Dry cured Pepperoni

Pepperoni : is a spicy Italian-American variety of salami (a dry sausage) usually made from cured pork and beef.  Pepperoni is characteristically soft, slightly smoky, and bright red in color. ^[4] It is a descendant of the spicy salamis of southern Italy, such as salsiccia Napoletana piccante, a spicy dry sausage from Naples. The term pepperoni is a corruption of peperoni, the plural of peperone, the Italian word for pepper (the vegetable, not the spice).

Project participants: Brandon, Blair and Myself.

We decided to make a more traditional pepperoni, unlike the American version that is smoked and fast fermented leaving behind a tangy sour taste.  To achieve this we used a starter culture called bactoferm TSPX,  a freeze-dried culture well suited for all fermented sausages where a relatively mild acidification is desired. T-SPX is particularly recommended for the production of Southern European type of sausages, low in acidity with an aromatic flavor. Basically the starter culture is putting in live good bacteria that feeds off of sugar and allow the good bacteria to take over.  

We used 70% pork butt and 30% beef chuck roast.  We added salt, cure #2, Sugar, dextrose, Black pepper, cayenne pepper, anise, fennel and paprika.  We mixed all the dry ingredients with the TSPX, which was diluted in ¼ cup of distilled water.

Since this was our first time we played around with the casings. We used natural 32mm sausage casings and 2in diameter fibrous casings. We stuff, weighted and tagged each of the pepperoni’s and listed their target weight loss.

We than inoculated them in Bactoferm 600.  . Bactoferm 600 is composed of a bacterial culture that’s sole purpose is to ensure the beneficial surface mold wins the battle over the pathogenic bacteria. The mold strain is laboratory-created 100% Penecillium nalgiovense, the most desirable of beneficial molds for sausages. This product creates a nicely marbled white/grayish surface mold that will prevent contamination by other outside bacteria, prevent case hardening, create a characteristic flavor, and reduce drying time, rancidity and discoloration.

Then off the new fermentation chamber I built. We are fermenting at 73 degrees for about 72hr, or until the PH drops to 5.3 or below.  The PH level is critical since bad bacteria cannot survive in a low PH environment. This level still requires a low AW level to be safe, about 35% weight loss.

I will update this as the project continues. In three days we will be moving into the cure chamber were they will dry for 4-8 weeks.