2025 Salumi Making Tutorial

 Ingredients

• Whole muscle meat (e.g. pork tenderloin, loin, coppa)
• Non-iodized salt (sea salt or kosher salt)
• Cure #1 (Sodium Nitrite) – essential for preventing botulism
• Sugar (white or brown)
• White pepper (ground)
• Juniper berries (lightly crushed)
• Rosemary (dried or fresh)
• Fennel seeds (or anise en grano)
• Paprika (optional – for flavor and color)
• Garlic powder (optional – mild antibacterial)
• Dry white wine (optional – helps distribute seasoning)
   

Tools

• Digital kitchen scale (for grams)
• Spice grinder (e.g., old coffee grinder)
• Mixing bowl
• Disposable gloves (optional)
• Resealable bag or non-reactive container
• Refrigerator space for curing

•  Use a digital scale for accurate measurements.
• Never exceed 0.25% Cure #1.
• Keep meat refrigerated during the curing phase.
• Drying requires a stable environment — avoid attempting if you don’t have control over temp/humidity.

Weigh your trimmed meat in grams. You’ll base all ingredient measurements off this number.

📝 Example: if your meat weighs 1000 grams, you would use:

• 25g salt (2.5%)
• 10g sugar (1%)
• 2.5g Cure #1 (0.25%)
   

Use this formula to calculate your basic cure for any weight of meat:

• Weigh your meat in grams using a digital kitchen scale.
   
• Calculate your cure ingredients based on the meat’s weight:
  
  
  • Salt: 2.5% of the meat’s weight
    → Multiply meat weight × 0.025
    
  • Sugar: 1% of the meat’s weight
    → Multiply meat weight × 0.01
     
  • Cure #1 (pink salt): 0.25% of the meat’s weight
    → Multiply meat weight × 0.0025
    ⚠️ Never exceed this amount — too much can be dangerous.
     
• Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly to create your base curing blend.
   

Add your preferred spices in approximate amounts, based on taste and meat size:

• White pepper – a few pinches
• Rosemary – ½ to 1 tsp, crushed
• Juniper berries – ~4–6, lightly cracked 
• Fennel seeds – ~¼ to ½ tsp
• Paprika – light dusting (optional)
• Garlic powder – ~⅛ tsp (optional)
• Splash of white wine – helps mix ingredients and adds flavor.

Feel free to experiment, but start small — flavors intensify during curing.

1. Rub the entire spice/cure mix thoroughly into the meat.
2. Massage to ensure even coverage and absorption.
3. Place the meat into a sealed container or bag.
4. Refrigerate and cure for:
   
   • 2 days per inch of thickness, or
      
   • 1 day per 500g of meat (whichever is longer).

Turn the meat daily to redistribute cure.

If you’re going for dry-cured salumi:

• Rinse the meat lightly and pat dry.
• Roll in a bit of extra paprika for color (optional).
• Wrap in breathable material (cheesecloth or natural casing).
• Hang in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment:
  
  • Temp: 55°F (13°C)
  • Humidity: ~70%
  • Drying time: 2–6 weeks, depending on size and style
     

The meat is ready when it has lost 30% of its weight.