Home Salami-Making
Ari writes in with our latest installment of Adventures in Meat.
I haven’t been able to find real kosher hard salami. Sure, you can buy a kosher salami and dry it yourself, and some butchers will dry one for you, but they are all kosher-style salamis — which means that they have been cooked or smoked, unlike Italian- and German- style salamis, which are raw. Well, not actually raw, but fermented. So, two years ago I decided to try to make my own salami, kosher. That didn’t work out so well, so I just tried again.
First, some background. Salami is made from spiced ground meat and fat, cured with salt. Salt inhibits the growth of most micro-organisms, but salt doesn’t actually kill many of those organisms. For example, e. coli (which is the biggest worry with raw meat) will not be killed by salt (at least not in the 2-5% salt concentration range, since anything above that would be unpalatable), so some other precaution has to be taken to ensure that the meat is safe to eat. Kosher-style salami is typically cooked to kill the bacteria. Another possibility would be to test the meat for bacteria, but that would require sophisticated equipment. The other possibility is acid, since most bacteria cannot survive high levels of acidity.
Italian and German salamis use acidity to control bacteria. They are fermented sausages. A starter culture (consisting of a safe strain of bacteria or yeast) is placed within the meat. The safe culture eats sugars within the salami and produces lactic acid as a by-product. After a short amount of time, the lactic acid builds up to a high enough level to kill harmful bacteria.
Salami also usually contains sodium nitrite and nitrate (or, less often, potassium nitrite/nitrate, or saltpeter). The nitrite serves two main functions. First, it gives the meat an appealing pink color. Second, it kills clostridium botulinum bacteria, which produce botulinum toxin. Nitrate gets converted to nitrite over the course of fermentation, thus ensuring a constant supply, even as the nitrite is used up.
I have been able to find a kosher source of nitrite/nitrate (Morton’s Tenderquick), but I have not been able to find a kosher-pareve (or kosher-meat) source of lactic acid starter culture (kosher-dairy sources exist for cheesemaking). If you happen to find such a source, I would like to know about it. So, I had to try to find an alternative source of acidity.
A lot of salami contains red wine as an ingredient. This made me think of balsamic vinegar. Most balsamic vinegar (OK, OK, kosher balsamic vinegar is typically not authentic, but it is good enough for some purposes) is about 6% acetic acid. A quick Google search turned up a study showing that even a 0.5% concentration of acetic acid kills e. coli (even acid-resistant dangerous O157:H7 e. coli) quite effectively (a 6 log reduction in a matter of hours). So, all I need is to use balsamic vinegar as about 1/12 of my recipe.
That is what I did 2 years ago. But, I was still worried about e. coli, so I also cooked the salami (to 140 degrees internal temperature) before drying it. After drying, the salami came out crumbly and it dried too much, making it very salty. I hypothesized that the cooking process damaged the cellular structure of the meat, allowing too much water to escape. The cooking heat also caused the fat to melt and collect on the sides and bottom of the salami. I still think that the cooking may have caused the meat to be dry and crumbly, but I also discovered recently that acidity impedes the curing process, preventing the meat from properly firming up. One source indicated that if the meat mixture is too acidic before the curing has progressed sufficiently, the result will be crumbly. I also learned that the fat is an integral part of the curing process (and last time I only added the fat after curing the meat with salt for a day).
So, this time I decided to A: not cook the salami before drying (I might cook it after drying, but I haven’t decided yet) and B: let the meat and fat cure for several days in the refrigerator before adding the acid.
So, I went to Gordon & Alperin and purchased 5.5 pounds of freshly ground lean beef shoulder (since I don’t have a grinder). I also purchased 1.5 pounds of beef fat, which I asked Ricardo to grind for me. However, the fat should be frozen before and after grinding. Upon receiving the fat, it was a big mush, so it appears he did not freeze the fat. So, I froze the fat and then used a grater to grate about a pound of it. I invited a few friends over, and we set about salami making.
First, I mixed 2529 g of beef with 423 g of small frozen fat pieces. I also added 19 grams of kosher salt and 84 grams of Morton’s Tenderquick (which is 0.5% sodium nitite, 0.5% sodium nitrate, and about 97% salt).
