True Italian type salamis are typically made with pork and beef combinations, with a multiple month drying period in a hog casing at a temperature of about 65 degrees F and humidity about 80 to 85 percent. Seasonings and bacterial starter cultures are used along with a curing agent containing sodium nitrite to avoid botulism. About one third of the starting weight is intentionally lost, resulting in a firm but not hard texture.

Most of us do not have facilities at home to control both temperature and humidity so any version of salami we make at home will likely be of the cooked variety.

I found what looked like a pretty good recipe for making a fast version of venison salami on the Internet, noting that it was missing pork fat and wine. It used an oven temperature for cooking that was too high (250 degrees F). I corrected those deficiencies and a few other ones, like seasonings, and I created the recipe below.

Actually, by the time I was done, my recipe was not at all like the one from the Internet!

I hope you make this salami ... I am sure it will be excellent, but I won't know for certain until I make it.

Ingredients:

4 pounds of coarsely ground (1/4" die) venison

1 pound of coarsely ground pork fat

1 tsp. of Pink curing salt #1 (Prague powder), which is 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% sodium chloride

2 tablespoons of dextrose if you have it, otherwise use white sugar

3 tablespoons of cracked peppercorns

1 teaspoon of coriander seed

1 teaspoon of ground mace

1 teaspoon of ground allspice

1 teaspoon of fennel seeds

1 teaspoon of dried thyme leaves

2 teaspoons of ground white pepper

2 teaspoons of garlic powder

2 tablespoons of Wrights® hickory-flavored liquid smoke

3 tablespoons of Kosher salt

1/4 cup of medium dry red wine like Pinot Noir

Large Hog casings or collagen casings

Directions:

Regrind half of the venison using a 1/8" die in the meat grinder.

Place all of the ground venison and the ground fat in a large stand mixer bowl. Mix on medium speed for four minutes.

Put the dry ingredients except for the cracked pepper corns into a Magic Bullet® mixer and mix for two minutes. Add that powdered mixture to a one quart bowl, then add the cracked peppercorns, the liquid smoke and the wine and mix well with a spoon to form a paste.

Add the curing/seasoning paste to the stand mixer bowl gradually while running the mixer on medium speed. Mix for three minutes, scrape down the inside of the mixer bowl with a soft spatula, mix for two minutes, then knead the mixture (always wear latex or nitrile gloves when you are exposed to sodium nitrite) on a wood cutting board for two minutes. Put the mixture into a one gallon Ziploc® freezer bag. Expel all the air in the bag and seal it. Refrigerate the mixture for 24 hours.

On the second day, mix the freezer bag contents thoroughly, kneading for 2 to 3 minutes on a wood cutting board. Re-use and re-seal the freezer bag, expelling all the air, and refrigerate the mixture for another 24 hours.

On the third day, knead the mixture again for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Fill a large hog or collagen casing with the mixture using your sausage stuffer to make salami chubs. Twist (alternately clockwise then counterclockwise) the end of each chub a few turns at the end of the filling tube when it is about 8" long. Tie the ends, the first before filling the casing and the last after the last casing has been formed into a salami chub. Note that after twisting a chub that folding it to lay alongside the previous chub will avoid having the chub untwist.

Refrigerate the salami chubs for 1 hour on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees F.

Let the salami chubs bake for five to seven hours, until their internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F. Turn the chubs over once every hour, changing their positions on the baking sheet. Use an instant read thermometer every hour to check the temperature of one of the chubs in the center of the baking sheet.

Cool the salami chubs to room temperature and then refrigerate them overnight. Vacuum seal them and keep them refrigerated and they will last for months.

Serve the venison salami sliced thin (1/16th inch to 1/8th inch) along with thinly sliced cheeses and crackers and some olives ... and a nice chilled bottle of Pinot Grigio wine. Cold beer is also a good beverage for this treat.

Enjoy!