Homemade Beef Salami Recipe
- Type
- Cured sausage
- Level
- Advanced
- Rating
- Rate this recipe
Today I show you how you can make a delicious beef salami yourself. The preparation takes a little time, but it’s definitely worth it!
The beef salami production is often a big challenge, especially for beginners, because you need a certain ambient temperature and humidity for optimal ripening.
What’s important to me is this: Of course, raw sausage aging is best done with a curing chamber. Alternatively, there is also the possibility to do without, as I also explain in this post.
If you are a beginner, you should definitely check out my make your own salami as a beginner, as you will find all the necessary information for making salami there in detail.
Here you can find the complete beef salami recipe as a video or to read through.
Have fun and good luck making it!
Table of Contents
Beef salami – What do you need to make it?
Ingredients per 1 kg
| Ingredient | Grams | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Variant 1: 100 % beef | ||
| beef with at least 20–25 % fat | 1,000 g | 100 % |
| Variant 2: with pork fat | ||
| lean beef | 750 g | 75 % |
| pork loin fat | 250 g | 25 % |
Spices per 1 kg
| Ingredient | Grams |
|---|---|
| salt | 25.5 g |
| sugar mixture (dextrose / sugar) | 3 g |
| Cure #1 | 2.5 g |
| black pepper | 2 g |
| paprika | 1 g |
| mace | 0.5 g |
| allspice | 0.5 g |
The two meat options are alternatives, not one list. Either take beef that already carries 20 to 25 % fat, or start from lean beef and add the pork loin fat yourself.
The equipment to make beef salami
A meat grinder cuts the meat into small pieces so it can be mixed with the seasoning. Cut the meat into pieces that fit the feed tube before grinding.
Sausage stuffer, grinder attachment or funnel
Use a sausage stuffer to fill the mixture into its casing. A stuffing attachment for your meat grinder or a hand funnel also works when you are starting out.
Smokable fibrous casings
For maturing raw-cured sausages, I recommend smokable fibrous casings, caliber 55/25. They support the drying and maturation process.
For readers in the EU: you can buy these casings in my German shop. Smokable fibrous casings, caliber 55/25, 5 pieces.
Place to dry and mature the sausage
To age this raw sausage, you need an environment where both humidity and temperature are relatively constant. There are several possibilities for this. I have already matured cured sausages in the fridge or cellar without any problems.
Optional: If you want to be on the safe side, then a ripening cabinet is the best choice. My recommendation: Dry Ager DX 500
Make beef salami – Step-By-Step Instructions
Cut the meat and bacon into pieces suitable for mincing. You can adjust the size depending on how big your mincer is.
Put the meat pieces in the freezer for 1-2 hours to freeze. This will help you later with the mincing and ensures that the mass does not get too warm.
Now you can grind the meat. Depending on how coarse or fine you want your beef salami, you can use different perforated discs here. Honestly, this is a complete matter of taste. I use the medium perforated disc (5 mm) for the beef salami.
Add the spices to the mixture and mix well for about 3 – 5 minutes. The sausage meat should have a good binding.
Pull the casing onto the sausage filler and tie the casing end with kitchen tape. Whether you use natural or artificial casing is up to you. The important thing is that the casing is suitable for raw sausages.
Now fill the mixture into casings. Make sure that there are no air pockets.
Tie the other end with kitchen tape.
(Optional): If you feel that air pockets have occurred, take a needle and pierce the sausage to open any air holes that are present.
Hang the salami for 24-48 hours at high humidity (>95%) and temperature (20-25 degrees Celsius, 68–77 °F) to ferment. You can spray the beef salami with water here sometimes to maintain the highest possible humidity.
After 24 you can hang it up in any cool place. The humidity should be about 80% and the temperature not more than 15 C° (59 °F). If you don’t have a maturing cabinet, then in many cases you can hang them in the basement if the parameters are reasonably suitable. That’s what I did for a long time.
After the drying time your beef salami is ready😄. This varies greatly depending on what caliber you use and what your environmental conditions are. Depending on the desired degree of hardness, you can let the sausage dry for between 2 and 8 weeks. Important: The maturing process takes time. Be patient until you reach your desired degree of hardness. Have fun making it!
Frequently asked questions
Is salami beef or pork?
Is salami beef or pork?
Both, depending on which salami you are holding. Most of the salami sold in Europe is pork, or a mix of pork and beef, because pork back fat is what gives a salami its white flecks and its mouthfeel. But there is no rule that says salami has to be pork.
This recipe is the all-beef version. It works because salami is defined by the method and not by the animal: raw meat and fat, cured, seasoned, fermented and then dried until it loses enough water to be shelf stable. Any meat that can carry that process can be a salami, which is why beef salami, turkey salami and game salami all exist.
What meat do you use for beef salami?
What meat do you use for beef salami?
You have two routes and the recipe lists both. Either take beef that already carries 20 to 25 % fat and use it on its own, or start from lean beef and add the fat yourself as pork loin fat at 25 %.
The pure beef version is the one to pick if you want it beef all the way through, for instance for a halal or a pork-free product. Be honest about the fat content though: beef fat is harder and has a stronger flavour than pork fat, and a lean beef salami with too little fat comes out dry and crumbly.
Important: whichever route you take, the fat has to be cold and the mixture has to stay cold while you grind it. Smeared fat is the most common reason a raw sausage never dries properly.
How long is the shelf life of the beef salami?
How long is the shelf life of the beef salami?
Your beef salami will keep for several months. However, it will gradually lose more moisture and eventually dry out completely. Therefore, it makes sense to store them vacuumed in the refrigerator.
