Air dry Salami/Meats

tomaso11

Has anyone here tried to make their own cured meats like they do in the continent? I make sausages at home but wanted to try to leave some to cure, air temperature shouldn't be a problem but levels of humidity might be.

Was wondering of any experiences? or advice

Chiorino

I've done biltong with a small dehydrator/dryer I made up. Not sure we have humidity levels suitable to air drying meat without some sort of equipment, even if it's just a fan or something to maintain airflow.

Speedwell

I've done biltong very successfully in a fan oven turned to "lower than you might think possible". My husband, who is also very interested in home sausage-making, has a few very comprehensive books on the subject (I'll try to get titles after work). He doesn't really like me to make biltong that way because you start with raw meat and keep it at a comparatively low temperatures for a comparatively long time, relying on the salt and vinegar to keep nasties from proliferating. It's a delicate balance, but works partly because all of the bad stuff is on the surface of the solid bit of meat. With sausage, in which everything on the surface is ground into the bulk, it is a bit trickier and you need to be much more careful with proper ratios of ingredients, special cures, sterile prep areas and equipment, and drying temperatures. It might be safer to start with hot-smoked sausages at first, or with raw sausages kept very cold during processing, and that you cook or freeze thoroughly within a day.

tomaso11

Thanks both

Chiorino wrote: »

I've done biltong with a small dehydrator/dryer I made up. Not sure we have humidity levels suitable to air drying meat without some sort of equipment, even if it's just a fan or something to maintain airflow.

do you keep the dryer on all the time? biltongs are thin enough, I was thinking of Argentinean Salamis which are a lot thicker(link below), drying time for those are generally 30-45 days, maybe getting a dehumidifier and switch it on once a day if needed.

My idea is to put them in the garden shed (too much smell in the house if I keep them in), someone suggested that I should cover the floor with sawdust or wood chips and that should help with the humidity in the shed.


https://www.google.ie/search?q=salame+quintero&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjBtIfpqbTOAhWJJsAKHTv8DeIQsAQIKA&biw=1911&bih=786#imgrc=apw5HRpxyM2APM%3A

Speedwell

tomaso11 wrote: »

Thanks both

do you keep the dryer on all the time? biltongs are thin enough, I was thinking of Argentinean Salamis which are a lot thicker(link below), drying time for those are generally 30-45 days, maybe getting a dehumidifier and switch it on once a day if needed.

My idea is to put them in the garden shed (too much smell in the house if I keep them in), someone suggested that I should cover the floor with sawdust or wood chips and that should help with the humidity in the shed.

https://www.google.ie/search?q=salame+quintero&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjBtIfpqbTOAhWJJsAKHTv8DeIQsAQIKA&biw=1911&bih=786#imgrc=apw5HRpxyM2APM%3A

OMG. Those look terrific. Off to the shop for a proper Mendoza Malbec!

Yes, I kept the fan on all the time (in South Africa, biltong is traditionally a "wind-dried" meat). Those sausages are similar to some sausages made in Eastern Europe and the Balkans; you may want to chat with someone who makes dry sausage for the Polish and Lithuanian trade, and to look up information on EU food safety regulations.

Chiorino

tomaso11 wrote: »

Thanks both



do you keep the dryer on all the time? biltongs are thin enough, I was thinking of Argentinean Salamis which are a lot thicker(link below), drying time for those are generally 30-45 days, maybe getting a dehumidifier and switch it on once a day if needed.

My idea is to put them in the garden shed (too much smell in the house if I keep them in), someone suggested that I should cover the floor with sawdust or wood chips and that should help with the humidity in the shed.


https://www.google.ie/search?q=salame+quintero&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjBtIfpqbTOAhWJJsAKHTv8DeIQsAQIKA&biw=1911&bih=786#imgrc=apw5HRpxyM2APM%3A

I would cut biltong fairly thick, it wouldn't really compare to say, jerky, which would be what most people would be familiar with.

I would leave the dryer on for around 5 days to get it to the stage I like it. Usually by then it's fairly dried out. My maker is more or less like the one pictured so the lightbulb creates heat and the extractor fans then draw the heated air through the chamber and across the meat while also drawing out moisture.

CJhaughey

I've made a fair bit of Biltong, I usually make it in spurts and then leave it for a while.
I found that a fan is all thats needed to successfully dry Biltong in the summer, air movement is all thats needed when the humidity is low enough.
In winter a 40w bulb will do to heat the air enough.
I haven't made any Salami though, I have Saltpetre and the rest but you need the right meat as well, not just any old supermarket pork.
Ideally I would use my own pork but I haven't kept pigs for a few years.
I have just taken possession of a 5kg sausage stuffer so am very anxious to try that out, it has a range of tube sizes so I can make anything from a chipolata size up to 40mm size.
I'm thinking a big Boerwurst might be a great job to try it out.

tomaso11

So far not using anything to an idea, one has been there for two weeks and the other one a couple of days

http://tinypic.com/r/30lp4bc/9

http://tinypic.com/r/2mme5mx/9

CJhaughey

tomaso11 wrote: »

So far not using anything to an idea, one has been there for two weeks and the other one a couple of days

http://tinypic.com/r/30lp4bc/9

http://tinypic.com/r/2mme5mx/9

They look great.
If you want a good book on preserved meats, look for Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn.
Its biased towards USA makers but the recipes are easy to follow and it has a lot of the important technical info as well as the how-to.