Bushwalk Australia

Hi Everyone

Just wanted to know if anyone had a recommendation for a pepperoni or similar that will last for a while especially if vacuum packed. The 3 I have tried so far all went moldy and very off after a couple of weeks. None had been refrigerated so I've ruled that out. All were sealed in Mylar with both Desiccate and Oxygen absorbing bags. Thanks in advance.

JJ

I get a stick of cacciatore salami from my local deli (you won't find this stuff in coles / woolies), the type they hang in open air, keeps just fine. Never tested it but they're meant to last over a month.

I've found that in a zip lock it can sweat (mainly fat so I don't think a desiccant would help) and this is likely to cause issues with shelf life. If i were taking it on a week long hike I would experiment with different packaging, probably something akin to butchers paper which would draw the fat out of the stick. Perhaps salting it would help to?

If you're looking for an easy way out, my local woolies sell individually wrapped 'hans striker sticks' salamis.

Hope that helps.

Yeah you need air dried salami/saucisson/chorizo, whole. Not the pre-sliced stuff. And you're not supposed to vacuum pack them : they're supposed to last for more than a month after slicing. With your system you've killed all the bacteria and taste. Aluminium foil is enough. You won't find them in supermarkets in Australia, you need to go to Spanish, French or Italian delis.

There's a few differing opinions about this topic.

I suggest finding a thicker salami (solid) and taking it out of the plastic packaging and letting it hang in your pantry over winter. during this time it will dry out and become rock solid. When you need it, cut off a hunk and wrap it in paper. Plastic and foil will cause condensation and subsequent mould - avoid these.
With most salami theres a few differing moulds that can grow. if you give it a vinegar rinse before hanging these will be less likely to do so. Bear in mind not all moulds are bad, i.e. the white one on hungarian is fine.

My preferred brand is Kalleske http://kalleskesmeats.com.au/ it's cheap and ive never had mould or other issues,

Very interesting, icefest - sounds like it should work for Qld.

When I did a lot of summer walking in NSW and VIC, it was mainly high country, but we did get mid to high 30s on occasions. Much less humidity though I expect. We used the non-refrigerated pepperoni, one per week for up to 3 weeks. The last couple were in food drops. We just made sure they were carried somewhere in the pack that was a bit insulated in the hot weather. Once we had one gone off - it was swollen up inside the wrapper when we retrieved it, when it hadn't been hot. We reckoned it was probably a dud to start with. No probs on maybe 20-odd other occasions.

Tortoise wrote:When I did a lot of summer walking in NSW and VIC, it was mainly high country, but we did get mid to high 30s on occasions. Much less humidity though I expect. We used the non-refrigerated pepperoni, one per week for up to 3 weeks. The last couple were in food drops.

How did you store them in the food dumps?

Heat may be the problem as I'm in Qld. Looking for something to add to the supplies for the AAWT in Nov/Dec and historically the temp range is 4 - 16 C, for that period, so it may not be a problem there. I'm going to get a couple of the air dried ones and just hang them and see.

The worst thing about salami when bushwalking is the fatty mess it makes. It gets all over the knife used to cut it, then all over whatever you use to wipe down the knife afterward, then your rubbish bag stinks of salami for the rest of the trip. It may store well, but I'd rather go without the hassle.

I have cached the small (200 gram) whole Don salamis in food drops for a few weeks and then eaten them over about 5 days when doing the AAWT. These are the uncut Don 200g salamis that have been pasturised and packed in sealed plastic. These are NOT the ones you see cut in half in the plastic. From memory the pasturised ones are mild and hot hungarian and the pepperoni. My preferred one was the Pepperoni. Similarly I have stashed hard cheeses like parmesan without any deleterious effect on the cheese. Vintage cheddar stashed at the same time was rather oily but quite edible.

I do try to make sure any food drops are not stashed in a sunny place.

There is another thread on the subject http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=8906

Go to a proper deli and buy the salami that is hanging unrefrigerated on the wall.

While I agree that the air dried salamis in good delis work well when walking, I am a little concerned about how they perform when closed up for a few weeks in a sealed tin. Has anybody actually stashed one of these air dried salamis in a sealed tin for a few weeks or have they just used them over a week or so in the bush?

Mark F wrote:Has anybody actually stashed one of these air dried salamis in a sealed tin for a few weeks or have they just used them over a week or so in the bush?

Since they have cured for months in the air, why would you want to seal them in a container? Just wrap them in kitchen paper or a piece of Chux and put them in your tucker bag.

