Hard to say, as long they are not touching as you say, and there is some air movement and the products are aging well, then you're OK. But in in the big scheme of things a larger unit with better air and humidity controls is more efficient. And after you've been doing this for while going and openi...

I may have gotten ahead of myself a bit (or my equipment), or maybe not.... :) How full is too full in a drying chamber? I'm using a small, 32-bottle wine fridge for a chamber. I've currently got two coppa, two chorizo, one Lomo, and one pancetta stuffed in there. I have everything arranged so they ...

A quick update.... I got the Lomo out of the cure today, scraped off the excess salt and spices, then trussed it up to hang in the curing chamber. When I did the coppa, I used a beef bung, and that was a bit of a squirrely experience (not to mention "fragrant"), so this time I used a collagen sheet ...

So, we're on day 21 of having the coppa drying in my chamber. Temp and humidity are staying well within ranges, so I'm really happy that's working well. Not a ton of change visually with the coppa, and I think I can feel a mild difference in give when I squeeze it. A long way to go though! The two p...

Just needed to say it smells like my teenage boys dumped all their football socks in my office......and I don't have any teenage boys! I've read a lot about the "dirty sock" smell, man, that descriptor is dead on! Is it perverse that I'm enjoying it? I guess it means things are going in the right di...

That is some impressive work! Trying to accomplish that would either kill me, or incite my wife to do great bodily harm!

I will aspire to be able to recreate some of these (one at a time.)

Rich

Yeah, Scott, 5 gallons is probably about the max. I have found with my larger kettle that my volume of water vs my usual batch size of sausage, it still works fine. If I get that mass of water up to 175F, it only takes about 10-12 minutes for the sausage to hit 154F, and the stick keeps everything a...

Rich, how does the sous vide wand hold up to this? I saw your pic and thought it would be a great use to get my sausage bath to 170°F but with the greasy water recirculating through the wand does it create problems? Longevity? Cleaning? etc. I have been hesitant to go sous vide because of plastic b...

Thanks, Bob, that will help! Unfortunately, the wires are all the same color. We'll get it figured out, I'm sure. I'm just kicking myself for not being more careful with the notes since I actually took them (for just this reason!) Hopefully, I'll exit this summer with a shiny, red #22 Hobart....... ...

Thanks, Red. I know it can be wired for 115v, as that's how it was when it came into my possession. Unfortunately, I lost my notes and pics from before I undid the wiring, so am not 100% certain how to wire it back up again. I have a good friend who is an electrician, but he's a vegetarian, so I wil...

Day 14

The large piece has lost 10%, and the smaller one has lost 15%. Full mold coverage, and as far as my rookie eye (and nose) can tell, everything is going well. Added in some chorizo buddies last week....

I found the partial old manual for my "chopper" that I had filed away on my computer. It's a model 822 chopper. Here's a link to the partial manual if anyone is interested..... https://www.heritageparts.com/medias/HOB1141.pdf?context=bWFzdGVyfHBkZi1tYW51YWxzfDExMjg1OTV8YXBwbGljYXRpb24vcGRmfHBkZi1tYW...

A couple of years back, I stumbled across someone in my neighborhood who was looking to make room in his garage by getting rid of a vintage #22 Hobart grinder. The price was right (really cheap), and the grinder worked, so I relieved the kind gentleman of his burden. My plan was to spruce it up a bi...

The process that I would recommend if you want to crank it up a few notches is to cure your meats for 48-72 hours before grinding and stuffing. You will have a better bind, colour and a more flavourful sausage. Thanks, Red, love the additional information! I keep meaning to cure the meat for a coup...

Made up a small batch (2000g) of a new (to me) recipe from meatsandsausages.com (https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/polish-hot-smoked). I used the recipe as a guide, but made a few changes along the way: - 850g shoulder, 150g belly fat (the shoulder was lean) - Unexpectedly out of marj...