Friday, June 5, 2009

Venison Salame Redux


Went to the butcher the other day to buy some jowls and some butts. I gave him some of the venison salame I made several months ago. He gushed about how good it was. He then proceeded to give me a semi-frozen chunk of venison and asked me if I wouldn't mind making more. "Sure", I said. So, with absolutely no intention on making any more salame for awhile, the semi-frozen venison told me differently. This is exactly the same ratios as the last one I posted and I hope it turns out as tasty. I'm waiting to see if I'm going to have a similar issue as last time with the casings.

5 comments:

  1. Hi...thank for the comment on my 'Nduja post. I added sausagedebauchery to my blog list.

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  2. Hi Scott its Frankiem83 again. Im exploring all of your posts. Did you end up drying this venison salami? I made a deer bresola last hunting season and it was horrible. It tasted how raw venison smells, gamey and metalic. I also made fresh venison sausage with pork fat and it was great, but im afraid to dry it. Anyway if you did dry cure this how did it taste?

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  3. It was dry cured, yes. It was awesome. The butcher from whom I bought the venison GAVE me 3 pounds for free to make more after he tasted it. This is the perfect vessel for the hot pepper powder. Did you use cure #2 and a starter?

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  4. Great I still have a large loin of venison so Ill try it this weekend. The deer bresola i made was whole muscle, so yes i did use cure #2 but I didnt think there was a reason to use a starter. I used the same process you would to make a coppa or any other whole muscle. It dried fine but I guess when it comes to curing deer meat, pork fat must make all the diference. With reguard to the N'duja, how much weight to you need it to loose before taking it down? I also wonder if it would be ok to use hog casings instead of beef bung. I realize its not traditonal, but would it compromise taste or texture?

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  5. I'm sorry. I misread your comment, I thought you made a salame. You're correct, no need for a starter. Yeah, I've heard similar issues with curing lean game. If using lean meat to make salame, make sure you use about 30% pork fat. For the n'duja, I don't go by weight loss, since it never really dries. I leave it to dry for about 2 months. Hog casing should be fine. Probably only need about a month of drying in that case.

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