curing chamber question - smoke contaminating non smoked?

atcNick · Post by **atcNick** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 22:25

Im in the process of building a curing chamber out of an old freezer. I plan on drying salamis and solid muscle cured meats. But I also plan on using it as a drying chamber for hot smoked sausages for several days, like Kabanosy. I wonder if the strong smoke will contaminate other meats that are in the curing chamber which were not smoked?

Thanks.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Tue Sep 04, 2012 22:36

The smoke has to be in the air to deposit significantly onto the sausage surface.
But just to check, place a sheet of clean paper in a smoker when it hasn't been used for a few days and then smell of the paper.

tysonlee · Post by **tysonlee** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 08:36

I really the Oregon scientific weather station, I can continually monitor this from inside, and it keeps a record daily of the high and low temps and humidity, and resets itself daily, so every day i can see what the high and low temps were in the cabinet and the high and low humidity,Tim

Cabonaia · Post by **Cabonaia** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 14:59

atcNick wrote: I plan on drying salamis and solid muscle cured meats. But I also plan on using it as a drying chamber for hot smoked sausages for several days, like Kabanosy. I wonder if the strong smoke will contaminate other meats that are in the curing chamber which were not smoked?

Hi Nick - I use my converted fridge to incubate sausage before smoking, and to age it after smoking. I've never had any problem with residual smoke odor making its way to non-smoked sausages. If you actually smoked meat in your curing chamber, that would probably cause the problem you are concerned about.

Cheers,
Jeff

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 15:29

The chemical make-up of smoke is very complex containing at least 500 compounds some of them are volatile and provide the pleasing odor of smoked meat but many more are quite stable and attach themselves to the meat and can't even be removed during poaching. If you have ever been in a conference room filled with tobacco smokers your clothes will carry the smell of that smoke home with you but It won't cause your house to smell of tobacco smoke after the contaminated clothes are laundered.