The results are in,
it’s a nice salami but it’s no truffle salami. The canned truffles didn’t quite deliver on the flavor I was looking for but that’s all right, the salami was a solid base and very tasty anyway.
The other salamis from this batch are pictured here. a very big improvement seems to have been made in the consistency of the salami. Less case hardening and a better overall texture. I think this was due to drilling some holes in the case to allow more air exchange. Using an old refrigerator has a real tendency to dry out the air and allowing some outside air in seems to help. I also use the old vegetable drawer filled with water and salt pellets as the humidity source. it seems to keep it pretty consistent now.
The salamis pictured are Salchichon, Soprassata, and Finocchiona, my 3 go to salami recipes these days. I’d like to find new ones but these are so darn good it’s hard not to have some around.
Next up is a short batch of hungarian and sopprassata. The experiment here is to see if less meat in the case helps it dry faster. The last batch had some coming out after 45 days but some stayed in the case until almost 90 days. That was for an original weight of about 30 lbs, this batch is only 10 so we’ll see if case size vs meat quantity has an impact on drying time and quality.
On another note, what can an amateur charcuterie enthusiast do with this much salami? my first answer was be very popular at parties and friends houses, but lately I’m looking at trade outs. I really would like beer but brewers seem reluctant to part with their special brews. Good news, a friend has honey bees and chickens, so eggs and honey in exchange for salami it is. Fresh eggs, with home made bacon and fresh honey on home baked bread… Mmmmm