Hunt Gather Talk Episode 6: Salami Basics

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS | More

In this episode of Hunt Gather Talk, I talk with my friend Christian Spinillo of Michigan, who is one of the best home salami makers I know, about helping people get into the craft of making salami and other dry-cured sausages at home. We discuss equipment, sanitation, good books to read on the subject, we walk you through the whole process and go off on a few meaty tangents — you should know that Christian and I are both natives of New Jersey, and, well, when you get two Jersey Boys together, shit happens… 

This episode is strictly on dried sausages, not whole cuts like hams or coppa, etc. For that you’ll have to wait for the next episode.

If you want to learn more about what Christian and his awesome wife Kate do in Michigan, check out their operation at Ham Sweet Farm. And Christian maintains a blog about curing meat over at Eat The Pig.

This is a single-subject episode, so if you are into making sausages and salami, you are in luck!

Here are some links for further information on this week’s episode:

• Links and a list of my favorite salami books. (This one is a little dated, but all these books are still super useful.) I also mention in the podcast Charcutería: The Soul of Spain, Manual of a Traditional Bacon Curer, and In The Charcuterie: The Fatted Calf’s Guide to Making Sausage, Salumi, Pates, Roasts, Confits, and Other Meaty Goods
• Again, links and a list of tools for butchering and making sausages.
• My recipe for a very basic salami. This is what you should start with.
• Christian’s recipe for goat salami, which works with any red meat, especially venison.
• My friend Matt Wright’s post on setting up a curing chamber.
• That awesome temperature and humidity controller Christian mentions.
• Two great Facebook groups to join that relate to this topic: The Salt Cured Pig and Sausage Debauchery.

That should get you started. If you want more, here are all my salami recipes.

Enjoy this week’s podcast, and, as always, if you like it, please subscribe and leave a review. It helps me a lot. Thanks!