Ingredients you will need for both whole muscle and salami projects…
UMAI Dry Curing Bags: Now the big difference between this beginner guide and the other recipes on this website is that instead of using a curing chamber for the dry curing phase, these recipes use a regular fridge and “special” vacuum sealed bags called UMAI dry curing bags. These bags are called UMAI dry curing bags in the US, but I know that other countries have similar bags called by different names. I’ll be honest, I’ve had a hard time finding out too much information about the materials these bags are made out of and exactly how they work which makes the researcher in me a bit wary, but I’ve used them great success so clearly something about them works.
In general, these bags are used after your product has been prepared and is ready for the dry curing phase. For whole muscle, that means after the salt/spice curing phase. For salami, that means after all the meat and salt/cure has been mixed together. The bag is placed around your meat, and vacuum sealed into place. This method protects the meat from exposure to oxygen and airborne pathogens, while still allowing for moisture to be lost from the meat. The meat can then sit comfortably in your regular fridge until it has lost > 30% of its initial weight.
Vacuum Sealer: Needed to seal regular vacuum bags during the salt/spice curing phase, and UMAI dry bags during the dry curing phase. An entry level Foodsaver type machine should be fine, nothing too fancy is required.
Salt: Aka sodium chloride or NaCl. Get something without any iodine, my preference is for sea salt, Sicilian if I can get it, but kosher is also a good choice.
Cure #2: Composed of sodium chloride, nitrates, and nitrites in fixed ratios. This varies from country to country, so make sure you confirm what you are buying and the percentages of each of the components. What we usually use in the US has the following percentages: Sodium Chloride (87.40%), Sodium Nitrate (6.40%), and Sodium Nitrite (6.20%).
Spices: Different recipes will call for difference spices. Try to buy as fresh as possible, as it really does make a difference in the final project.
Scale: A scale that can give you mass in metric is gonna be your best bet, since most of the recipes I provide use metric. If you’re wary about using metric, don’t be. It literally makes so much more sense than the imperial system, and makes the math super easy and straightforward. A good general use scale is one that can give you precision of at least 1 g, and has capacity for up to 5 kg.
Casings: Depending on what project you’re doing, you may or may not want to use a natural casing in addition to the UMAI bag. These can be ordered as needed for projects. They come packed in salt, so extras can be stored in the fridge for long term until needed again.
Starter Culture: Used much more frequently for salami projects, a good starter culture can help your projects to get a jump start on fermentation, and make sure that beneficial (and flavorful) strains predominate. While it varies based on projects, I tend to like B-LC-007 for a nice mild southern European style flavor.
Meat: Last but not least, you need a source of good quality meat! As the saying goes, “garbage in, garbage out”. When you’re starting out, it might be easier to pick up some meat from your local Costco or butcher to try things out. I certainly have done this. But you absolutely can tell the difference between products made with well-raised farm animals and the commodity meat selling for the lowest price at the grocery store. Where you can, I suggest spending more for better raised meat. Particularly, see if you can find any small-medium size farms in your area where you can talk with them about how they raise and treat their animals. The process is much more rewarding when you become a part of a local farm-to-table (okay okay I know it’s an overused phrase but it fits here) ecosystem.
Sourcing:
So, now where can we buy these things? I used a few different sources, but my favorite is Craft Butcher Pantry. I suggest giving them a look and seeing if they have what you need in stock first. Otherwise, The Sausage Maker and Butcher and Packer have a pretty nice selection of supplies needed for this hobby. UMAI bags can be bought at their website. My favorite, not quite so local for me, farm is Ham Sweet Farm, so if you’re in the Michigan area, check them out!
Disclaimer: Meat curing is a hobby that comes with inherent risks. We can all do things to limit this risk by educating ourselves about the process and the utilizing the safest known methods to create our products. This website is for educational purposes only, and all experimentation should be done at each individuals own risk.