I then refrigerated the mixture for 3 days. I also cut up a few cloves of garlic and left them to macerate in 8.5 fluid ounces (285 g) of balsamic vinegar (I used Bartenura Select) for 3 days.
After that, we strained the vinegar and added the spices and vinegar to the meat.
We then stuffed the mixture into casings.
I unfortunately was not able to procure kosher edible collagen casings. One company in Australia makes them kosher, but I wasn’t able to order them in small quantities. So, I had to use fibrous casings (which, unfortunately, do not shrink with the meat as it dries) that my friend was able to get for me. Stuffing the casings was quite difficult. We used a 1.5″ dowel to stuff into the 2″ casings, but it wasn’t that effective. It next-to-impossible to get all the bubbles out of the casings. If anyone has any pointers, I would like to know.
Here is the recipe:
5.5 lbs beef (actually 2529 g)
423 g fat
8.5 fl. oz balsamic vinegar (285 g) steeped with 58 g of garlic (later strained out)
84 g Tenderquick
19 g kosher salt
1 tbsp (13 g) sugar
30 g of garlic, fried in oil until crispy
6 g freshly ground black pepper
7 g mustard flour
4 g ground cayenne pepper
7 g paprika
5 g onion powder
The final yield (after losing some spilled ingredients) was 7 stuffed salamis with a total mass of 3231 g.
That is calculated to be 15.4% fat, 61.3% water, 3.0% salt, 0.507% acetic acid, and 1/8019 each sodium nitrite and nitrate (USDA regulations require less than 1/6410, so safe). Because hard salami should be about 30-35% water, I intend to dry the salamis to between 55.3% and 59.9% of the initial mass, which should take 3-6 weeks. That should result in about 25.8-27.9% fat (which is less than the 30% maximum to be considered salami), 5.0-5.4% salt, and 0.84-0.91% acid, which should make the final result quite tangy. I’ll let you know in a few weeks how it turns out.
I know you did this for the experience as much as the product, but what did the price per salamis works out to be?
Surprise! We made these salamis about 2 weeks ago, and one of the salamis got down to the target weight (55.3% initial mass) in exactly 2 weeks (a couple more are close, and the rest probably need another 3-7 days), so I was able to try the salami today.
It actually wasn’t bad. The meat was actually sliceable, although it was still slightly crumbly (although much better than last time). I could slice pieces 1/4 inch thick (which is thick for hard salami…), although some of the pieces broke while slicing. I think the problem was that we just weren’t able to stuff the casings tightly enough.
Flavor was pretty good. Tangy and slightly salty. Nothing like any kosher salami I have ever tried before. I think it could maybe have used some additional spices (except there was enough garlic), including more cayenne.
Overall, I will declare moderate success on this round. Next time I need to find proper casings (which shrink with the meat, and which are preferably edible), and I need to find a better way to stuff the casings. I think thinner dowels would help. Instead of 1.5″ dowels for 2″ casings, I think 1″ would be better. Using real starter culture would be cool too, if possible.
Regarding the price, this was not cost effective, although it produced a result unlike anything I have ever tried before (kosher). Since I got the meat from Gordon & Alperin, I paid exorbitant prices, as is typical. $14.99/lb for the beef shoulder meat. The total price of all ingredients worked out to be about $100 for the 7 salamis, or about $25/lb dried. That is considerably higher than the $13.99 charged by this site, http://aaronsgourmet.pagedepot.com/html/kosher_deli.html , but I was using very expensive meat. It looks like shoulder roast is sold for $5.59/lb at http://aaronsgourmet.pagedepot.com/html/glatt_kosher_beef.html so if I used that meat, the price would have come out closer to $13.45/lb, which is not a bad price at all for hard salami (Rubin’s charges $16/lb as I recall). Of course, that would require me to buy a meat grinder, so I could grind the meat myself, but the marginal cost would still be low.
I’ll see if I can post some pictures soon.
Fantastic stuff. Very interested to see photos of the salami. The devro sausage casings are tough to come by. Last time I bought them I had to buy in industrial quantities. Definitely worth buying a grinder with relevant attachment for stuffing the skins – it’ll make your life much easier and less messy. I use a fairly standard hand grinder and it does the trick.
