Can my salami be saved?
Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2019 01:10
Hi from Australia.
So this is my first batch of salami. It's something I've been wanting to do forever. Not too long ago a neighbor moved out and left a full sized fridge in their driveway with a "free" sign on it. I took that as a sign that the time was right to build my cabinet
Fast forward a few weeks. I've been drying my salamis for about 4 weeks now and they have lost 37% of their weight and still feel squishy in the middle. I cut one open and it seems to be cured on the outside and soft in the middle. See pics below. They also don't smell the best - well nice like salami. Sour sort of smell but not a make you gag smell like off meat.
I'm suspecting case hardening? Is it gone?
Here's the recipe and my method:
1.8kg/4lbs pork shoulder
about 5-6 tablespoons of red wine
2 tablespoons of fennel plus pepper
a bit over 2% premixed salt/cure #1
starter culture as per instructions on pack (Lactobacillus)
natural hog casings (I think they are size 40/42)
I used very cold meat which was almost frozen before mincing and stuffing. Meat was mixed well and went very sticky.
After the meat was mixed, I stuffed them in natural hog casing - I did this quite slowly and let the pressure build a little to try and avoid air pockets. I then pricked and hung them in my chamber at 21c/70f for about 48 hrs @ 90% humidity.
I then lowered temp to 13c/55f and humidity to 85%. I've had them at these settings for 5 days. I just lowered the temp again today to 10c/50f and humidity to 80%. Also I've had a computer fan blowing on them for 20 mins on/20 mins off.
Can it be saved? Where did I go wrong?
Here's some images. If they don't appear in the post check them out here:
https://imgur.com/a/LW3m12H
https://imgur.com/a/QNsWJdE
So this is my first batch of salami. It's something I've been wanting to do forever. Not too long ago a neighbor moved out and left a full sized fridge in their driveway with a "free" sign on it. I took that as a sign that the time was right to build my cabinet
Fast forward a few weeks. I've been drying my salamis for about 4 weeks now and they have lost 37% of their weight and still feel squishy in the middle. I cut one open and it seems to be cured on the outside and soft in the middle. See pics below. They also don't smell the best - well nice like salami. Sour sort of smell but not a make you gag smell like off meat.
I'm suspecting case hardening? Is it gone?
Here's the recipe and my method:
1.8kg/4lbs pork shoulder
about 5-6 tablespoons of red wine
2 tablespoons of fennel plus pepper
a bit over 2% premixed salt/cure #1
starter culture as per instructions on pack (Lactobacillus)
natural hog casings (I think they are size 40/42)
I used very cold meat which was almost frozen before mincing and stuffing. Meat was mixed well and went very sticky.
After the meat was mixed, I stuffed them in natural hog casing - I did this quite slowly and let the pressure build a little to try and avoid air pockets. I then pricked and hung them in my chamber at 21c/70f for about 48 hrs @ 90% humidity.
I then lowered temp to 13c/55f and humidity to 85%. I've had them at these settings for 5 days. I just lowered the temp again today to 10c/50f and humidity to 80%. Also I've had a computer fan blowing on them for 20 mins on/20 mins off.
Can it be saved? Where did I go wrong?
Here's some images. If they don't appear in the post check them out here:
https://imgur.com/a/LW3m12H
https://imgur.com/a/QNsWJdE