Vacuum Packing Charcuterie: Sliced, Whole and Retail Packs

Charcuterie is the one meat category where vacuum packing has to do two jobs at once: protect a product that took weeks to make, and show it off. A crushed coppa or a salami with the white bloom rubbed off is a wasted pack. This is how producers and delis pack it well.

Whole pieces

Coppa, bresaola, whole salami, lomo, pancetta. Pack them after the cure and drying are finished, never before. A pouch stops moisture loss, which is the point for storage and the opposite of what you want during maturing.

Use a clear 65 micron pouch a size wider than you'd pick for a joint, so the film drapes rather than stretches. A long coppa fits 150×300mm; a whole salami of 400mm wants 200×400mm. Set the vacuum to around 95% rather than the maximum. Full vacuum on a soft product like a fresh salami prints the seal bar and every fold of film into the surface.

The bloom on a salami skin is a mould you've cultivated. Vacuum packing preserves it but flattens it a little. If the look matters for a market stall, pack at a lower vacuum or use the parchment finish below, which hides the flattening.

Sliced packs

Slices are where the pack does the selling, so this is where the retail pouches earn their extra pennies.

• Shingle, don't stack. Overlap each slice by half on a board of parchment, so the customer sees every slice and they peel apart.
• Interleave thick slices. A square of parchment between slices of coppa or bresaola stops them welding under vacuum.
• Use the gold pouches for the shelf. The 80 micron gold pouch has a gold back that makes red cured meat look the way it does on a deli board, a clear front, and a euro hole for hanging. The 160×275mm takes 100g of sliced salami; the 200×275mm takes 150g to 200g with room for the label.
• Or parchment for a rustic look. The 200×250mm parchment pouch is white paper-effect film on both sides. It hides the product and sells the story on the label. Farm shops use it for salami and pies where the brand is the point.

Both are covered side by side in the retail pouch guide.

Shelf life: why cured is different

The FSA's 10-day limit for vacuum-packed chilled food applies to product that can support non-proteolytic Clostridium botulinum. Properly cured meat usually can't, because it has 3.5% or more salt in the water phase or a pH at or below 5, and either is a recognised controlling factor. That's why a vacuum-packed coppa can carry a 12-week date and a fresh pork loin can't. The figures for your own product are what count, so have the salt and pH on file. The shelf life guide sets out the rules.

Machine notes

Our pouches are smooth film for chamber machines only. A tabletop Henkelman or Orved is the standard tool in a small charcuterie business, and it handles the lower-vacuum settings above. If you're using an edge sealer, our pouches won't seal in it; the compatibility guide explains why and what to buy instead.

Sending it out

For online orders, a vacuum-packed piece in a 65 micron pouch survives a courier without a problem; the film is tougher than it looks and the product is protected by the pack being tight. Put it in the box with an ice pack and it arrives in the condition it left.