BS”D
Fantastic. I”m going to try my hand soon at hot links and brats (need them for the restaurant). I contacted Devro, and I’ll be getting some collagen casings from them eventually. I have a grinder, inherited from the previous owner, that fits on the auxilliary shaft of the Hobart 20 qt. mixer (which I have never before used for mixing, mushc less suasage making). And I bought a sausage stuffing tube, but I understand that one really needs a sausage stuffer without grinder for the best results, unless it’s your intent to grind the meat another time while stuffing it. Since I don’t have one, a final grind will be part of the recipe, whether I like it or not. LA has the largest total and largest per capita sausage consumption in the country. So another kosher place that has some sausages to sell couldn’t hurt, and could well be complementary and synergistic to the Q.
I am trying to get 11/2 – 2 inch dia casings from Devro for sausage stuffing. I dont want to but a whole case but would be willing to but a portion from someone. Any ideas on how to do this?
If you get 2 inch kosher edible casings, I would also be interested. Depending on the minimum order, we might be able to split an order.
Otherwise, a couple of years ago I called Devro up, and they told me that I could try to contact one of their customers in New Jersey which might be willing to sell a small quantity of casings. I never contacted that client, but I just looked it up in my e-mail records, and it looks like it is EAST COAST INDUSTRIES LOCATED IN EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ. Al Weigel is the contact person there.
oh my goodness. I simply cannot WAIT to hear how this turns out! My mom used to make the cooked salami, and it was good, but NOT THE SAME.
OH, I sit with anticipation!
The salami can also be sliced and dried in a dehydrator. As the process is faster (a few hours) it keeps the fat from going rancid, is more pliable, and does not grow mold during the process. I recently switched and found it to be a superior product.
I am also looking for kosher collagen casings to keep my beef sticks straight and smooth.
Wouldn’t the fat melt away in a dehydrator? I think beef fat starts to melt around 90 degrees F… Salami is supposed to have identifiable flecks of fat embedded therein.
Also, I don’t think the salamis that I made would have been sliceable before drying. And I haven’t noticed any rancidity problems with the fat, nor have I noticed any mold. The acidity is probably high enough to inhibit most molds from growing.
You can, however, make a beef jerky-like product by placing lean ground beef (salted and spiced) in a dehydrator. I have not tried this yet, but I am thinking about it.
Some of the fat melts, some will stay. Thickness of the slice ought to make a difference.
As for rancidity, it is most noticeable when comparing dehydrated to dried. It should be sliceable after some time. Perhaps a mixture of hang drying and dehydrating would work.
The mold depends on the environment. It shows up as a white spread on the outer wrapper, and might be mistaken for fat or dust. The mold is because of the moisture, which is low but existent. It can be inhibited with sorbic acid, specifically, potassium sorbate.
BTW, i am working on getting the kosher collagen casings. The distributor sent me to a store. I plan to purchase a case from them when the get back to me. They sell half-cases as well, but it would be without the original hechsher on it.
why don’t you try butcher supply detort mi just gogel buchersupply thay seam to have the best supply
Salami is actually SUPPOSED to have a fine white mold on the outside of the casing. It is harmless (usually penicillin-based) and considered desirable by most salami purists. See http://home.pacbell.net/lpoli/page0002.htm
In any case, I have never had this or any other type of mold grow on the outside (or inside) of my salamis, be they homemade or store-bought and left to dry.
Oh, and I looked it up — beef fat has a melting point of 114 F, which is less than the standard meat-drying temperature in a dehydrator (145-150 F, which is needed to kill e. coli). If the salami has been pastuerized (as has most store-bought kosher salami) or if it has enough acid, it should be safe to dehydrate at less than 114 F (as long as the salt content is high enough to inhibit bacterial growth). But if you are making your own salami from scratch, it needs to either be properly heated (which, unfortunately, should melt much of the fat) or acidified.
I learned something new today.
BTW, the FSIS has this to say aboud molds on salami : “Fresh meat and poultry are usually mold free, but cured and cooked meats may not be. Examine them carefully. Exceptions: Some salamis — San Francisco, Italian, and Eastern European types — have a characteristic thin, white mold coating which is safe to consume; however, they shouldn’t show any other mold.”
Personally, i find mold like that unappetizing, but to each their own. I’m going with Potassium Sorbate.
I dehydrate at 160, so the 140 ought to be reached.
