Salami!

Posted by: bryanonfilm

Salami! - 09/20/07 04:28 PM

I know most of you on the board take dry salami with you, but what about sliced deli salami? I was reading a blog about a guy on the West Coast Trail who took sliced salmi from the deli and it was fine on day 5. Stored in a ziploc, would it be okay for salami to get warm? I have a 3 day trip next week (temps up to 68) and I would love some thin sliced deli salami. Thoughts?
Posted by: CamperMom

Re: Salami! - 09/20/07 04:57 PM

The salami would need to be really, really dry, I'm thinking.



The part about having the deli slice it bothers me. They slice meats and cheeses all day long, and don't clean in between items often enough to suit me. With organisms floating in the air and having time to grow on the blade, as well as anything that might have started growing on whatever was last cut, I'd be concerned about keeping properties of the sliced meat without refrigeration. But that is me.

CM
Posted by: trailblazer

Re: Salami! - 09/20/07 07:00 PM

I've taken some sliced salami a couple of times in the past, but after the first night anything that was air exposed turned a brownish green pale color. It smelt fine, and I'm quite sure it was fine, but the fact that it looked so different turned me off completely and I ended up not eating out of paranoia. If this ever happens with a log, I can just cut off a small surface area.
Posted by: Paul

Re: Salami! - 09/20/07 09:47 PM

I've taken sliced slami on a number of trips, up to about 5 days I think, with no problems. But never in really hot weather, usually the Sierra in the spring or summer. And that was non-nitrate salami, so less preservatives than most, and it was not very dry salami, either. So I expect most any fairly dry salami with nitrates would do fine for a week or more. If it does get funky, then don't eat it - but make sure you dispose of it FAR away from any campsite!
Posted by: CamperMom

Re: Salami! - 09/21/07 04:06 AM

The color change might just be a harmless reaction to light and oxygen. It can look unappetizing but still be OK to eat. "*Can*" It is better to be safe than sorry. Having diarrhea on the trail would be awful on so many levels.

It might be difficult to determine if the slippery feel on salami is slime from microorganism growth of just fat from salami. People have been eating cured meats for far longer than we have had refrigeration, of course. My reluctance over the first post in this thread wasn't because of carrying salami on its own, it was carrying it presliced, from the deli, no less, not cut with a cleaned blade immediately befoer consumption.

CM
Posted by: AYCE

Re: Salami! - 09/21/07 05:24 AM

I have done many 5 day resupplies with sliced dry salami from the deli for during the hottest part of the summer in both the humid east and the dry west. Salamis are loaded with preservatives. Towards the end of the resupply I boil them in my dinner rather than eat them raw. This takes care of live organisms, but it would not take care of their metabolic by-products which can also make you sick. It's unlikely, but not impossible, that you'd have a problem on a 3 day trip with temps @ room temp with sliced salami. You could test this out at home by picking up some dry sliced salami and leaving it on the counter.

In times other than the summer when the weather is cooler, I often take regular sliced deli meats such as turkey or roast beef. I eat them within a few days. Deli cases sometimes have pre-sliced deli meats in small quantities (third-pound) and very convenient sealed packages with an integrated ziplock. The sealed ones will last longer unrefrigerated.

Since I don't do mail-drops, selections are very limited in some of the little trail towns in which you can find yourself trying to fish out a resupply, and finding something like a summer sausage is unlikely. Almost every town has some kind of preserved luncheon meats, though.


Posted by: tarbubble

Re: Salami! - 09/22/07 08:11 AM

i have to be the contrarian here. when i have kept salami in a chub, it usually lasts very well. the one time i pre-sliced, it turned green after less than 2 days. this was summertime in the Sierra Nevada with fairly warm temps. since then i never pre-slice; i just hack it off with my knife or bite it off like a savage.
Posted by: hootyhoo

Re: Salami! - 09/24/07 04:18 PM

Excellent point mom. I agree with the clealiness. Unless you got there to be first cut of the day. I worked in a deli one summer and it was very-- but the blade is not cleaned until the end of the day. So whatever got cut, got passed along.
Posted by: robi

Re: Salami! - 09/27/07 08:19 AM

i live in Hungary, home of salamis of all kinds.

i have taken all types local salamis, nothing special, just pop into the local super market, buy what ever you feel like, stick it in a baggie and go whereever you want.

I have spent 10 days in blazing hot Croatia with no refrigiration and had slama and cheese be completely fine!

I have taken the week long train from here to China, again, no fridge and it was summer, there was no problem!!!!

Salami is fine, no need for the diced stuff, unless you like it diced. I prefer the whole stick, no pre packed, pre sliced, pre dieced stuff for me.

I have some peperoni in the pantry that I got in the US in the summer, just opened it, no problem. no refrigiration!

Salami is made to last, and that it does.

robi
Posted by: phat

Re: Salami! - 09/27/07 06:25 PM



I agree completely with your sentiment about "real" salami robi. The good stuff that
you get in hungary this is certainly the case, and good sausage here is the same way.

However, lots of the time what you get pre-sliced in the deli in north american supermarkets
isn't quite the same - it's very wet and not very preserved. - it does not last very well at all.

Unfortunately, all the good salami brought to me by my friend from budapest when we met up in Vienna this year is gone.. Fortunately I still have a good stash of paprika left.

(BTW, adding genuine hungarian csipos paprika to a natural high dehydrated beef stroganoff
produces something very tasty and almost goulasch like...)
Posted by: robi

Re: Salami! - 09/28/07 02:08 AM

so this means there is salami and there is salami... i was not aware of that..

actually, i bet the stuff that is called salami but not really preserved properly is not really salami, just an imitation.... too bad.

I say you folks should alwyas buy the real stuff... it is better and in the long run cheaper


robi
Posted by: thomasz

Re: Salami! - 06/02/08 02:40 AM

I like sliced Salami, beef and ham pizza. So delicious!
Posted by: Earthling

Re: Salami! - 06/04/08 12:10 PM

Quote:
so this means there is salami and there is salami... i was not aware of that..

actually, i bet the stuff that is called salami but not really preserved properly is not really salami, just an imitation.... too bad.

I say you folks should alwyas buy the real stuff... it is better and in the long run cheaper


robi


Trust me Robi, the salami one can buy in a true Italian New York deli IS some of THE BEST in the World <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> So many types so little cheese and crackers to go with it <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Buy it in stick form or have the deli folks just cut you a hunk off the stick and not slice it. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />
Posted by: DTape

Re: Salami! - 06/04/08 03:00 PM

Question for all you real salamis...


Is the "white stuff" (I am assuming a type of mold) on the outside of the real salamis meant to be eaten (like it is with Brie) or are we expected to "peel" the salami?
Posted by: Earthling

Re: Salami! - 06/05/08 06:59 AM

DTape, you can consume the casing it's not harmful to eat. Different types of salami have a different appearence due to the molds on their outsides. ask your real butcher, not the one in the grocery store about it. You do only want 'edible casing varieties' the plastic ones are'nt great quality salami's anyway <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> enjoy!
Posted by: robi

Re: Salami! - 06/10/08 01:32 AM

Quote:
Question for all you real salamis...


Is the "white stuff" (I am assuming a type of mold) on the outside of the real salamis meant to be eaten (like it is with Brie) or are we expected to "peel" the salami?


It depends on what the casing itself is made from. real instetines = edible, plastic = gross, inedible

the white is often salts or in certain cases MOLD, but either way you can eat it if the casings are the real thing!

FYI the bits of white stuff in the salami are LARD most likely, and that is good, that makes the salami taste so much better.

robi