# Time for Some Pepperoni...



## indaswamp (Sep 26, 2022)

Still going through stuff in the freezers clearing out room. Pulled out a gallon bag of goose breasts, bought a double pack of boston butts...time for pepperoni!

No pics. of the process this time, but here they are: 10.65kgs. stuffed, pricked, and trussed inda fermentation can. Will transfer to my old chamber tomorrow afternoon.


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## tbern (Sep 27, 2022)

looking good!


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## SCBBQ (Sep 27, 2022)

I need to try pepperoni soon.


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## indaswamp (Sep 27, 2022)

Checked the [email protected] hours....down to 5.23; Cool. Smells awesome! The sweet smell of fermentation.





I am using F-RM-52 starter culture which is sucrose negative. With the amounts of cayenne and paprika (1.05g fructose/kg.) in the recipe, I only used 0.75g./kg. dextrose along with 3g./kg. sucrose. Starting pH was 5.83. The goose meat runs a little lower pH than the pork. It also contains more glucose in the meat cells than pork. I'll keep tabs on the pH, but this is one salami that is suppose to be a little on the tangy side anyhow, but I am shooting for an Italian style with very little tang.


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## indaswamp (Sep 27, 2022)

tbern said:


> looking good!


Thanks tbern! 



SCBBQ said:


> I need to try pepperoni soon.


Thanks SCBBQ! I use a variation of Marianski's recipe. But I dialed the dextrose way back...and I'm using a different culture.


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## indaswamp (Sep 27, 2022)

...1.8g./kg simple sugars (Fructose from the peppers and added dextrose) in the salami 'should' push the pH down to around 5.15ish.....we will see.....


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## TNJAKE (Sep 27, 2022)

I'm in. I have some umai for pepperoni but haven't got around to it yet.


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## indaswamp (Sep 27, 2022)

TNJAKE said:


> I'm in. I have some umai for pepperoni but haven't got around to it yet.


Thanks Jake! I had wanted to make this last fall, but with catching Covid then hurricane Ida, just never had the time to do it. I'm making up for it this go around with a double batch.


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## SCBBQ (Sep 27, 2022)

I think I'll want to make more american style large diameter.. will consult with you before starting!


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## SmokinEdge (Sep 27, 2022)

I like the old school trussing. Very nice work.


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## indaswamp (Sep 27, 2022)

SmokinEdge said:


> I like the old school trussing. Very nice work.


Thanks SE! After watching a bunch of different ways to truss old school-I have settled on a way that works for me. I like hand trussing because I feel I can get more even pressure on the salami doing it this way.


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## indaswamp (Sep 27, 2022)

The pH reached 5.07 after 29 hours fermentation @70*F...





Transferred to my old chamber for accelerated drying; 47-53*F and 78-82%RH. Will move to my new maturing chamber after 15% weight loss.


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## indaswamp (Sep 27, 2022)

In the old chamber...






I did hang them on poles over backs of chairs in the kitchen with a low fan blowing on them to dry the casings before transfer. The drop in humidity to 50-60%RH for 4-6 hours accelerates drying, helps to keep bad mold at bay, helps to keep bad yeast at bay, and gives the mold 600 spores an anchor into the tacky casing....gives the
Penicillium nalgiovense mold a kick start. Salami will lose 3-4% just from drying the casings when using natural casings....then the real drying can begin.


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## pineywoods (Sep 28, 2022)

That looks awesome one of these days maybe I can get to where I can start trying to make some of this type of stuff of course a chamber would have to be built first


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## Newglide (Sep 28, 2022)

Looks great. That's a good bit of pepperoni. Never made any myself, sounds like a lot of attention to detail or you can screw up pretty bad


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## indaswamp (Sep 28, 2022)

pineywoods said:


> That looks awesome one of these days maybe I can get to where I can start trying to make some of this type of stuff of course a chamber would have to be built first


Thanks Piney! You can start with umai bags in a regular refrigerator to get a feel for the process and turn out a decent product. But because of the cold temperatures the flavor development will be less because the enzymes are slowed down, as well as the flavor forming bacteria. Then you can decide if you want to get a chamber.



Newglide said:


> Looks great. That's a good bit of pepperoni. Never made any myself, sounds like a lot of attention to detail or you can screw up pretty bad


Thanks Newglide. Yes, you are correct...a lot of attention to detail. Though American and North European salami is easier to make because the pH range is lower with those products. True Italian style salami with no noticeable tang is the most difficult because you have to figure all the natural sources of sugar in the recipe and shoot for a pH just under 5.3 and above 5.0. I am better now and have learned a lot since I first started.