BTW, i ordered the case of collagen casings which ought to be sent tomorrow. They are ~2.5 times the size i usually make, so i’ll probably get a thermometer to make sure 140 is achieved for the appropriate amount of time.
Boruch,
Can you provide some details about the casings you ordered? What size are they? Who is the distributor, and how can we contact it? I assume the casings are Devro brand, right? How much did they cost?
BTW, I agree that the mold sounds unappetizing, but I have never actually tasted it or even seen it in person…
The company is Devro, the hechsher is on their website. I spoke to someone at Devro and she emailed me a scanned version which is large enough to read.
The size is 30mm (~1.18″). The casings are clear and each strand holds 5 to 10 lbs.
The distributor is Jerry Hirschman, though for small quantities he referred me to Park East Kosher. I don’t see the item listed on the website. Orders@ their domain which is parkeastkosher.com gets the job done. (Email kept separate to not generate spam for them.)
The cost for a whole box is $195. It has 30 strands. Half a box is $98. Shipping is $11 via FedEx and packing is $6. Reportedly, UPS is cheaper, but their default seems to be FedEx, and i prefer FedEx anyway.
Thus, it’s $6.50 a strand, or with shipping ~$7.07 a strand. Down to the pound, for 5 and 10 pounds, that’s $1.30/$0.65, or with shipping ~$1.42/~$0.71, i’ll have to test it out to see how many pounds i can fit in it.
To comparing with their non-kosher counterparts, i searched ebay for collagen casings and found about $0.80/lb for 10 pounds. Searching elsewhere, made me feel about , about $0.50/lb. Based on these quick findings, i don’t feel theae are significantly more expensive. Especially considering it is made in Australia.
According to FedEx’s website, the casings should be delivered tomorrow (Friday, 31st). I ought to be testing it out Motzai Shabbos or Sunday. I just want to get a meat thermometer first.
As for the mold, a store-bought salami hanging in a non-dry environment for a few weeks ought to have a decent culture on the outside. I’ve seen it a few times, which is one reason i switched to dehydrating.
Thanks. Is that 30mm the radius or the diameter? 1.18″ is pretty thin for the diameter of a salami. Thin salamis are usually more like 2-2.5″ wide. Also, how long are the strands? If they hold 5-10 pounds, they must be quite long…
So, your post was slightly unclear. Did you get the casings from Jerry Hirschman or Park East Kosher? If from Park East Kosher, I would be curious to know what you think of them. I recently ordered a product from them, and they disappointed me by sending me a product less than half the size that I asked for and by charging me an exorbitant “packing” fee beyond the expected exorbitant shipping fee (I expected a shipping fee, but they didn’t tell me what that fee would be until I received the order, and they never even told me about the packing fee until I received the order). The product was also not so good.
30mm is the diameter. It is the only size they have. Whether the distributor has more, i don’t know. But he was the one who told me what the store had.
I bought from Park East Kosher. Jerry is the distributor. He sent me to the store when i mentioned it was for one case.
Tthe prices i have laid before you. Those seem fine to me. I have not yet received the product, but the numbers are there.
As for the length of the strand, i do not know at this point. If it says it on the box, i’ll be happy to report it. But i don’t think i’ll be unraveling it or using it all at once to know myself.
I received the casings today. The receipt lists $195 for the case and $9.46 shipping (FedEx). There was no packing charge. My credit card shows a charge of $204.46.
I’m excited to get on this after Shabbos. But i still need a thermometer and a stuffer.
I’ve made ~4 pounds with the casing, and must have wasted enough casing for another pound. My estimate is that i am 1/4 of the way through a strand. If that holds up, these casings hold more like 20 pounds.
Sounds a wonderful experiment! I have not yet attempted salami (hard or soft), but have experimented a lot with sausage making (also with pates and terrine which are in the same general category). Devro is the only commercial supplier of kosher collagen casings that I am aware of. I sourced mine from Wasserman & Lemberger in Baltimore, MD (IMHO one of the best kosher butchers still around). W&L make their own cold cuts/various wursts, salamis (including hard/dried), hotdogs, etc. Since they make “natural casing” hot dogs and “bratwurst” I figured they’d have a supply of casings on hand, and they were happy to sell some to me. (I have made chicken and apple breakfast sausages, lamb merguez, spicy Romanian beef sausages, sweet Italian beef sausages, duck sausages, and a few others.) I used the grinder attachment of my Kitchen Aide stand mixer to grind the meats and fats, and, in the beginning used the Kitchen Aide sausage stuffer attachment. I learned to HATE that sausage stuffer attachment. Turns everything into a horrible paste, gives off way too much heat, and generally makes a real mess.
