My curing chamber smells like ammonia

Goat Roast · Post by **Goat Roast** » Sun Mar 31, 2013 05:59

My curing chamber with about 5 kilos of recently-hung sausage reeks of ammonia. Can anybody tell me what's going on?

I'm two weeks into my second batch of fermented sausage. The first batch (fennel salami) turned out pretty good despite several equipment malfunctions, and gave me some experience with how curing sausage should smell. This batch uses a simpler recipe, mostly black pepper with a touch of garlic. I used Bactoferm T-SPX culture (the slower kind) this time. The last batch used a faster, high-temp culture.

I put it in the fermenter March 17 and held it around 70 degrees F and 85% RH for 72 hours. Smelled great (my whole basement smelled great) when I took it out. Put it in the curing chamber March 20 and held it around 58 degrees F and 80-85% RH since. Still smelled like sausage last weekend, and I had nice mold coverage. I only glanced in a couple of times this week to check temp and the water level in the humidifier. Today, I stuck my head in and the chamber smells strongly of ammonia.

All the gear seems to be working fine. The curing chamber is a repurposed fridge. It has a few small holes for ventilation. I was planning to try to lower the humidity gradually to 70% or so if it doesn't drop on it's own, but the 80-85% seemed OK for starting out.

Post by **redzed** » Sun Mar 31, 2013 06:26

Quite normal. Check out this thread. And Marianski also makes reference to it in The Art...

http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=4819

What I would do, however, is to improve your ventilation so that there is better air circulation. I have an exhaust fan kick in every 8 hours for 30 minutes. That way I don't have to run and open and close the door of the reconfigured fridge several times a day.

Goat Roast · Post by **Goat Roast** » Sun Mar 31, 2013 06:46

Thanks for the tip. As it happens, I was just replying to your post as you were replying to mine. Those oysters look fabulous.

Dave Zac · Post by **Dave Zac** » Sun Mar 31, 2013 14:38

Some where around here I think Chuckwagon explained that an ammonia smell can be and is normal at times. Can't find it right now though. CW will be along shortly I'm sure.

Post by **redzed** » Sun Mar 31, 2013 16:33

Dave Zac wrote:Some where around here I think Chuckwagon explained that an ammonia smell can be and is normal at times. Can't find it right now though. CW will be along shortly I'm sure.

That's the link I gave above.

CW is out somewhere hunting for Easter eggs and it appears he is not having much success!

Dave Zac · Post by **Dave Zac** » Sun Mar 31, 2013 17:49

I read that one on first Red. I thought he had a better (to me anyway) explanation somewhere. Maybe yours is the one.

TSMODIE · Post by **TSMODIE** » Sun Apr 07, 2013 22:19

I have had this happen on evry batch when doing the long term and using the tspx, in different degrees, but this last batch of pepperoni and cattutorie was the worst, the ammonia smell lasted the duration of the cure for 2 1/2 months, and the pungunt smell and taste of the final product has a strong flavor, not of ammonia, but of the stinky cheese smell and flavor. on this last batch, i was only using heat for keeping the temps up to 55, and this played havoc on the humidity, it was above 80 all the time, and close to 90%, I think this kept the mold growing real strong and attributed to the smells and flavor,. on my last batch, i was using the freezer section for cooling it down to 55, and this kept the air circulating and the humidity in check at 75% constantly, on that batch I had 1 week of the ammonia smell and then it dissapated, I also have a fan that comes on every 3 hours, for 5 minutes, but this was not enought ot keep the smell down,, so i figure now that its warming up, and the freezer section is controlling temps, it will be much better, this batch is by no way bad, just has what i call the "FUNK", if my grand father was alive, he would love this stuff, he use to eat the Limberger cheese all the time, and this is what it reminds me of,Tim

Goat Roast · Post by **Goat Roast** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 05:21

Thanks to everyone for the tips and reassurance.

The ammonia has been intense in the couple of weeks since my original post, but it may be starting to subside. Last week I lowered the humidity to 75 and improved the ventilation a bit. I opened the chamber today, and it didn't immediatly make my eyes water, although it's still pretty strong if you get close enough. The sausage is starting to shrink visibly and the mold-covered casings are looking drier and less "alive." I would guess that's why the ammonia is finally receding.

