Salami and cured meats.....raw?

[Laddox]

Has anyone experimented with cured meats and good salami's?
I don't know too much about the process, and i'm sure there are plenty of crap ones out there, but i know that some are just air cured....
Can anyone recommend any good ones...?

Or does the curing class as cooking? Not sure on the paleo/nonpaleo politics of it all....

[TylerDurden]

Put this sort of topic into the hot topics forum in future.

Virtually all salamis etc. are filled with preservatives. So to be avoided.

The only thing that is rawpalaeo is beef jerky as it is still usually sold raw and, sometimes not filled with preservatives at all.

[yuli]

I saw last time my butcher was selling Mennonite Salami, it looked really good.
I didn't look at the ingredients although I am sure that one shouldn't have the preservatives commonly in supermarket salami.

[Laddox]

Yeah, i knew there was plenty of preservatives in most of them, but was hoping for some names of good ones that may be available.
I make my own jerky, so maybe i'll just have to make my own salami too.

Has anyone experimented with making there own cured salami's

I haven't tried making pemmican yet, but i'll get there. Don't like the cooked fat idea much though....

[PaleoPhil]

Curing involves one or more of salt, smoking (cold smoking or hot smoking), sugar (often dextrose), and nitrates or nitrite. [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curing_(food_preservation)]. I find meats free of nitrites/nitrates to be superior in flavor to the standard cured ones.

Cold smoking traditionally is done below 100 °F [38 °C; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_(cooking)#Types)] and so is considered raw, but I don't know whether there's any US regulation that every company that labels it's meats/fish as "cold smoked" must do so below that temp. I've never seen cold-smoked salami or other sausages for sale anyway.

This Internet source sells uncured sausages, though they are cooked:

UNCURED NATURAL MEATS
http://www.uncurednaturalmeats.com/
"We will never add ANY chemicals to our grass-fed beef"

I've never seen salami free of preservatives in my area. Summer sausage tends to have the lowest amount of additives of cold cuts. Uncured, pre-cooked summer sausages free of preservatives are sold in my local markets and may be available in your area, but if you want sausage that is both uncured and unheated or cold-smoked, you're probably going to have to make it yourself. You could try to find out if any Amish or Mennonite people in your area sell uncured, unheated sausages.

[TylerDurden]

Even cold-smoked meats will have toxins in them due to the smoke which is carcinogenic.

[PaleoPhil]

That's no problem for purists, as there's no necessity to smoke sausages. Like I wrote, I've never seen cold-smoked sausages anyway, so it's a moot question unless one is making one's own sausage.

[RawZi]

    I remember a pdf with a whole history through sausages.  All I can find now looking for it is this:

Fermented Sausages
Fermented sausages can be classified as:

•Cold smoked and dried but uncooked - Hungarian salami,
•Cold smoked and uncooked - spreadable raw sausages (Mettwurst), very popular in Germany.
•Not smoked, dried and uncooked - Italian salami, Spanish chorizo.
•Hot smoked partially or fully cooked semi-dry sausages (Summer Sausage, Pepperoni, Salami).
•Dry fermented sausages which are traditionally made slow fermented sausages are produced at low temperatures and are smoked with cold smoke. Semi-dry sausages are smoked with hot smoke.

    I just don't think sausages are the healthiest WOE.

    Oh, the pdf and quote I got from someone who used to be a member here, Avalon I think was her name.

[RawZi]

    I'm guessing the salty flavor comes from the blood?  I'm sure smoked food is not totally raw nor is it healthy for me.  It may be paleo though and (too) tasty.  I think I'd rather be tempted by fruit.

Cold Smoking
Cold smoking at 52-71° F (12-22° C), from 1-14 days, applying thin smoke with occasional breaks in between, is one of the oldest preservation methods. We cannot produce cold smoke if the outside temperature is 90° F (32° C), unless we can cool it down, which is what some industrial smokers do. Cold smoking is a drying process whose purpose is to remove moisture thus preserving a product.

You will find that different sources provide different temperatures for cold smoking. In European countries where most of the cold smoking is done, the upper temperature is accepted as 86° F (30° C). The majority of Russian, Polish and German meat technology books call for 71° F (22° C), some books ask for 77° F (25° C). Fish starts to cook at 85° F (29.4° C) and if you want to make delicious cold smoked salmon that is smoked for a long time, obviously you can not exceed 86° F (30° C). Cold smoking assures us of total smoke penetration inside of the meat. The loss of moisture also is uniform in all areas and the total weight loss falls within 5-20% depending largely on the smoking time. Cold smoking is not a continuous process, it is stopped (no smoke) a few times to allow fresh air into the smoker.