Now I stuff my sausages with what is sold as commercially as a “Jerky Gun” (which I also use — surprise, surprise — to make jerky). The gun gives me MUCH more control and is MUCH cleaner, even though its takes a tad longer (there is virtually nothing wasted either). The collagen casings are easy to work with, for the most part, but do not form and maintain link twists easily. The collagen casing roll does not curve or bend the way I guess hog/sheep casings do/would (so all those pictures of curved or rounded sausages are not possible using the Devro); instead what you get basically is one long solid, unbending pipe. You can twist this pipe into separate links in real time or after the fact, but the twist doesn’t hold all that well. It is simpler to separate the links with string. You can also simply wrap and freeze the connected links. If you overstuff or try too hard to twist/shape the links, the casing will rip/burst and make a bit of a mess, but nothing too awful.
I would love to try salami and have gone as far as making a few calls to try and find a kosher starter culture – but have so far found nothing. I periodically take a few moments to surf the web – which is how I found this thread, albeit a couple of weeks late. At some point I’ll head back to Wasserman & Lemberger and see if I can pry any secrets/tips out of them – their salamis are excellent and not expensive, but I am determined to learn how to do my own kosher charcuterie… one of my little obsessions. ;-)
So, it’s been 3-6 weeks and then some. How did they turn out???
See the second comment up above, where I discussed the results. To summarize, the salami came out pretty good. A little tangy, but still tasty. Some of the salamis were a little bit crumbly, but generally when cold, they are easily sliceable. Hopefully, we can get some pictures up soon…
You can get the casings at pick and pay.
My father had a Kosher butcher shop for many years and he made Hot dogs and salami. In the back of the store was a large metal smoker where the hot dogs and salami would smoke for many hours.Hardwood was used to smoke the salami and hotdogs. I do remember that coriander spices was used. In your article you never mentioned Smoking the salami.
These salamis were not smoked. See paragraphs 1 and 2 of the article, where I mention that German and Italian style salamis are generally not smoked, unlike typical kosher-style salamis. The acid from the vinegar makes smoking unnecessary.
wonderfull,,i tried your recipe and it woked out ,im doing it for bussines,thank to you,from bogota colombia,by by by
Romanian, a kosher deli in Chicago has awesome hard salami; they used to have excellent salami sticks as well, but I remember them being less hard the last time I had them.
Romanian hard salami is pretty good, although I think it is comparable to other good kosher salamis, such as Abeles & Heymann. But, Romanian doesn’t really sell hard salami. Sure, on occasion you can get it, but my understanding (based on the one time I was there as well as on anecdotal evidence) is that they leave a bunch of salamis hanging at all times and they sell them as desired, but usually the salamis that are hanging on the wall are only partially dried — you still have to finish drying them yourself. It is also not possible to order a hard salami sandwich at Romanian (since they don’t actually have any) — you are limited to some other meats like pastrami, roast beef, and corned beef…
thanx
I bought a Hebrew National Beef Salami, 32oz/2lbs at COSTCO(great price). I want to hang it and cure as a Hard Salami. I will take off the first plastic wrapper and using a string hang the salami by the casing. Do I need to wrap the salami in paper, cheese cloth, leave the bottom open?
Further, I read that the salami needs to be in a cool place and with alot of humidity (maybe for salamis that are made from scratch.. I bought an already cooked one).
Any thoughts, suggestons.. time frame to leave it cure, etc. will be helpful.
Thanks,
SyBerGuy
Take off the plastic wrapper and hang it in a cool, dry place. (I hang my salamis in our linen closet.)
I hang my 1 lb. salamis for about a month before consuming.
It’s ironic that as a great cook with a passion for trying new things, I end up with a man who could nearly live on salami – I buy those 2 lb costco hebrew nationals, take off the plastic outer wrapper AND the inner wrapper, roll in paper towels and put in the back of the refrigerator – always starting a new one when the old one is about half done – it dries very nicely this way, and contrary to what you might thing, doesn’t smell up the fridge -
I have better (more interesting!) hints tips and recipes on my blog though….