Looking around the web, I came across several recommendations for using vinegar to neutralize ammonia odor. As an experiment, I poured about a half-inch in a pie pan and put it in the chamber. It did, indeed, reduce the ammonia odor, but replaced it with vinegar odor. I didn't consider this an improvement and removed it after a couple of days. The ammonia came right back.

I'll report back with the final results in a few weeks.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 06:51

Goat, be patient. The odor will subside by itself. Be patient. Then be patient. Mother nature will take care of the odor. Forget the vinegar. Be patient!

Post by **redzed** » Sat Apr 13, 2013 07:45

My chamber is quite full at the moment. A bunch of muscle meats and salami. About three weeks ago I also had the ammonia smell but now it's gone. Just smells like my grandfather"s socks! (He only changed them when he took the Saturday night bath).

My advice is to exchange the air more often. I installed a computer fan on the ceiling of the fridge and cut out a hole on the bottom side. The fan kicks in four times a day and runs for 30 minutes.

Goat Roast · Post by **Goat Roast** » Sun Apr 14, 2013 05:57

Thanks, guys. I'm not worried about it anymore after getting all the expert advice. I'm just fooling around while waiting for it to turn into something edible.

Chuckwagon, the vinegar was just an experiment to see if I could get the "aroma" down to a point where it didn't knock me on the only part of me that smells worse than the 'fridge when I open it. As previously noted, it didn't work. That's my contribution to sausage theory for this week.

TSMODIE and redzed, the idea of sausage with overtones of stinky cheese is appealing to me in theory; we'll see how it turns out in practice. I've been told that the Italians (at least the Italian who told me) refer to Parmigiano Regiano as "the feet of God." "The feet of Gramps" ought to work out OK, as well, I guess.

This sausage had dried milk added (2% of meat weight). Based on the links you guys have sent me to, I assume the milk contributes to lactic acid production under bacterial fermentation, and the lactic acid is converted to ammonia by the penicillin mold. Is that more or less correct? If so, can I vary the "cheesiness" by varying the dried milk? And what, if anything, did sausage makers use before they had dried milk? Could I mix in some cottage cheese or homemade cheese curd?

TSMODIE · Post by **TSMODIE** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 23:45

fROM MY UNDERSTANDING, THE LACTIC ACID IS CREATED BY THE TSPX CULTURE, DURING FERMENTATION, WHICH LOWERS THE pH AND RAISES ACIDITY AND THE MOLDS FEED ON IT AND PRODUCE THE AMMONIA, BUT DONT QUOTE ME ON THAT, CHUCK IS OUR RESIDENT CHEMIST,TIM

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 08:41

You got it Tim. Molds help prevent oxygen from reaching deep into the sausage as well as oxidizing lactic acid (and other acids as well). This action produces ammonia, and yes, it increases the pH. Then as they consume oxygen, molds produce catalase, which reduces lipid oxidation and rancidity of fat. Fascinating stuff, this study of microbiology of food. Actually, man has understood these biological answers for only a very short period of time when compared to the thousands of years of history when no such knowledge existed.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

el Ducko · Post by **el Ducko** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 16:16

Chuckwagon wrote:Actually, man has understood these biological answers for only a very short period of time when compared to the thousands of years of history when no such knowledge existed.

Fortunately, our ancient moderator has been around for quite a while and understands...
Uh... That didn't come out quite right. Lemme try again... (

)

Goat Roast · Post by **Goat Roast** » Mon May 06, 2013 00:19

Well, the ammonia is gone, and the dirty-sock aroma is blooming nicely.

I've been tasting for a couple of weeks, and I'm pretty happy. Pork with a hint of funky cheese. I may back off on the pepper next time, but pretty good overall.

The only bothersome thing is that the sausage remains a little softer than I expected despite having lost 30-40% of it's original weight. This is not a big problem. I'm leaving it in the curing chamber at 55 F and 70% RH, to see if it will firm up more.

Thanks to all my mentors for the sage advice and moral support.