Different Salami Types – Cooked and Uncooked

Salami comes in many more forms and styles than people think. It’s definitely not only put into one category. This article will explain all the different types and clarify them in detail.

Uncooked salami is cured, sometimes fermented, and dried. Depending on the process, this cured style may also be cold-smoked. Cooked salami is heated to an internal safe-for-eating temperature through hot smoking, steaming, or baking.

Here’s a table to clarify all the different types of salami:

Type	Description	Volume	Length of Time to Produce
Uncooked Dry Cured	Salt-cured, fermented, and dried	low	3-20 weeks
Uncooked Dry Cured Fermented	Salt-cured, fermented rapid acidification	low	3-20 weeks
Uncooked Salt Cured Fermented Rapid Acidifying	Salt cured, fermented rapid acidification	high	3-7 days
Cooked Salt Seasoned Hot Smoked	Salt seasoned, cooked, hot smoked to a safe internal eating temperature	low/high	3-24 hours
Cooked Salt Seasoned	Salt seasoned, cooked to a safe temperature	low/high	3-24 hours

Salami Cooked and Uncooked

It’s not that straightforward, but I will explain the topic below.

Introduction to Salami Varieties

If you live in the Western world, you are accustomed to the classic “hard” type of salami that you’ll find in the supermarket. When squeezed, it has a firmness that cooked salami (I wrote about salami and keto in detail here)  does not have; rapidly acidified salami also has a softness.

This is often a salami that is first salt-cured, with a higher temperature and moist fermentation stage.

Then, there is a drying stage, where a certain amount of weight loss occurs.

Other names for the salami genoa, pepperoni, or picante styles.

The least costly salami I can buy at a supermarket often has a soft texture, almost like a smoked ham in the delicatessen section. This is due to the rapid acidification mentioned above in the table.

Hard salami (cut and whole salami storage is also different) gets hard because it has lost weight during drying after being cured and often fermented – a salt curing and drying process.

Understanding Uncooked Salami

This salami style is uncooked because it has been made safe using salt to slow the water activity, making it hard for unwanted bacteria to survive.

It is often fermented between the curing and drying stages to lower the pH, or to increase acidity, which unwanted bacteria also dislike.

It is uncooked because it is dried and fermented to the point where it is preserved. “Ripening” is another term used for the drying process.

Curing meat  (cured sausages is another way of saying salami) involves adding salt, although sometimes this is confused with nitrates or nitrates added as one of the ingredients. Since this additive contains approximately 90% salt and 10% sodium nitrate and nitrite, depending on whether it is under 30 days or over 30 days, a version known as number one and number two pink curing salt these have many other names (instacure, Prague powder etc.).

Overview of Cooked Salami

These are often hot-smoked salamis, seen in many parts of Eastern Europe, such as Kielbasa or Kohlbasa (hundreds of variations). As mentioned above, less is used because you don’t need as much as when making the dry-cured all-fermented salami.

This salami style is often cooked at a much lower temperature than you would of the meat since it can keep the fat from melting or rendering. At the same time, the internal temperature of the meat still gets to the minimum safe cooked temperature.

Salami Curing Techniques

Salt Curing

As mentioned above, salt is the main form of curing the meat.

Mold Growth Externally

External fermentation can be included in the curing process. Certain types of starter cultures help create a breathable mold that regulates salami drying externally.

I have used these types of mold cultures. One of them is mold 600, a common commercial mold for uniform beneficial bacteria externally.

Fermentation Internally

I have used many different types of starter cultures for flavoring and pacification. In a broad sense, you can put these into two categories: fast or slow fermentation.

You may be familiar with salami’s sour or tangy flavor, which is produced through a fast fermentation process. Slow-fermented salami often only has a very subtle tangy sour (I wrote in detail about the unique taste of salami here) taste due to internal acidity changes.

Exploring Dry Curing Methods

Not all salami are dry-cured. As the table above shows, rapid acidification is used to quickly make the meat ham salami style a fast manufacturing process.

As opposed to the multiple months it takes to create traditional artisanal styles.

Fermentation in Artisanal Salami Production

After the salt, spices, and possible nitrates are added. The starter cultures are sprinkled into a small amount of clean filtered water and allowed to be slightly blue.

Starter cultures are added and mixed into the meat mixture.

Depending on the culture, the temperature and humidity vary, but they are often around 85% humidity and 60 to 70°F or 15 to 20°C.

This process takes 24 to 72 hours, depending on the starter culture. The pH should drop to a minimum of 5.3 to be considered a safe level of acidity. Then, we move on to the drying stage with slightly lower humidity and temperature.

The balance comes from trying to dry the meat evenly and not having the outside dry faster than the inside. I have found that this is one of the great challenges of making traditional salami.

Rapid Acidification Process

This process can often be completed within 3 to 4 days, and one way I can tell whether the salami has been produced in this manner is by squeezing it; it will be soft.

Cooking and Smoking Salami

• Hot Smoking Salami (here is how to make salami in a smoker I wrote about)
• Cold Smoking Salami

Some salami you buy might be steamed or cooked to an internal temperature; this means it’s not preserved and has no shelf life like the traditional dry-cured salami that is hard and has lost moisture to maintain it.

Not all dry-cured meat is cold-smoked; this is true for some recipes. In central Europe, Germany often has a strong culture of beach-smoked salami.