Salami Loaf

Total Time: 80 hrs Preparation Time: 72 hrs Cook Time: 8 hrs

Ingredients

• 4 lbs cheap ground beef (don’t bother with the lean stuff; you need all that fat)
• 2 teaspoons black pepper, cracked or very coarsely ground (1/2 tsp/lb)
• 2 teaspoons mustard seeds (1/2 tsp/lb)
• 1 teaspoon garlic granules (1/4 tsp/lb, or more to taste)
• 4 teaspoons morton tender quick salt (1 tsp/lb, morton's tender-quick is a curing salt that contains nitrates to cure the meat.)
• 2 teaspoons hickory smoke salt (1/2 tsp/lb, or 2 tsp liquid smoke, plus 2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp/lb of each)
• cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper flakes, to taste if a spicier sausage is desired (optional)

Recipe

• 1 mix all ingredients well, and refrigerate for 24 hours.
• 2 mix again, and refrigerate for another 24 hours, and repeat one more timel mixture should cure in refrigerator for a total of 3 days.
• 3 form into 3 long sausages, and place on a broiler rack above a drain pan.
• 4 a wire rack over a foil lined cookie sheet works fine.
• 5 bake at 150-175degf for 8-10 hours.
• 6 remove grease from drain pan if too much accumulates.
• 7 if meat is not browned, firm, and crusty after 8 hours, continue to bake until it is.
• 8 cool loaves to room temperature, wrap well, and freeze until needed.
• 9 to serve, thaw, and slice very thinly with a sharp knife.
• 10 sausage casing is not needed, since the loaves form a crust while cooking.
• 11 note: since many oven thermostats are inaccurate at low temperature settings, use an oven thermometer to make sure oven is hot enough to properly cook the meat.