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[Bentley]

More Salami. L-C-R. Three 16 in 50mm Soppressata,  Three 18 in 60mm and 3 16 in 50mm Genoa, and finally Seven 16 inch 50mm Spanish Chorizo. 

And the pièce de résistance.  The 20 in 76mm Soppressata, being pressed during fermentation like the Old World Masters would do.  And this is a Calabrian variety, so you will need to enjoy a hot spicy kick to enjoy this one. (Personally I do not think it is gonna work with a collagen casing.  Needed a beef bung)

The Geno before being weighed and hung.  There is no mistaking Spanish Chorizo!

[GREG-B]

Wow, nice!!!

[elenis]

It is so cool that you do all this Bentley. I just get myself super paranoid about giving family botulism by messing things up doing something like this, but I really enjoy meats like this.

[Bentley]

It is a pretty straight forward process.  I learned there are no short cuts.  And the equipment can be had for less then I though if you are will to get things like used fridges.  After that, it is pretty much 2+2=4.  I learned the hard way pH is the area you do not want to guess at, for both safety and ruined product!  Will I ever get the subtle taste nuance's down, no.  But I like the way it comes out and for 1/5th the cost.

[BigDave83]

Nice, a lot going on there.

Are you using a recipe or a  premade spice/seasoning mix?

[Bentley]

Recipe.  After the salt, cure and cultures, there are only 3-4 spices in each of these.

[Bentley]

About the only time you want mold growing in your home.  I will say, it smells like an Italian Deli when you open the door, so I think that is a good thing! I think the 3rd batch might be the best so far!

[yorkdude]

That really looks fantastic, I have been tempted several times but I also really fear getting something wrong and the subsequent fallout. We haven’t fired up the smoker in probably 5 months, we just dont really eat it much anymore. Not sure if its age related or just burned out on it? When the weather breaks we will make more jerky and maybe some more bacon but the bellies are priced ridiculously now so its by no means cost saving. Ugh.

[Bentley]

1 week in and we are getting pretty good mold coverage.  I am please that the Mold is attaching to the Fibrous Casings.  As you know, a fibrous casing are a unique combination of regenerated cellulose applied to a special paper for exceptional strength and diameter uniformity.  So I had no idea what was coming.  I have also heard that they will not shrink with the meat like a collagen or natural casing.  I will be interested to see if that is true, and more importantly makes a difference in product quality!

And yes, I hate the wait.

[pmillen]

This is better reading than a Ken Follett novel but I don't think it's for me.

[Bentley]

Start of week 3.  The large pressed Sopprasota have lost about 23%.  The 65mm Genoa about 25% and the small 50mm in all 3 flavors are down 27-28% weight loss.  I shaved off a little of the pH nub testers and I think it is gonna be a good batch!

[BigDave83]

nice uniform coat on it. What percentage of loss are you looking for?

[Bentley]

Most recipes call for 35%, I prefer a harder salami, so I shot for 40%.

[Bentley]

Start of week 4.

The 50mm are at about 37%.  I have come to finally understand that "Drying" time and the amount of time required to "finish" the salami are 2 different things. Technically they are safe to eat and OK, but may not have much depth of flavor (to which I can say yes I believe that after eating these 3)  The 50mm are done, They will now start "Aging."  The 65mm will probably be done in a week, and they will start aging.  And the 76mm will probably be done the 1st of March and they will start Aging.  At that point it takes 2-3 months of aging to develop the deeper flavors I guess!

[yorkdude]

All of them look fantastic!