Salami Recipe
Courtesy of Aunt Jen (Magelli) Audo as told to Uncle Harry Swanson
Fresh salami can be boiled and eaten immediately or dried for 6-8 weeks
Ingredients:
100 lbs of meat: pork butts (roasts) ground coarsely – 2 parts meat / 1 part fat
2 ½ lbs salt
¾ lbs pepper (black ground)
1 cup sugar
1 tbl salt peter
1 tbl mace
1 tbl nutmeg
1 tbl cinnamon
1 tbl allspice
4 cloves garlic
1 cup red wine or hot water
Beef casings, 1 hank
Water
Vinegar
Instructions:
Prepare Casings:
Soak overnight in a bucket of water. Optional – you can add some vinegar
Cut the casings into 12 inch lengths
Turn the casings inside out
Tie one end of the casing tightly shut with a strings, leaving about 1-2 inches of casing at the end and enough length on the string to hang the salami
Mixing and Stuffing:
Combine ingredients
Crush 4 cloves of garlic and tie in bag (cheese cloth)
Pour 1 red wine through garlic into mixture
Mix thoroughly so that there aren’t pockets of seasoning and the meat is broken up
Thread stuffing onto a meat stuffer, rubbing a small amount of fat or mixture to the nozzle of the stuffer to help lubricate the nozzle.
Prior to stuffing, poke the end of the casing with a fork (to release any air as the casing is stuffed)
Stuff mixture tightly into the casing
Tie other end shut
Poke the new salami several times with a fork
Drying:
Hang in cellar (damp, dark and cool) at 37 – 45 degrees F for 6-8 weeks
Remove casing before eating
Boiling:
Boil for 1 hour
Remove casing before eating
Story/Comments:
Dad – “Grandpa Magelli used to stand there a mix and mix. He knew that you needed to break it up.” “For the garlic, I just twist it in some cheese cloth, crush it with the end of a knife and then pour some of the wine through. Then, I toss that, crush some more garlic and do it again. I like to use a lot of garlic. Grandpa would never use wine to pour through the garlic. He used hot water because he thought that it got the flavor of the garlic out better. Red wine – they started doing that later, you know just because Italians like to drink red wine. But Grandpa, he would never waste wine on that!”
Mom – “That’s not true, he poured wine through it all the time.”
Amy – “Soaking the casings stinks, but it’s a scent that you will always remember next time you smell it.”
Additional Comments:
Salt Peter and/or Sugar helps keep the color red
Can fry in pan to taste seasoning prior to stuffing.
Fresh salami can be wrapped tightly and frozen for up to a year before boiling
Dried salami can be covered with molten wax and frozen until needed. It can be vacuum packed and/or wrapped and frozen. Defrost and let set out for at least 24 hours to dry
Can also use juice from jarred minced garlic
Casings: can be ordered online or bought at a local butcher or meat market. They are packed in salt and need to be soaked long enough to make them soft. Beef casings are used for salami, because they are thick enough to hang for six weeks and keep the meat from drying too quickly. Note: it is important to turn the casings inside out before stuffing, because they are beef casings. Since the meat is pork, if you do not turn the casing prior to stuffing the meat will be rancid. For Sausage, you use hog casings (often called “Country Casings”. Because they are pork, you do not need to turn. Rule of thumb, if the casing and the meat are from the same animal, you do not need to turn.
Poke the new salami several times with a fork helps let the juice come out and promotes the drying process
Cellars or protected basement alcoves under the porch or foundations are the best way to dry salami. As alternatives, you can dry in your garage, but beware of animals or rodents. You can also use an old refrigerator to hang the salami in. If it’s a self defrosting refrigerator, you will need to keep shallow pans of water at the base of the refrigerator to keep the meat from drying too quickly. Note: using a refrigerator can limit the number of salami you can dry at a time.