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## indaswamp (Sep 28, 2022)

Newglide
 -you would be surprised how fast you can go through pepperoni...especially a great batch!!!


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## Bearcarver (Sep 28, 2022)

Looks Great, Inda!!
Nice Work!!
Like.

Bear


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## indaswamp (Sep 28, 2022)

Thanks Bear!


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## DumasDaddy (Sep 28, 2022)

indaswamp said:


> Transferred to my old chamber for accelerated drying; 47-53*F and 78-82%RH. Will move to my new maturing chamber after 15% weight loss.



Have yet to venture into curing yet, but this looks awesome.  Definitely something to add to my list.  About how long will the total cure / dry take?


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## indaswamp (Sep 28, 2022)

DumasDaddy said:


> Have yet to venture into curing yet, but this looks awesome.  Definitely something to add to my list.  About how long will the total cure / dry take?


On average, 45-55mm casings take 4-6 weeks to fully dry.


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## indaswamp (Sep 28, 2022)

So based on my readings....the glucose in the goose meat (30/70 mix goose/pork) alone dropped the pH by 0.2 points. Pork on the other hand should only drop the pH by 0.5~0.1 points. Will have to take that into consideration for future salamis.


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## indaswamp (Oct 8, 2022)

The pepperoni reached 16.4% weight loss this past Wednesday so I moved them from the accelerated drying to my new Maturing chamber.


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## tbern (Oct 8, 2022)

indaswamp said:


> The pepperoni reached 16.4% weight loss this past Wednesday so I moved them from the accelerated drying to my new Maturing chamber.
> View attachment 645488


What is the difference between your accelerated chamber and your maturing one?


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## indaswamp (Oct 8, 2022)

tbern said:


> What is the difference between your accelerated chamber and your maturing one?


So here is where I got the idea for the accelerated drying schedule...scroll down to where he talks about fermentation and drying:
https://tasteofartisan.com/salami-sticks/

You basically oscillate from high humidity and low temp., to a lower humidity and a higher temp. with these parameters in mind:

Higher humidity slows moisture loss and vice versa
lower temperature slows moisture loss and vice versa

But higher temp also speeds enzymatic activity and flavor forming bacteria. It also speeds the growth of surface culture...i.e. the beneficial mold and yeast cultures.

The accelerated drying speeds the safety profile as well because drying is one of the main safety hurdles and the strongest...bacteria need a certain amount of moisture to function and the sooner you remove that water, the safer the product is. Once salt is added to the meat, the water activity drops to Aw 0.96-0.97.....Botulism bacteria need an Aw of at least Aw0.95 so the sooner you can drop it below that level, the better....

My old chamber has a inherently higher airflow so I am using that to my advantage drying the salami in the earlier stages.


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## tbern (Oct 9, 2022)

thanks for the info, was a good read! bookmarked it for future.


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## indaswamp (Oct 17, 2022)

So the new accelerated drying schedules I have been using the last 6 months or so have cut 7-10 days of drying off my salami. I am still trying to decide if I like it, or if I am doing it correctly. I don't know if it is the accelerated drying or the parameters with my new chamber as I figure it out, but a little more hard rim than I would like. I was playing with the airflow...both speed and switching from constant to intermittent. I think the constant airflow at the start of the drying is the cause. Too much too soon and the salami can just never catch up diffusing water from the center to the surface.

At any rate, here is a slice shot..





And the final pH...





Mild Italian style pepperoni with full flavor and no tang. I like the sample pieces I cut. It will only get better as it dries a little more and after it equalizes in the fridge.


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## tbern (Oct 17, 2022)

Looks good!!


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## indaswamp (Oct 19, 2022)

tbern said:


> Looks good!!


Thanks tbern!


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## indaswamp (Oct 21, 2022)

So I went back and looked at the pictures I posted of the last batch of pepperoni that I dried in my old chamber. It has the same amount of dry rim so I'm not drying them too fast and my airflow is good. This salame has the goose meat ground thru a 3mm plate for the tough connective tissue and to catch shotgun pellets (these geese were wild harvested). The pork is thru a 4.5mm plate. Together the small grind dries slower so the diffusion rate is slower from the middle. No worries now....I figured it out......

Checked a stick this morning. At 35.4% weight loss...will let them go just a little more then I will pull them.


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## indaswamp (Oct 21, 2022)

I went ahead and checked the goose/pork pepperoni pH as well. At roughly 36% weight loss....


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