Butcher Supplies

Directions For
Leggs Old Plantation Salami Seasoning

To start the meat must be clean and cold, 32-35 deg F. is a good place to be. Fat ratio can be as high as 30% but 20% is recommended (20lb lean + 5lb fat = 20% lean/ fat ratio). Casing recommendation: Fibrous, size 2 up to size 5. Any length casing is ok as long as they will fit in your smoker. The standard size for venison salami is 2 ½ x 20

THE CURE IS IN THE SPICE BAG

1. Put the casings in some warm water to soak. Calibrate your skewer thermometer.

2. Grind 25 pounds of meat/ fat through a coarse plate once. If you want to grind the lean and the fat separate before mixing, that’s fine too. If you only have one size grinder plate don’t worry about it, it’ll be ok as long as it has a maximum hole size of 3/16 inch.

3. Dissolve the cure (that’s the pink powder in the small package found inside the white spice bag) in 1 quart of ICE COLD water.

4. Empty the contents of the spice bag and the dissolved cure solution into the ground meat. Mix well. Mixing by hand should take about 3 minutes. Make sure all the spice and cure is evenly distributed.

5. Grind again through a small plate, 3/16 or 1/8.

6. If you’re stuffing off the grinder, take the plate and the knife out and put the stuffing attachment in place. Stuff the casings as tight as you can without breaking the casing. If you’re using a sausage stuffer, grind the meat one more time. It’s going to get very sticky. This is a good thing, it shows the binding quality of the mix.

7. If you are using encapsulated citric acid, add it after the last grind. Mix it in. Remember, even distribution.

8. Now pack the stuffer tight, making sure to get all the air out and stuff the casings as tight as you can without breaking the casing.

9. Immediately after stuffing the sausage should be returned to a 38-40 deg F cooler and held for at least 4-6 hours but overnight is better. Don’t be in too big of a hurry, if the meat is cold and your cooler is 38-40 deg the sausage will hold for a couple of days.

10. Before going to the smokehouse hang the salami at room temperature for a couple of hours. Preheat the smokehouse to 90 deg F and hang the salami, evenly spaced, a finger or 2 apart is good. Make sure none are touching. Process for 2 hours at 90 deg.

11. Using your favorite hardwood (I recommend hickory) apply a heavy smoke at around 100 deg F for 1-4 hours. This is a matter of personal taste, first time out try 1-2 hours.

12. Kill the smoke and gradually, over the next 4 or so hours, raise the house temperature to around 175-180 deg F and cook until the sausage reaches an internal temperature of 155 deg F. This is going to take some time, let it. Be sure and check temperatures of the sausages around different parts of the smokehouse to manage cool and hot spots.

13. When the sausage reaches 155 deg pull it out of the house and immediately shower (hang up outside and spray with the water hose) with cold water to stop the cooking process and cool the sausage. Try to get the internal temperature down to around 120 deg F. If you don’t have a way to shower an ice water bath will work too.

14. Hang the sausage in the cooler overnight to chill before cutting.