How to Make Salami
Today we're making dried chorizo salami with help from Carnivore Collective and their wide range of salami & sausage seasonings which are now available at BBQ Spit Rotisseries!
Each kit comes supplied with pre-measured spices and curing salts taking all the guesswork out and providing you with a safe and consistent product. Just add 5kg of meat and some liquid of your choice and you’re set.
Before starting here is a list of equipment you’ll need:
*Salami casing (natural or collagen)
*Carnivore Collective Salami seasoning
*Meat (containing at least 20% fat)
*Red/white wine (depending on seasoning kit flavour)
*Sharp knives for deboning/breaking down meat for grinder
*Measuring cup & kitchen scales
I’m using a bone in pork shoulder. I prefer to use these as they have a perfect meat/fat ratio. Remember we're looking for a net yield of 5kg of ground meat so look for the largest shoulder you can find as there will be losses removing the bone and putting it through the grinder.
Remove the meat from the packaging and pat dry.
Remove the fat cap, wrap it in cling film and place it in the freezer. This will help when cubing up later.
Remove the bone and cut the meat ready for mincing. The size will largely depend on the type of mincer you’re using but generally speaking, if using a smaller domestic type grinder then it's best to cube the meat into smaller pieces as this will help prevent the grinder from overloading. For this batch, I'm using a 1hp grinder which can easily handle large strips of meat. Most important though is to use a course plate (8 – 10mm). I used an 8mm plate for this batch.
Tip: Place the meat and grinder head in the freezer 1 hour prior to cutting to firm it up a bit which will make it much easier to break down, and having the grinder head chilled helps prevent the fat from smearing.
Step 2:
Run the meat through the mincer.
Remove the fat from the freezer (it should be nice and firm now) and dice it up into small pieces (alternatively to make things a little simpler you can run the semi frozen fat through the grinder instead of hand cutting, however the finished product won’t have quite the same texture). Combine and weigh for a total of 5kg (don’t forget to allow for the weights of the containers also)
Step 3:
Add the curing salts.
Add the seasoning.
Finally, add in your liquid. I’m using 250ml of Shiraz.
This is what it looks like after approximately 15 minutes of mixing. Note the change in colour and texture as this is good indication that the bind has been successful.
At this point, it should be so sticky that you will be able to roll a ball, press it into your palm and hold it inverted without it dropping. If so you're all done and can proceed to the next step.
Step 4:
Now you're ready to load the mixture into the sausage filling machine. The key point here is to load it without creating any air pockets and the best way to achieve this is to grab a handful of the mixture, throw it into the hopper and with a clenched fist punch it down 2-3 times to remove any potential air pockets. Repeat until full.
Pull some casing over the end and tie off like so
Tie off another knot on the opposite end and cut.
Next, we need to weigh and tag each salami. We use this “green weight” to calculate for a minimum of 30% weight loss at which point it’s ready to eat. In the example below the green weight is 694g so 30% is 208g (694 x 0.3) meaning that this will be ready when it reaches 486g or less (694g – 208g). Personally, I prefer mine around a 40% loss so I let them hang for another week or two.
At this stage, I also check for any visible air pockets along the surface and if found, I prick them with the end of a toothpick and gently push the air out.
The only thing left to do is finding a suitable place to hang them and wait. The best place for them to hang is somewhere that’s consistent in temperature and humidity (ideally below 20c). A lot of garages, large cupboards or even under the house are ideal. That’s it for this tutorial, if you have any further questions please contact us here at BBQ Spit Rotisseries.
Check out our range of Salami Seasonings & meat Grinder
by Doug Johansson
