No matter whether you’re in charge of food preparation for a restaurant, a hotel, or an artisan-style organic meat market, if you want the meat you serve your clientèle to be of the highest quality, you can’t afford to outsource it. There are companies all over the globe willing to pump their meats with chemicals to cut costs, but if you want authentic, healthy, real sausage, salami, and salumi, you’re going to need to cure them through traditional salami processing. What makes this hard is the fact that fewer companies these days are willing to do things traditionally; if all you want are short term profits, the tempation to use low-grade, chemical-stuffed meats is strong. On the other hand, this means it’s easy to stand out and build your brand in the long term; you just need to invest in a quality meat curing cabinet and learn how to cure your meat in-house.

This is where Stagionello comes in. The Italians have mastered the art of creating durable, quality curing cabinets, and if you buy one and learn to use it, you too can enjoy fully automated meat curing in under a month. We’re reviewing all of their models this year, and have already covered three of their largest cabinets, the STG200600, the STG100300, and the STGTWIF0. However, many small businesses don’t need quite as much capacity or can’t justify spending quite as much money yet. As a result, today we’ll look at a smaller, yet just as well built alternative, the Stagionello Evo 150 kg with ClimaTouch and Fumotic. To summarize our thoughts, buy the STGTWIF0 if you expect to cure up to 500 pounds of charcuterie each month, and save some money by buying the Evo 150 if you won’t consistently cure more than 330 pounds a month. We fully review it below, and you can buy the Stagionello Evo 150 here on Amazon or buy the Stagionello STGTWIF0 here instead.

Which features are common to both the Evo 150 and other Stagionello cabinets?

The Stagionello Evo 150 is the fifth-largest meat curing cabinet in the Stagionello lineup after the STG200600, STG100300, and STGTWIF0 and STG200TF0 twins. The company has made automatic meat curing cabinets for decades, and their small but highly capable lineup reflects their expertise. The models (which also include the STG100TF0 and STGPNTF60) share many features, including the ability to cure a wide range of meats in only 20 days on average. We’ll review these features below; the main point to remember is that with a Stagionello cabinet, you’ll have hands-free management of the three core components of safe and flavorful meat preparation: temperature control, humidity regulation, and airflow management.

Each Stagionello cabinet can be run continuously in a wide variety of commercial settings including but not limited to restaurants, farms, hotels, meat markets, organic cooperatives, and research labs. They use proprietary computer monitoring technology, ClimaTouch, to monitor and adjust humidity, pH, temperature, and airflow levels on a continual basis throughout the five pre-programmed phases of curing: salting, stewing, smoking and aromatization, and seasoning and drying. With non-toxic foam, the cabinets maintain an insulated environment without compromising the health or taste of your meats throughout the curing process, and you can use the Fumotic system to add cold smoke and flavors at any time.

Stagionellos are built to last for a lifetime. Internally, they use AISI 304 stainless steel, a food-safe, non-porous, and easily cleanable grade. Externally, your food is both visible and secure through locking glass panels, allowing you to showcase your meats as they cure in front of customers if you wish. You can operate the cabinets in ambient temperatures as high as 89.6°F (32°C), and alarms and digital notification systems help you track condenser, humidity, evaporation, temperature, and pH levels and settings. The computer is programmable in five languages (English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian) via a touch screen display. The memory includes 30 preset recipes with the capacity to store up to 70 more, allowing you to choose between 100 different kinds of charcuterie recipes at a time. You can fully control the cabinet’s functionality through the computers, and onboard data logging helps you keep accurate records for health and financial accountability.

Which meats can you cure with the Stagionello Evo 150 salami cabinet?

The Stagionello Evo 150 is capable of preparing just about any variety of sausage, salami, or salumi currently available. Your options include but aren’t limited to Cacciatore (also known as Cacciatora or Cacciatorini), Chorizo, Ciauscolo, Fegatelli, Felino, Finocchiona, Genovese, German salami, Hard, Kulen, Lardo, Napoletano, Milanese, Pepperoni, Saucisson, Soppressata, Spegepolse, Vysocina, and Winter salami. Beyond salami, you can cure a range of salumi including Proscuitto, Coppa, Bresaola, Cotechino, Guanciale, Lardo, Mortadella, ‘Nduja, and Pancetta. The system is advanced enough to manage even the difficult salting stage when curing slow fermentation meats such as capocollo (also known as coppa or capicola).

