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!!

If you want to see the different things that we use in operation our be sure to check out our new Amazon Store.

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Print Recipe

4.50 from 4 votes

Strolghino Salami

A quick and easy salami made from the culatello trimmings

Prep Time2 hours hrs

Cook Time18 hours hrs

Drying Time14 days d

Total Time14 days d 20 hours hrs

How much do you want to make? 1000 grams

Ingredients

Metric – US Customary

• 800 g lean pork trimmings from hind leg
• 200 g Pork fat
• 25 g kosher salt
• 2.5 g Insta cure #1
• 2 g white pepper
• 2 g dextrose
• Flavor of Italy starter culture 1/2 tsp dissolved in 1/4 cup of distilled water for every 5 pounds
• Mold 600 dissolve 1/4 tsp in 1/2 cup of distilled water and let rehydrate for 2 hours
• 29-32mm hog casings

Instructions

• Grind chilled pork and fat through a 6mm plate. Let chill again before mixing. You want the temp of the meat to be around 35F (or below).
• Prepare the mold, all the seasonings, and the starter culture and set to the side. You starter culture needs about 30 minutes to "wake-up" before use.
• Mix the meat, seasonings, and re-hydrated culture together. You mince meat will be very sticky when finished
• Stuff your mince into a 29-32mm natural hog casing making sure there are no air pockets. Tie the end with some butchers twine, prick the salami, weigh it, and record the weight
• To ferment, either hang or place the strolghino on a wire rack covered with cling film at 75F with 90% humidity for 18-24 hours (these parameters are for this culture, other culture require different parameters).
• Test the pH at 18 hours to see where you are at. You are aiming for a ph between 4.9 and 5.20.
• Once you have reached your target pH place your salami in your drying chamber at 55F with 80% Humidity. Let it dry in this chamber until you have reached a 30% – 35% weight loss. This is a soft salami

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