What type of meat is salami made from?

Charcuterie Questions that Vex the Internet: What type of meat is salami made from?

Another in this critical series for people who want to know more about the charcuterie they eat and can’t be doing with Quora. I can think of two reasons why people are asking this question, so we’ll try to answer both here, while dropping in a little fact about pork fat in salami too.

If you were asking about the type of animal salami is made from

In that case, the answer could be ‘any’. That’s not to say it could be anything in there, because that’s not true. Reputable producers don’t do that. With us, for example, we can tell you everything about the meat that went into every salami, farm to board.

But in the sense of what’s possible, it’s possible to make salami from any kind of meat.

Most commonly, salami is made from pork. That’s why they call a pig ‘The Provider’. We obtain lots of meat from pigs, and a large proportion of that goes to making sausages or salamis. More than 90% of the salami you’ll find on shelves is pork.

We do, though, make salami using beef, venison (deer) and hogget (sheep) regularly. Duck salami is good too, as are other game salamis. The type of meat is no barrier to making salami - anything works.

If you were asking about the cut of meat salami is made from

Like sausages, salami tends to be a yield balancer. That is to say, when a pig or other animal is butchered, you’ll get some whole joints, for roasting, steaking, etc. and you’ll get some trim, which arises from small muscles, or from tidying up joints and steaks so they cook evenly. That ratio of whole joints to trim is around 50:50.

In a butcher’s shop, that trim might be made into (and sold as), kebabs, mince, burgers or sausages. In the charcuterie, it’s what we make salami from. So salami tends to be made from trim, the offcuts of butchery, and in that sense it’s a great way to make sure every part of the animal and every scrap of meat is used.

Salamis also contain a little fat. This tends to be the firm back fat of pork, the kind of fat you’ll find on the outside of a pork chop. This firm fat tends to stay put, and not melt through the salami. This matters because melting fat stops a salami from drying properly. Of course, one or two types of salami aren’t meant to be dried. Think ‘nduja or soppressata. For these spreadable salamis, softer fat is used (in greater proportions versus a typical salami), and this keeps the salami spreadable because it doesn’t dry so well.