Thank you Jonathan A. and Debra K.
I was surprised to get replies so fast, especially when this topic was deep in this blogs archives.
I think I will cut the big Salami in half; one half I will hang (cover up the bottom part) and the second one
remove the casing, wrap in paper towels and into the refrigerator. Why, not to good ideas!
Further, I was a little concerned that it is still summer here in Metro NYC and might still be to warm for hanging. Also, not to happy about a few flies being around if I hang the salami…. so might build a small screened enclosure for hanging.
Thanks again for everyones replies,,
SyBerGuy
SyBerGuy,
Jonathan is basically correct. You can remove the ouuter casing and hang it out to dry. However, I would advise AGAINST CUTTING IT IN HALF prior to hanging it up. The inner casing protects the salami from external contamination and it also prevents it from drying out too quickly. Once I cut open a salami, I always keep it refrigerated (although you can probably keep it safely out of the fridge for a few days).
I can’t speak to Debra’s method, since I have never heard of it before. I suppose it sounds reasonable, but it is definitely not the standard way to dry a salami.
Regarding Jonathan’s post, I want to clarify something. He recommends drying the salami in a dry place. That will work, however, if it is too dry you can experience a phenomenon known as “case hardening.” When the air is too dry, the outside of the salami dries too quickly while the center of the salami is still moist. To prevent this, salami shoul dideally be dried at 55-65 degrees F and 70-80% humidity. See http://home.pacbell.net/lpoli/page0002.htm at the description of the drying phase.
Also, consider the kashrut of Hebrew National. It is not glatt kosher, and many people are of the opinion that it is not really kosher at all (although others disagree). I don’t want to take a position on this issue, but I thought I would raise it just so that you are aware…
Hello Ari,
I have already cut the salami in half… 1/2 removed the casing and wrapped in paper towels and now in the refrigerator. The other half is hanging from my ceiling, wrapped the bottom with paper towels and then into a small cheese cloth bag with strings. HOWEVER, after reading your comment about contamination if cut… I will put it in the refrigerator and use it (hanging for only two hours now). And next time, try hanging a whole salami.
Thanks for your help Ari!
Regards,
SyBerGuy
Debra,
Thank you very much for your suggestion of wrapping the salami in a paper towel and into the refrigerator. It has been three weeks now and the hard salami came out great, FANTASTIC! No white stiff on the outside, no smell, just perfect. I thing I will do this again instead of hanging it.
Wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy and Prosperious Jewish New Year!
SyBerBuy
Shlomo
Metro NYC
Hello,
I had a Hebrew National Salami hanging, plastic wrapper removed and inner plastic wraper (with Brand info on outside) lift on (twisted closed) , into a cheesecloth bag, cloves (to ward off flies)…. and left hanging for three weeks. It came out to hard, but next time 2 weeks would be better. Now it is in the refrigerator and wraped in a paper towel. However, I see a potential problem of food contamination? When sliced there is a very dark brown area around part of the outside of the salami. It does not look good and I am afraid to eat the salami. Any comments will be helpful.
SyBerGuy
Follow-up Comments;
Know one has replied… I had decided to cut away the brown part of the salami (some went into the meat area besides on the outside) and ate the good part. And I am alive to write about it. However, it was not a good idea. I was told that if a part is bad (on food) it can get into other parts of the food that you can’t see… and all should be discarded (fruits, vegetables, etc).
Further, I went into a big retail meat store and asked about the above Salami becoming brown. He said that he would not eat it, if it was him. And any salami should be refrigerated when drying. So I have bought another big salami, removed the outside plastic packaging and left the inner wrapping (with the Hebrew National Label) and into the refrigerator.. Oh, did wrap it in paper towels. I will try it in 2-3 weeks.
So that is the whole story about my hard salami experience from my taste end.
Chow,
SyBerGuy
Is there a particular sausage/salami making book that any of you use that is helpful and that you would recommend to other kosher partakers?
Be sure NOT to fry or heat salami. Nitrate & Nitrite combinations havebeen proven to be caner forming.
other preservative combos are kosher and save,
i am looking for kosher casings
am in ny weir can i find it?