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Meat from Czech Republic and Slovakia

Lovecký salám / Lovecká saláma TSGLovecký salám

Lovecký salám is a Czech and Slovak long-keeping fermented salami of beef, pork and pork fat with a starter culture of lactic acid bacteria and cocci. The filled sausages are pressed into a flat block, cold-smoked for about seven days and dried for about 14 days at 16–27 °C. It must end with water activity of at most 0.93 and pH below 5.5.

Fully documentedMeat22 days – 23 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe TSG recipe for 100 kg of finished salami. The raw materials weigh more than 100 kg because the salami loses water as it dries; the Czech ministry's draft application gives the meat amounts as minimums.
Beef with up to 10 % fat5.0 kg[eu-lovecky-2010]
Pork with up to 20 % fat75.0 kg[eu-lovecky-2010]
Pork trimmings with up to 30 % fat10.0 kg[eu-lovecky-2010]
Pork trimmings with up to 50 % fat50.0 kgFrozen before grinding[eu-lovecky-2010]
Pig fat20.0 kgFrozen before grinding[eu-lovecky-2010]
Nitrite curing salt mix3.4 kgEuropean curing salt, usually under 1 % nitrite. US pink curing salts (Prague powder, Cure No. 1 or No. 2) hold 6.25 % nitrite, so never use them at this amount[eu-lovecky-2010][wp-nitrite][wp-curing-salt][cfia-nitrite][bfr-nitrite]
Ground black pepper0.35 kg[eu-lovecky-2010]
Sugar0.30 kg[eu-lovecky-2010]
Garlic (flakes, concentrate or powder, as the standard amount of fresh garlic)0.08 kg[eu-lovecky-2010]
Ground cloves0.04 kg[eu-lovecky-2010]
Antioxidant E 315 or E 316Up to 0.05 kgAt most 500 mg/kg expressed as erythorbic acid[eu-lovecky-2010]
Starter cultureA combined culture of lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus and/or Pediococcus) and coagulase-negative Micrococcaceae[eu-lovecky-2010]
Collagen casings, 50–55 mm across[eu-lovecky-2010]
Starterdefined culture (lactic acid bacteria and coagulase-negative cocci)

Total time across the recorded steps: 22 days – 23 days

Start
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What changes: The frozen fat cuts and the other meat are ground to a 3–5 mm grain with the spices

Step 1 of 5
Freeze the fat cuts and grind
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds

The 50 % fat trimmings and the pig fat are frozen. All the meat, fat, salt and spices are made into a mixture with a grain of 3–5 mm.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Lovecký salám is a Czech and Slovak long-keeping fermented salami of beef, pork and pork fat with a starter culture of lactic acid bacteria and cocci. The filled sausages are pressed into a flat block, cold-smoked for about seven days and dried for about 14 days at 16–27 °C. It must end with water activity of at most 0.93 and pH below 5.5. Made in 5 steps over 22 days – 23 days. The longest step, dry and ferment, takes 14 days (European Commission 2010) and runs at 16–27 °C (European Commission 2010). Lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus and/or Pediococcus) and coagulase-negative Micrococcaceae, added as a combined starter culture does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step14 daysSet[eu-lovecky-2010]Dry and ferment
Temperature16–27 °CSet[eu-lovecky-2010]Dry and ferment
AciditypH up to 5.5Set[eu-lovecky-2010]Dry and ferment

What makes this one different

Lovecký salám is pressed into a flat block while it matures, and it is cold-smoked and dried with a starter culture. Its specification forbids any mould on the casing.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Tradiční lovecký salám / Tradičná lovecká salámaThe name used in the Czech ministry's specification text; it keeps the same method and gives the meat amounts as minimums and the fat and curing salt as maximums.

Safety

The TSG sets water activity at most 0.93, pH below 5.5 and salt at most 4.2 % in the finished salami, and forbids mould growth during drying. This is raw meat that is never cooked, and CDC says curing, drying or smoking alone does not consistently kill Trichinella worms. Oregon's rules for shops making dry sausage require certified trichina-free pork, a commercial starter, a pH test and a water-activity test on each batch, and a process shown to cut E. coli O157:H7 by 5 log. This page describes commercial production under a specification; it is not a tested home recipe. The curing salt is the weak European kind. US pink curing salt is more than 6 times stronger in nitrite, and swallowing too much nitrite can cause methemoglobinemia, which starves the body of oxygen.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Made in the Czech lands since the start of the 20th century, mainly in winter. It appeared in the 1955 manual Technologie masného průmyslu and became Czechoslovak standard ČSN 57 7269 from 1977. It was entered in the EU register of traditional specialities guaranteed in 2011 (Regulation (EU) No 160/2011).

  1. [eu-lovecky-2010] European Commission 2010, TSG registration application 'Lovecký salám' or 'Lovecká saláma' (SK-TSG-0007-0044-04.08.2006), Official Journal C 96, 16.4.2010 (CELEX 52010XC0416(03)), read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  2. [mze-lovecky] Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic (MZe), Specifikace produktu jako zaručené tradiční speciality 'Tradiční lovecký salám' nebo 'Tradičná lovecká saláma' (draft application)other
  3. [eu-reg-160-2011] Commission Regulation (EU) No 160/2011 of 21 February 2011 entering 'Lovecký salám'/'Lovecká saláma' (TSG) in the register, Official Journal L 47, 22.2.2011 (CELEX 32011R0160)spec
  4. [cdc-trichinella] CDC, How to Prevent Trichinellosis (12 March 2024)gov
  5. [oha-sausage] Oregon Health Authority, Special Processes Guidance No. 2, Dry Fermented Sausage, HACCP checklist for operators (rev. 01/15)gov
  6. [cdc-nitrite] CDC 2002, Methemoglobinemia following unintentional ingestion of sodium nitrite, New York, 2002, MMWR 51(29)gov
  7. [wp-nitrite] Wikipedia, Sodium nitrite (nitrite share of European and US curing salt)wiki
  8. [wp-curing-salt] Wikipedia, Curing salt (Prague powder No. 1 and No. 2)wiki
  9. [cfia-nitrite] Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Preventive control recommendations on the use of nitrites in the curing of meat products (Prague powder at 6.25 % sodium nitrite)gov
  10. [bfr-nitrite] BgVV (now BfR), Verzehr von nitrit-/nitrat-gepökelten Fleischwaren, statement of 23 October 2001 (German curing salt set at 0.4–0.5 % sodium nitrite until EU Directive 95/2/EC)gov