Strolghino Salami

You’ve just got to love Italian food. It’s not only delicious but it comes with a great story. This salami is prime example. The Strolghino salami. A salami named for it’s supposed ability to predict the future (or at least predict the outcome of a future culatello).

The strolghino salami widely known in the provinces of Parma and Piacenza in Emilia Romagna is made with the trimmings from the culatello ham. This salami is delicately seasoned and has a softer texture than most firm salami’s with a drying time of at least 2 weeks. The name strolghino is derived from the Italian word: Strolga, which in the Emilian dialect means fortune teller.

This salami utilizes pork meat trim that comes from the processing of a culatello. Typically when a culatello was made and hung to begin drying the strolghino salami was not far behind.

In this recipe we will be using Insta Cure #1. This cure is used because our total processing time is less than 1 month and our salami will be ready to eat in under 30 days. We will also be utilizing some beneficial lactic acid producing bacteria to ferment our salami. My personal favorite starter culture is one called Flavor of Italy. This culture is fast, produces great color, aroma, and flavor. The addition of a starter culture will help acidify our salami ensuring a safe and delicious product to eat. Our pH target is anything between 4.9pH and 5.2pH

Speaking of acidification this starter culture consumes simple sugars. As they eat sugar they release lactic acid in turn lowering the pH of your salami. I like using dextrose as a food source for these bacteria because I know exactly how much to add to get to the right pH but you can also find simple sugars in honey and wine.

The fermentation time for this salami happens in under 24 hours. At 18 hours I will generally test a small sample of mince (that was left behind in the stuffing hopper) to see where I’m at. I use the Apera Instruments PH60S-z to test my samples. This unit is blue tooth with all sorts of bells and whistles. There’s a more economical version (Apera PH60S) with out the blue tooth features. If you plan on getting into this craft I highly suggest you invest in a good pH meter. You’ll be glad that you did.

Follow basic salami preparation practices when making this sausage.

1. Clean and Sanitize all of your equipment.
2. Keep your meat and grinder parts super cold (below 35F) during the grinding process
3. Rehydrate the mold spores in non chlorinated water for 2 hours prior to use
4. Rehydrate your starter culture (in non-chlorinated water) for 30 minutes prior to use.
5. Mix your very chilled mince meat, seasonings, and starter culture till the mince becomes very tacky
6. Tightly stuff the mince into casings and prick out any air pockets
7. Record the starting weight and the target of each salami link
8. Brush with protective mold culture
9. Hang the salami to ferment for 18-72 hours (depending on the starter culture)
10. After the pH target has been hit, hang the salami in a drying chamber (parameters need to be 55F and 80% rH) till the weight loss target has been achieved.
11. Remove from the drying chamber, slice thinly, and enjoy

Here are a few things you might find useful when making salami

• 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

Enjoy the video and the recipe. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away. If you make this at home, I’d love to hear about how it came out!!

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