Curing Process Observations & Questions
Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2021 13:44
My name is Doug.
My family has been SUCCESSFULLY making Italian (Calabrese) Sopresatta for 20 years.
However.... The last 5 years the 90 year old Italian gentlmen who managed our entire *CURING* process in his little shed is a wee bit not in the greatest condition to continue this great tradition.
So I have done a ton of research on this and set-up my own temperature and humdity controlled station in my basement.
My setup:
1. Auber Instruments - TH220W (Temp/Dehumidifier)
2. Auber Instruments - TH220W (Humdifier)
3. Commercial Refridgerator
4. Dehumidifier
5. Humidifier
6. Sensor Push A: Middle of Fridge
7. Sensor Push B: Middle of Fridge
I am a Software Engineer so I collect the temp/hudmity and can plot it in a graph to see how everything looks (I love data, hehe).
So here goes my problem and I'd value your input:
- What is the ideal temperature? I've set mine to 52F.
- What is the ideal hudmity? I've set mine to 60%.
- How do you prevent against case hardening?
First Batch Background: The first batch failed. It was 3 weeks. Things were great. Then I noticed small specks of white mold. I sprayed them with a little vinegar and then wiped them down. I had my humidity set at 80% and temp at 60%. I sliced one open and the outside of it was starting to become a nice red and the inside was still raw. I then told a friend of mine (veteran old italian man) about the specks and he said you need to keep the temp and humdity lower (50F and 60% humidity). I then changed my setup in the first batch to that and a week later all of my Sopresatta spoiled (I could smell them), I cut it open and the inside was dark grey. I think the sudden swing of temp and humdity caused that but curious if you've seen that before too?
There's so much content online and different ways of setting the temp / humdity that it's real hard to find a standard way of doing this as it so appears.
I'm about 6 days into this new second batch and so far I've kept the temp/hudmity at the defined rates above, but noticed that the outside of the cases are a bit hard, so should I spray them with water?
Any comments you can provide would be much appreciated.
You may view the images of my setup here (I can post more happily): https://photos.app.goo.gl/sX6yUrLnJuPGUHXy8
Thanks
My family has been SUCCESSFULLY making Italian (Calabrese) Sopresatta for 20 years.
However.... The last 5 years the 90 year old Italian gentlmen who managed our entire *CURING* process in his little shed is a wee bit not in the greatest condition to continue this great tradition.
So I have done a ton of research on this and set-up my own temperature and humdity controlled station in my basement.
My setup:
1. Auber Instruments - TH220W (Temp/Dehumidifier)
2. Auber Instruments - TH220W (Humdifier)
3. Commercial Refridgerator
4. Dehumidifier
5. Humidifier
6. Sensor Push A: Middle of Fridge
7. Sensor Push B: Middle of Fridge
I am a Software Engineer so I collect the temp/hudmity and can plot it in a graph to see how everything looks (I love data, hehe).
So here goes my problem and I'd value your input:
- What is the ideal temperature? I've set mine to 52F.
- What is the ideal hudmity? I've set mine to 60%.
- How do you prevent against case hardening?
First Batch Background: The first batch failed. It was 3 weeks. Things were great. Then I noticed small specks of white mold. I sprayed them with a little vinegar and then wiped them down. I had my humidity set at 80% and temp at 60%. I sliced one open and the outside of it was starting to become a nice red and the inside was still raw. I then told a friend of mine (veteran old italian man) about the specks and he said you need to keep the temp and humdity lower (50F and 60% humidity). I then changed my setup in the first batch to that and a week later all of my Sopresatta spoiled (I could smell them), I cut it open and the inside was dark grey. I think the sudden swing of temp and humdity caused that but curious if you've seen that before too?
There's so much content online and different ways of setting the temp / humdity that it's real hard to find a standard way of doing this as it so appears.
I'm about 6 days into this new second batch and so far I've kept the temp/hudmity at the defined rates above, but noticed that the outside of the cases are a bit hard, so should I spray them with water?
Any comments you can provide would be much appreciated.
You may view the images of my setup here (I can post more happily): https://photos.app.goo.gl/sX6yUrLnJuPGUHXy8
Thanks