Pepperoni

Step 1

Clean, rinse, and rehydrate your casings

Step 2

Clean your meat of any silver skin, sinew, arteries and cut into small cubes.  Place the meat and fat in the freezer for an hour or until the temp reaches 32f – 34F.

Step 3

Rehydrate the starter Culture LHP-Dry in some distilled water (use 1/2 tsp of this culture in 1/4 cup of distilled water for every 5# of meat)

Step 4

Grind chilled pork, fat, and beef through 4.5mm plate.

Step 5

Mix all ingredients with cold meat till very tacky

Step 6

Stuff firmly into 40mm-43mm beef rounds

Step 7

Ferment at 80F - 85F for 18 hours, 90-85% humidity till pH reads 4.6 - 4.8 (the lower it goes the tangier your pepperoni will taste).

Step 8

OPTIONAL: After fermentation lightly cold smoke the pepperoni for 2 hours

Step 9

Place pepperoni in a drying chamber set to 55F and 80% humidity. Dry for 4-10 days. (You are looking for a 20% weight loss)

Step 10

Once dried slowly cook your pepperoni till the internal temp reaches 135-145F. I use my smoker with a tray of water added for higher humidity and gradually increase the temperature over the course of 5 - 6 hours. Here's my cooking schedule:-125F for 1hr-135F for 1.5hr-145f for 1.5hr-155F till the internal temp reaches 135F

Step 11

Another way to do this is to cook your pepperoni is sous vide. Cook at 140F for 2 hours