In XVIII century brick built smokehouses a fire was started every morning. It smoldered as long as it could and if it stopped, it would be restarted again the following morning.

Cold smoked meats prevent or slow down the spoilage of fats, which increases their shelf life. The product is drier and saltier with a more pronounced smoky flavor and very long shelf life. The color varies from yellow to dark brown on the surface and dark red inside. Cold smoked products are not submitted to the cooking process. If you want to cold smoke your meats, bear in mind that with the exception of people living in areas with a cold climate like Alaska, it will have to be done in the winter months just as it was done 500 years ago.

Cold smoking at its best. Smoking continues through the night.

Using dry wood is of utmost importance when cold smoking. It is recommended to keep wood chips in a well defined single pile as they will have less contact with air, thus will smoke better without creating unnecessary flames and heat. By following these rules we achieve 75-85% humidity, creating the best conditions for moisture removal. Once the moisture content drops low enough, the salt present in the meat will further inhibit the development of bacteria and the products can hang in the air for months losing more moisture as time goes by.

Lox (smoked salmon) is smoked with cold smoke for an extended period of time. Applying hotter smoke (over 84° F, 28° C) will just cook the fish, the flavor will change and we will not be able to slice it so thin anymore. Cold smoking is a slow process and the hams, which lend themselves perfectly to this type of smoking, can be smoked from 2 to even 6 weeks. During smoking they will slowly be acquiring a golden color along with a smoky flavor.

Cold smoking allows us total smoke penetration inside of the meat. Very little hardening of the outside surface of the meat or casing occurs and smoke penetrates the meat easily.

[PaleoPhil]

Raw, uncured, unsmoked sausage would fit my WOE very well, but I've never seen it sold anywhere in the USA or on the Internet. If anyone sees this, please let me know. Some day I hope to make my own sausage, though raw sausage is generally inoculated with healthy bacteria, which would be inconvenient for me, to spur fermentation and reduce the chances of pathogenic bacterial overload, so there are alleged concerns of safety re: raw sausage. On the other hand, raw sausage stuffed into animal intestinal casings was apparently a practice of Native Americans, so maybe the warnings are overblown. I'll bet that store-bought casings are bleached, though.

[donrad]

If you do an Amazon.com search for sausage curing you will find 3 books. They are all pretty technical because if you start giving advice on how to cold cure meat there is a legal liability factor. I am reading one of the books and it goes into excruciating detail with all kinds of graphs and charts.

Basically the fermentation raises the ph level. This is combined with salt, smoking, drying and low temperature to ensure product safety. Nitrate helps but is optional.

This was the norm for preservig meat in the fall before refrigeration. Common in Europe. The U.S. has too many regulations I think. There are sources for imported sausage.

[PaleoPhil]

My guess is that the salt and smoking aren't really necessary if you know what you're doing and your nose and tongue can quickly detect sausage that has gone bad. How did native Americans make their form of sausage? Did they do anything other than stuff meat and fat in cleaned casings and hang them to dry? Or did they always cook them?

[yon yonson]

im actually starting an apprenticeship (tomorrow!) with an artisanal butcher who makes truly raw salami's and other cured pork products. he obviously uses some salt which is an issue for some people here but he assured me that the cold smoke temperature never reaches above 87 degrees F for most of his stuff (some of the stuff is hot smoked like tongue and stuff). i've eaten some and haven't had any of the issues if usually have with cooked meat so im convinced it's atleast okay everyonce in a while. i wouldn't eat it every day but it's a good socially acceptable food. he also makes some lacto-fermented veggies. here's the website: http://www.saltandtime.com/

I'm pretty excited. i'll report back on the happenings. would be cool if i could learn the trade and sell some of my own later in life.

edit: i should also add that he uses local pastured pork. they are still fed some grains but are pastured. i buy some pork occasionally from the same farm.

[Cinna]

im actually starting an apprenticeship (tomorrow!) with an artisanal butcher who makes truly raw salami's and other cured pork products. he obviously uses some salt which is an issue for some people here but he assured me that the cold smoke temperature never reaches above 87 degrees F for most of his stuff (some of the stuff is hot smoked like tongue and stuff). i've eaten some and haven't had any of the issues if usually have with cooked meat so im convinced it's atleast okay everyonce in a while. i wouldn't eat it every day but it's a good socially acceptable food. he also makes some lacto-fermented veggies. here's the website: http://www.saltandtime.com/

I'm pretty excited. i'll report back on the happenings. would be cool if i could learn the trade and sell some of my own later in life.

edit: i should also add that he uses local pastured pork. they are still fed some grains but are pastured. i buy some pork occasionally from the same farm.

That is super cool, Yon - congrats! I look forward to hearing about your artisanal butcher apprentice adventures.