RonK wrote: why would you want to seal them in a container?

Because the op is interested in caching salami in food drops on the AAWT. The food drops get put in often several weeks before they are reached and opened.

jjoz58 wrote:

Tortoise wrote:When I did a lot of summer walking in NSW and VIC, it was mainly high country, but we did get mid to high 30s on occasions. Much less humidity though I expect. We used the non-refrigerated pepperoni, one per week for up to 3 weeks. The last couple were in food drops.

How did you store them in the food dumps?

Heat may be the problem as I'm in Qld. Looking for something to add to the supplies for the AAWT in Nov/Dec and historically the temp range is 4 - 16 C, for that period, so it may not be a problem there. I'm going to get a couple of the air dried ones and just hang them and see.

Long time ago, but iirc, some had a plastic wrap over the paper wrap. We put that and the cheese in the middle of however we stored it, with the stuff around it providing some insulation. you'd have to do it differently these days, but we strung ours up using a wooden crate we could burn afterwards, lined with a garbage bag, with a vermin-resistant cord. They would have only been there for about 2 to 3 weeks, as we didn't do the whole walk in one go. The woodshed at the back of Limestone Hut was one I remember, because going by the literal piles of garbage, broken bottles etc left by 4wd-ers (not the nice ones), we were more concerned re 2-legged rats getting into our food than 4-legged ones.

We used some real cheese cloth to wrap both the cheese and the pepperoni after they were opened, which solved the problem of the oiliness in hot weather. (it was ok to put that whole thing in a plastic bag buried in a pack)

We often got away with very kind friends driving long distances, or coordinating walkers who couldn't do the whole walk - one would drive in to some obscure place with the next week of food, and one would drive the car back to Sydney. So we never had to bury barrels. I imagine it'd be cooler underground, though, so no issue. Do you know what you'll be doing for food drops?

Parts of the AAWT would often get a lot hotter than 16 degrees, because of those valleys in between the nice high bits. Somebody else might have more info re keeping pepperoni out there for the longer periods.

The central market at Adelaide has a pepperoni/mettwurst stall with vacummn packed products that specifically say, no need to refrigerate. Yes of course one can use airdried, but these come in various sizes and can be packed without making everything smell of garlic/sour meat.

Mark F wrote:

RonK wrote: why would you want to seal them in a container?

Because the op is interested in caching salami in food drops on the AAWT. The food drops get put in often several weeks before they are reached and opened.

Ah, missed that post. Perhaps a substitute then - biltong or jerky such as Jack Links Tender Bites. Yummy snack or throw in the pot with the stew.

So hungry now. Doh.

If you are in South Australia Barossa Fine Foods make a great Spainish Salarmi.

After taking this away several times I think I will give up on taking it again in warm / hot weather. In Janaury we were away in the Tasmanian heat wave and it was about 32 C in the Walls.

The smell of the salarmi overtook everthing in my pack despite being double bagged etc. so it will be cup of soup and long life cheese and wraps in the future.

Mark F wrote:I have cached the small (200 gram) whole Don salamis in food drops for a few weeks and then eaten them over about 5 days when doing the AAWT. These are the uncut Don 200g salamis that have been pasturised and packed in sealed plastic. These are NOT the ones you see cut in half in the plastic. From memory the pasturised ones are mild and hot hungarian and the pepperoni. My preferred one was the Pepperoni. Similarly I have stashed hard cheeses like parmesan without any deleterious effect on the cheese. Vintage cheddar stashed at the same time was rather oily but quite edible.

I do try to make sure any food drops are not stashed in a sunny place.

There is another thread on the subject http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=8906

+1 on the above comment.

As long as they remain in the original packaging and unsliced, they should last at least 4 weeks. I've cached some Don salami for my upcoming AAWT walk, in shaded steel tins and I'm expecting tome to last this long, unless a 2 legged mammal finds them.

The single serve 'striker' salami & pepperoni that you find in the supermarket don't need to be refrigerated - they are usually in the fridge in the supermarket but if you look on the outer box they come in just says 'store in a cool dry place' I recently bought them about 10 days before an 8 day walk and kept them in the pantry rather than the fridge at home then had them in my pack for up to 7 days (ate the last one for lunch on on day 7 of the walk) and they were fine, spring Blue Mountains temps - daytime mid 20's. They are an expensive way to buy salami but if you are only catering for one they are pretty mess free and add weight efficient calories to lunches.