Pros, Cons, and Key Features of the Stagionello Evo 150 Meat Curing Cabinet

Now we’ve discussed the features shared by all Stagionello, here’s what you’ll only find in the Evo 150. It’s a mid-sized model in the Stagionello lineup with 150 kg (330 pounds) of curing capacity. The Evo designation refers to the updated HACCP system that is designed to meet all current international standards for food safety and preparation with raw meats. It also includes a pair of internal fans for improved air circulation inside the cabinet. The cabinet requires an ambient temperature at or below 89.6°F (32°C) and an ambient relative humidity below 90%.

The electrical requirements of the Evo 150 are modest compared to those of larger Stagionello cabinets; it draws 220 Volts AC and uses 3.42 kW with a peak draw of 14 amps. The water inlet has a 3/4″ diameter while the outlet has a 1/2″ diameter. When running, the cabinet creates a microclimate to simulate the climate conditions of southern Italy, allowing you to produce salami of equivalent quality in almost any part of the world without compromise in flavor, texture, or shelf stability. Essentially, with the Evo 150, you can use traditional curing methods only found in Mediterranean climates without living in one.

The Evo 150 is slightly taller and deeper than a full-sized residential fridge; it measures 35.6 inches wide, 83 inches tall, and 30.7 inches front to back. It weighs 440 pounds empty and uses stainless steel adjustable legs to offer additional stability on uneven floors; you can buy casters if you need additional mobility.

The biggest drawback to the cabinet is undoubtedly its feeble warranty; at only 1 year of parts and labor coverage, it’s not nearly as much as we’d like to see for an appliance of its price. However, we have full faith and confidence in Stagionello’s customer support, and when you consider how much their reputation rests on quality machinery for safe, flavorful, and traditional salami preparation, we would be very surprised to learn of a need for significant repairs before logging 10 years of active use. That said, Stagionello does actively recommend bi-annual service of all of their cabinets to keep them in good condition.

What’s the difference between the Stagionello Evo 150 and the STGTWIF0?

Aside from the higher price tag tied to the STGTWIF0 compared to the Evo 150, the primary differences between both cabinets have to do with their capacities, their dimensions, and their electrical requirements. The STGTWIF0 is clearly the more capable machine; it is capable of curing up to 441 pounds of meat in an average of 20 days, which is more than 100 pounds more than the 330 pound limit in the Evo 150.

The STGTWIF0’s greater capacity comes from a larger cabinet; compared to the Evo 150, while its height and depth remain unchanged, its width increases from 35.6 inches to 57.5. The weight of the cabinet also increases significantly from 440 pounds to 550. Interestingly, its electrical requirements remain largely the same; the STGTWIF0 draws 3.21 kilowatts instead of 3.42 while the maximum amperage increases slightly from 14A to 14.6A. Aside from these differences, it’s also worth noting that the Evo is configured to comply with the latest HACCP requirements in all countries as of its production.

Is the STGTWIF0 worth the additional money beyond that for the Evo 150?

The easiest way to answer the question of whether the STGTWIF0 is worth the price hike over the Evo 150 is to examine the needs of your business. If you expect to consistently move between 250 and 500 pounds of meat every few months, there’s no question about it: you need the STGTWIF0. However, if your business has more modest needs and you don’t expect to exceed a capacity of 200-300 pounds of salami per month, save your money and buy the Evo 150 instead. Both are easily among the finest curing machines on the market, and it’s impossible to go wrong with either.

You can buy the Stagionello STGTWIF0 200 kg cabinet here on Amazon. If the price is too dear or if you only need 2/3rds as much curing capacity, you can buy the Stagionello Evo 150 kg cabinet here instead.

Canadians, unfortunately Stagionellos are not readily available. We would advise you to have them shipped to a US address and drive them across the border, following all applicable laws and customs regulations as needed.

If you find our research on PMC helpful, you can follow our efforts to keep maniacally reviewing home appliances by shopping through our links above. We promise to keep fighting the good fight against every horror children, animals, and grown, yet messy humans can inflict upon a clean home.