Learning the ancient art of curing meat and creating the perfect homemade salami is one of the most prized Italian family food experiences. The whole process from meat selection, mincing, mixing, filling, curing and ultimately enjoying the end product is highly satisfying, rewarding and not to mention, tasty.
Although the motivation for having a batch of salumi in storage to complete the Italian families’ pantry of staples for the year, most will agree that bringing family and friends together to experience the richness of culture and traditional homemade Italian foods is what it’s really all about.
Home Make It have long been assisting families to transform their garages into suburban food factories, offering generations of experience, advice and all the supplies required get people equipped and inspired, for the expert to the novice alike. Leading the way in Melbourne with the education of homemade food and beverages with various hands-on workshops and courses further reinforces Home Make It’s place at the forefront of the growing slow food scene. And their recently launched equipment and recipe kit ranges will get all people, from the expert to the novice alike on their way to producing and preserving delicious and healthy homemade foods.
Have a go at becoming your own ‘salumiere’ by trying the following Hot Italian Salami Recipe. Contact the friendly Home Make It team before commencing your salami making process for further information, safety tips or assistance.
Hot Italian Salami Recipe Ingredients
1 kilo pork
28g – 30g fine sea salt (if using a curing compound, reduce salt to 18-20g)
5g sweet paprika
3g chilli flakes
1g cracked black pepper
20ml hot pepper sauce
30-50ml sweet pepper sauce (depending on dryness of the meat)
30-50ml red wine (depending on dryness of the meat)
intestine or casing
MEAT PREPARATION
Ensure all equipment that will be used for your homemade salami making has been sanitised before use and that gloves are worn at all times. Salami should be kept in as cold conditions (14˚C max.) as possible to maintain meat integrity.
Cut skin off leg, and try to keep as much of the fat on as possible.
Once meat has been separated from bone, section out any sinew, cartilage or bone fragments from the meat. Keep the nice white fat with the meat; any translucent fat needs to be removed. Salami should roughly be made up of a 30% fat to 70% meat ratio.
MINCE
Once you are happy with the meat preparation, you then cut the chunks of the meat and fat into strips or lengths that will fit into the hopper of your mincer/filler.
MIX
Add the spices, ensure to mix thoroughly and evenly throughout the minced meat. Use a little wine, liquid or pepper sauce to help the mixing if meat is too dry.
Mix thoroughly until the meat is a sticky consistency. Test by sticking a patty into your hand, turn your hand upside down, if the patty sticks and defies gravity your meat is ready for filling, if it falls off – keep mixing.
Cover the meat and let it sit for 6 to 24 hours in a fridge to settle and absorb the spices before filling.
FILL
Soak casing in either of the following lukewarm water solutions; water and wine (50% water – 50% white wine), water and salt (10% salt to amount of water), water and lemon (1 whole lemon cut in wedges, placed in water) and soak the casing for no longer 5 minutes each. Drain any excess water out of casing ready for use.
Create balls of meat to fit into the hopper of the mincer/filler and pack in, ensure there are no air gaps between the balls of meat as you fill, so you will need to continually feed the balls of meat into the mincer hopper as you are filling the casing.
Make sure that the casing is packed hard and that there are no air pockets left in the meat.
Tie off the salami with string as tight and as close to the meat as possible. Tie a loop in the string on one end for hanging up the salami for curing. Once tied up, prick skin of salami with a pricker several times over the surface of the salami to allow any air to escape.
Applying netting to your freshly made salami will ensure the meat remains tight and compressed throughout the curing process which will also assist in a successful cured salami.
Netting can be applied to salami using a netting tube applicator. Then thread string through end of net, make a loop and then leave to hang in a well-ventilated place, normally for several months or more depending on size of salami.
Curing Salami
For most people a garage or cellar is going to be used as their curing area.
The following rules should be applied to curing areas:
*make sure that no vermin, flies or animals can access the area,*the area must remain cool (14˚C max.) at all times,*the area should not be draughty,*humidity during curing should try to be at least 60+%, and*if humidity it is not high enough, then some water in a bowl or moist sawdust can be used to help humidity content.
Storage
Once salami is deemed ready, for best results, they should be vacuum-sealed and placed in the fridge to give the salami the maximum life.
Enjoy with family and friends!
Disclaimer: Home Make It offers this recipe as a suggestion only. All imagery, menu and process information is copyright protected. We take no responsibility for outcomes due to the variability of meat quality, salami making ability, equipment used and suitability of salami making area for production of salami.
