata.

Re: Spianata Romana

Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2021 19:21
by redzed
Since it is a classic Southern European sausage, a slower acidification and milder tasting product is the best. Ferment to no lower than a pH of 4.9. Use a starter such as Mondostart Classic, Bactoferm B-LC-007, Bactoferm T-SPX, Lallemand LALCULT, SAX-01. Bactoferm products are ridiculously expensive in Canada. I would buy the Lallemand SAX-01. You can order it here: https://testek.ca/en/produit/lallemand- ... sax01-15g/

Re: Spaniata Romana

Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2021 12:33
by jjnurk
Thx Chris, that the site I was actually looking on. Still haven't wrapped my head around the types of bacteria and what they do.

Re: Spianata Romana

Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2021 16:49
by redzed
You can also get Mondostart Classic from Halford's in Calgary. It has a lower cell count than other starters out there but it should work well.