Spianata Romana
- Butterbean
- Moderator
- Posts: 1955
- Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 04:10
- Location: South Georgia
It's amazing what a few weeks of vacuum packing any kind of cured and dried meat can do if you have a dry rim.
Your Spaniata Romana finished up looking wonderful.
FWIW, when I make Csabai, I always salt and spice the meat cubes and cure it in the fridge for up to 3, sometimes 4 days, depending on what I am doing. I never had a dud yet.
My Csabai was very much appreciated at the Christmas party and following dinner, just finished this afternoon.
2 kg of the mild and hot variety disappeared in no time at all. Then it was back to the commercial made rubbish with all the appropriate comments.
Your Spaniata Romana finished up looking wonderful.
FWIW, when I make Csabai, I always salt and spice the meat cubes and cure it in the fridge for up to 3, sometimes 4 days, depending on what I am doing. I never had a dud yet.
My Csabai was very much appreciated at the Christmas party and following dinner, just finished this afternoon.
2 kg of the mild and hot variety disappeared in no time at all. Then it was back to the commercial made rubbish with all the appropriate comments.
Thanks everyone for your kind comments. The spaniata romana was definately a hit over the holidays. Too bad I could not share it with you guys!
See the spec sheet below. I really like this culture.Bob K wrote:Culture - did you use the Gewürzmüller Bitec LS-1 culture? I can't find any info for Bitec LM-1
One of these days I will get around to building myself a proper press. What I used for this project was very simple. I pressed the spaniata between two large polyethylene cutting boards. I had to place 60lbs of weight on this particular sausage before it would have any effect.Butterbean wrote:Redzed, could you talk a little about the pressing? I was wondering if you used wood and if so was it sealed wood or raw wood and any issues you need to be careful of when pressing.
Hey Jan, how about some pics and an updated recipe of your csabai! You could probably cold smoke it, dry and call it Spanish chorizo!crustyo44 wrote:My Csabai was very much appreciated at the Christmas party and following dinner, just finished this afternoon.
2 kg of the mild and hot variety disappeared in no time at all. Then it was back to the commercial made rubbish with all the appropriate comments.
- Butterbean
- Moderator
- Posts: 1955
- Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 04:10
- Location: South Georgia
Thanks. I've also have been considering building a press of sorts. I thought I might build it similar to a cheese press with some camming levers mounted on rods. I was curious if you had any thoughts on whether the press should be somewhat porous or sealed. I have a plenty of polyethylene scrap boards I could use but was wondering if raw wood wouldn't be better since it could provide some wicking like with cheese.One of these days I will get around to building myself a proper press. What I used for this project was very simple. I pressed the spaniata between two large polyethylene cutting boards. I had to place 60lbs of weight on this particular sausage before it would have any effect.
Even though the Spianata was a huge sausage, it disappeared over the holiday season. Definitely a favourite when I served it with other sausages and meats. About 10 days ago I made another one, this time weighing almost 6kg (13.2lbs)! I used only 80% Class I meat from fresh hams and 20% hard back fat. Did not change a thing as far as the ingredients. The second picture puts its size into perspective.
Fermented and pressed
Kinda dwarfs the rest of the chamber occupants!
Fermented and pressed
Kinda dwarfs the rest of the chamber occupants!
After 31/2 months it was time to pull the Spaniata. It dropped 36% from 5640g to 3610g. Slight case hardening, but if you look at the slices on the last pic, it was all gone after 3 weeks in a vacuum. Looks like I will have enough for many happy hours over the summer months. Taste is excellent and the only thing that I will do next time I make it, is to substitute Calabrian peppers for the generic hot pepper flakes. Notice that I saved the skins since this big sausage had a nice clean coat of p. nalgionvense.
- Butterbean
- Moderator
- Posts: 1955
- Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 04:10
- Location: South Georgia
Re: Spianata Romana
Quick question. I'm still a rookie when it comes to the starter cultures and fermentation. I would like to make some more of this, however I cant find any of the bitec lm-1 that I used before on the market. I'm sure there's an equal substitute however, I'm not sure which bacteria I'm looking for to replicate this soppressata.
JjNUrK
Re: Spianata Romana
Since it is a classic Southern European sausage, a slower acidification and milder tasting product is the best. Ferment to no lower than a pH of 4.9. Use a starter such as Mondostart Classic, Bactoferm B-LC-007, Bactoferm T-SPX, Lallemand LALCULT, SAX-01. Bactoferm products are ridiculously expensive in Canada. I would buy the Lallemand SAX-01. You can order it here: https://testek.ca/en/produit/lallemand- ... sax01-15g/
Re: Spaniata Romana
Thx Chris, that the site I was actually looking on. Still haven't wrapped my head around the types of bacteria and what they do.
JjNUrK
Re: Spianata Romana
You can also get Mondostart Classic from Halford's in Calgary. It has a lower cell count than other starters out there but it should work well.