Category Archives: Tutorials

Air Dried Sausage, Tutorials

The Salami Making Process

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An attempt to demystify the salami making process.

To overseas readers, I apologise that the links to suppliers are all UK based, however, the information is relevant regardless of that.

The basic process
  1. Making the sausagemeat
  2. Adding a salami culture
  3. Stuffing the sausagemeat into casings
  4. Fermenting them in a warm environment for a controlled time period
  5. Hanging them at a controlled temperature and relative humidity to dry
The rules

Many governments have rules about the production of commercial salami products even if it’s only the level of curing salts that are allowed in them. The USA and Canadian authorities also have rules governing the time drying and time allowed for fermentation – it’s to those rules I’ve looked for good practice in those areas. It makes sense for home producers to follow those rules or at least make informed decisions about choosing not to.

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Air Dried Sausage, Calculators, Tutorials

Calculating Maximum Fermenting Times

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The US and Canadian governments have rules limiting the amount of time that a salami can be held above 15.6°C (60°f) for fermentation of cultures. They are very similar other than one uses Fahrenheit and the other centigrade. It’s the Canadian rules (centigrade) that I’ll use for this explanation.

The rules use a calculation based on what is termed degree hours. The salami must reach a pH of 5.3 within a set number of degree hours. This is the number of hours that the salami is above 15.6°C multiplied by the amount that the temperature exceeds 15.6°C:

Degree hours = hours x temperature in excess of 15.6° C (60° F)

This number of degree hours is limited depending on the temperature being used:

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