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salami

I have processing my own game for a long time we do it all except. charcuterie true old world culture (good bacteria) cured salami. this really interestes me because it needs no refrigeration. iv read on the subject many times but have not tried doing it because you need a temperature & humidity controlled environment. to cure the salami in. if anyone does this I'm not do much interested in recipes plenty of them on Google what I'm interested in is the environment you cure it in ...I don't have a basement or storm cellar but have thought about dedicating a fridge to it but probably to much humidity ? if you do this please explain your methods .thanks

I grew up back in Italy and moved to Canada at age 20, but I still have the traditions/culture of the old country in my blood, we make everything ourselves from the best wine to the best cheese and salami, we made salami from 100% pork, I haven’t never tried from wild game, and you are right the trick it is in the humidity , if you don’t have a cold cellar you might be out of luck, salami needs cool temperatures ad humidity, if is to hot they dry on the outside and they will not cure inside, if is too much humidity, it will be mold on the outside, which is ok but you have to wash it with water and vinegar, so that the mold will not grow, make sure you have the right dosage of SALT that’s what makes the meat cure , too much salt will be OK but not enough will spoil the meat, i’ll recommend to try a small batch and see how it goes and learn from your own mistake, fridge is not going to work is not enough humidity Good luck

thanks I'm surprised there's no interest in this thread. iv always wanted to learn & once cured no refrigeration needed is why I'd have venison salami sticks stashed every where

thanks I'm surprised there's no interest in this thread. iv always wanted to learn & once cured no refrigeration needed is why I'd have venison salami sticks stashed every where

My friend cures his meats in hi garage. He dedicated one corner of it solely for that. He puts up a Zip-Wall, a floor to ceiling temporary wall used on construction sites to contain and control dust and debris to the work area. It is based on several telescoping spring poles and a heavy mil plastic tarp for the walls. One side has a zippered "door" for entry. He then places a humidifier in there and monitors the humidity and temperature. He does not use a large space at all, maybe 6' X 8' max.

Charcuterie & Salumi has been hobby and fascination of mine since I was kid. I don’t think it translates well to forum conversations however so I think it explains the general lack of interests in these topics when they come up. I just put up a new batch of Soppressata.

Ahhhhh, I do love cured meats. The famous Meat chandelier at the Calabria Pork Store on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx NY...

Timex you will not going to find too many people interested in this subject this is a tradition from only the southern part of Italy , not a North America tradition, it take dedication and knowledge, this is a tradition hand down from generation to generation, I’m trying to teach my kids and hope they will continue, but I don’t think so

Not exactly the same thing but we have always "dried" some of our homemade Klabasa (Keilbasa's) that we mainly boil and eat. It has a curing salt in it just for this purpose and ends up similar to a Italian dried salami I suppose. They hang in a dark cool closet in the basement for about 2 weeks and you're good to go. They go fast around here when its ready...

Been thinking of trying some more recipes. Do be careful as doing it wrong can cause problems. The link has some good info.

Hopefully the Food Safety experts on here will chime in with some advice.

The link I posted above mentions a place called Butcher & Packer, they sell spices, and lots of supplies for sausage making. I have used them and tried a bunch of their stuff and find them quite reliable and pretty cheap.

Don’t be afraid to experiment, (Keep Notes), Keep everything clean for safety and you might be shocked at how good things come out.

See link.

Hi Todd, All that sounds and looks delicious to me. A bonus to sometimes having Italians, Germans, Austrians, or European French at the caribou camp I guided at years ago was being invited to eat with them!

Here are a few books that I have that are very helpful. "Preserving" a Doring Kinnersly book by Oded Schwartz "Dry Curing Pork" by Hector Kent "Jerky" from The Fatted Calf by Taylor Boetticher and Toponia Miller

Kip next time I make Kabanos I will send you some!

“this is a tradition from only the southern part of Italy”

Great to be proud of your heritage but look around the rest of the world, there are plenty of non refrigerated meat preparations of all sorts from around the world both ancient and modern. Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa the Americas, refrigeration is relatively recent and not yet everywhere. The Italians do make a large variety and some of the more tasty versions.

Check out these 2 books...."Charcuterie" and "Salumi" written by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. These are very good books to get one started. Many people`s basement has the perfect conditions needed to create good cured meats. It`s a rather simple process but it does need to be done correctly to insure food safety.

hey Ken hope all is well. it's been a great hunting season so far. think I'm gonna build a small insulated shed to do tripple duty as a deer cooler smoke house & controlled environment meat-salam ager. iv been wanting to try curing salami for some time now.

Down in Central Texas the Germans do several varieties of dried sausages.

I make German style smoked sausage with game meat but have had a tough time making dried sausage. Have made it back in Texas and it worked well. Just doesn’t come out right up here in Colorado. I think it has to do with the humidity.

I love good salami but the curing process is a little difficult and would have to set up something like Al Dente describes here in this dry climate. The temperature control is tough up here too - heated garage is around 55-60 and the shed can be below zero in November/December.

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