Let’s have some fun today. I love pushing the boundaries when it comes to salami making, after all salami making is an art and the pork is our canvas.
Today we are going to be recreating the hot wings recipe served at the famous Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY. Our goal is to accent the pork in such a way that we capture the essence of those bold flavors (Celery, Blue Cheese, and Franks Red Hot sauce).
The process of salami making is fairly straight forward and if you want a real in depth breakdown over each step be sure to check out this post on Genoa Salami. You can apply the principal steps to all salami.
For this recipe we will be using the Flavor of Italy starter Culture. This is a fast fermenting starter culture that delivers great flavor, aroma, and color. It has quickly become my absolute favorite one to use and I highly recommend it!! Each starter culture has it’s own parameters for fermentation so if you plan on using a different starter culture then you must follow those parameters. This culture likes to ferment at 75F – 95F and 80% – 90% humidity. You can literally place your salami anywhere that these conditions are met and your salami will ferment nicely.
A popular place to ferment is in a kitchen oven with the light on and a tray of hot water inside. This provides both the humidity and the temperature needed. Just be sure you place a note on the outside of your fridge so that no one turns it on while your salami is fermenting.
After 18 – 24 hours of fermenting check your pH. Anything under 5.2 is considered the safe zone. I typically like to target 4.9 when I’m using this starter culture. The pH tester that we use is from Apera Instruments and delivers fast accurate results. It’s the PH60S-Z and in my opinion offers unmatched peace of mind knowing that my salami is going to be safe to eat!!
Once you have reached your target pH it’s time to start drying your salami. This is where it can all go right or all go wrong!! The trick here is proper temperature and humidity management. If you want to know how to build a drying chamber check out my recent post on the issue. What I can tell you up front is to get a couple temp and humidity controllers and consider buying a humidifier and a dehumidifier.
A few things that come in handy when making salami
- Casings
- Flavor of Italy
- Apera pH Meter with Bluetooth
- Iodophor Sanitizer
- Digital Smokers (I use the model 4D WiFi)
- Bella’s Cold Smoke Generator
- MK4 Thermapen (Accurate Thermometer)
- Sausage Pricker
- Dry Curing Cabinet
- Kotai Chef Knife (for 15% off use discount code – 2guys )
- Sausage Stuffers
- Meat Grinder
- Meat Mixers
- Stuffing Horn Cleaner
- Butcher Twine & Dispenser
- Small accurate Scale for spices
- Large Capacity Scale (33 pounds)
- Drying rack and tray
- Custom Cutting Board
- Apera pH Meter with Bluetooth
- Dextrose
- InkBird Controllers temp & Humidity
- Dehumidifier Eva Dry 1100
- Cool Mist Ultrasonic Humidifier
- Heavy Duty Kitchen Vacuum Sealer
If you have any questions be sure to let me know. Enjoy the video and if you get a chance to try out the recipe I’d love to hear how it turned out for you.
If you want to see the different things that we use in operation our be sure to check out our new Amazon Store.
2 Guys & A Cooler Amazon Storefront
Heck Ya! I know what I’m making this week
are you using any blue cheese or a high temp blue cheese in this recipe?
Thanks!
regular blue cheese
I’ll be making this tomorrow. Was wondering if you would leave the franks hot sauce at the ratio you used or increase it a bit on a future batch? Said simply any tweaks you would make? One other point that might be helpful to some less experienced. May want to call out you don’t want the franks Buffalo wing sauce as that contains oil which Is never good in a salami.
I would keep it the same. The reason is that it contains a vinegar and if oyu use too much it might start to affect the texture of the meat