Humidity Issue with my curing chamber

warston
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Humidity Issue with my curing chamber

Post by warston » Thu Nov 08, 2018 19:27

Hello folks
I am having the common issue of the rising humidity in my curing chamber. and will appreciate any input and direction.
I am curing 25 of Soppressata for the first time ever. I am beginner who read lots of posts and now tackling it myself.
I am using a wine cellar or a soda fridge I am assuming that is 10 years old.

I have :

Eva dry dehumidifier
https://www.amazon.com/Eva-dry-Edv-1100 ... humidifier

Optimus Mist Ultrasonic Humidifier :
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Optimus-1-5 ... lsrc=aw.ds

A ceramic heat lamp/bulb:
https://www.amazon.com/Reptile-Heat-Lam ... ating+bulb

You won't see the humidifier because it is on the fridge with a hose attached to it passing through a whole that I made on the side of the fridge by the controllers.

Temperature controller (setting is 55 - 59 F)

Humidity controller (setting is 67-70 RH)

Room temperature between 65 - 50 ( Daytime/Nighttime )

My issue is that the humidity rises 82 - 85 when the fridge compressor is not on. Once the fridge kicks in, the humidity will drop quickly to 74 RH but once the fridge reach temperature of 59 and stops, the humidity shoots up really quickly.

I have tried to increase the heat by putting an infrared bulb 250W but that was an overkill on the fridge side and still didn't make the humidity drops any further than 73 RH.

I have tried to put a fan inside so that the heat would circulate to help drop the humidity but in vain.

I am super frustrated and really do not know what to do.

I have ordered another dehumidifier that is little bulky but should does the work of 3 dehumidifier of the kind I have.

Roger
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Bob K
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Post by Bob K » Thu Nov 08, 2018 19:54

Welcome to the Forum Roger!
I would not worry one bit about the humidity in the 82-85% range for the first 2 - 3 Weeks of drying. In fact it helps to prevent dry rim. You can gradually decrease the humidity level as the sausage dries as Marianski suggests in the Soppressata di Calabria recipe, https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausag ... a-calabria
warston
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Post by warston » Thu Nov 08, 2018 21:40

Hi Bob
Thank you very much for the quick reply.
I have panicked enough to buy 2 dehumidifier and subscribe into Amazon Prime to get them in two days ..
I was super duper worried.

Would the 82-85 RH contributes to slimy sausages ? This is my frustration !
Roger

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Post by StefanS » Fri Nov 09, 2018 01:16

HI Warston. Do not panic yet. Humidity always will rise when is new product is inside curing chamber. Probably your dehumidifier is too small or your settings on controller are not correct. First let me ask you - on dehumidifier setting - (on others controllers too) is one of the setting - "differential value" - what is on yours? - my all controllers are working on 2 points differential. Actual settings on dehumidifier - 79 %RH - so my unit is kicking on at 81% and shut off on 79. Humidifier controller is set at 78 % so is kicking on at 76%RH and shut off at 78%. Cooling is set at 56F so unit is kicking on at 58F, shut off at 56F. Heating device is set at 54 so start when temperature reach 52F and stop at 54F.
Another thing - you should have some way to refresh inside air. I'm using small computer fan run on timer - 6 times per 24 h, for 3-5 minutes.
Did you use Bactoferm Mold 600?
Slimy salami in curing chamber - means that you have spoilage bacteria inside chamber or product was contaminated with it.
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Post by warston » Fri Nov 09, 2018 01:34

Hi Stefans
Yes you are right. it is too small.
the span of the humidity range from 60 to 70. the selected RH is 67. the humidifier will kick in when the RH is 60 and the dehumidifier will kick in as soon as the humidity hits 70

I am sorry have not mentioned the recipe. It is this

Receipe

The recipe calls for a humidity range of 60 - 70 right after 12 hours of fermentation.
Yes Stefans I did M600 according to instructions .. not sure as well why the white powder is not showing up yet on the casing..

My temperature controller is set between 55 and 59 ( as required by recipe ) Temp is sat on 57 with 2 degrees +/- for heat/coolness.

I do have a hole in the fridge on the side as I mentioned for the dehumidifier. I took off the hose so that there will be an air flow.

My sausages are not showing any sliminess yet.. hopefully never !

Thanks a lot for the reassurance !

Anything sounds wrong ?
Roger
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Post by StefanS » Fri Nov 09, 2018 01:58

hmmm - what starter do you use ? T-SPX ? it is something wrong with recipe - usually fermentation with starter T-SPX is calling for time up to 72 hours at temp. around 70F i 80-85 %RH. Can you put here detailed recipe?
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Post by warston » Fri Nov 09, 2018 08:31

Actually it is F-Rm 52 which calls for high humidity and fast fermentation.
An update ! :
The humidity now is maximum reaching 77 and it is dropping to 68 after the refridge finishes its cooling cycle !!
I didnt do anything different! I think you were right about the sausage being newly introduced into the chamber being loaded with water that was creating that high humidity..
Now they look drier. I am afraid that i made them dry really quickly though..
I will post a picture in the morning and give an update on the humidity.
Thanks Stefens !
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Fri Nov 09, 2018 13:33

There`s no doubt that a loaded chamber,especially when fairly fresh will have a high humidity. It`s also very common that when the refrigerator kicks on, your humidity will drop very fast. In the first 2 weeks, it wasn`t uncommon for my soppressata to be "tacky", not slimy, but tacky. After the first few weeks, I normally play with my controller to drop the humidity down to 70-75. I run the temperature at 54 degrees. By lowering your temp slightly, the refrigerator may run a little longer and keep the humidity slightly lower if you choose.
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Post by Bob K » Fri Nov 09, 2018 14:16

Note on your recipe- It calls for use of either dextrose or sucrose,,, The L. Sakei in FRM52 does not ferment well with sucrose. Also 1.3% sugars will produce a rather sour note. He also calls for using 1/4 to 1/2 package of culture which is 6-12 grams...that amount is enough for 50-100 lbs of meat. While its ok to use that much culture, its not necessary and a waste of $$
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Post by redzed » Fri Nov 09, 2018 16:58

That is a horrible recipe that is without any technological foundation. With that much sugar/dextrose and fast ferment the pH will drop to around 4.5 and you will have a "pucker lips" sausage, more resembling a Danish style salami rather than a soppressata. And drying at a RH of of 60-70 is way too low. In your next effort, per kilogram of product use 23g salt, 2.5g. #2 cure, 2g sucrose, 2g dextrose and .5g starter culture. Ferment at 68-70 for 48-72 hours and dry at 75-80RH. FRM52 is not suited well or made for traditional style Italian salami, use TSPX instead.
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Post by warston » Fri Nov 09, 2018 17:22

@LOUSANTELLO
This is total sense ( How new 20 lb of meat will release lots of humidity at first ). I think because I used heating element the first 2 days, it resulted in dropping the humidity after 2 days to 77 ( as I was frustrated with the high humidity).

The recipe didn't mention any details about how long it would take for the humidity to drop..
The fact that it mentioned after 12 hours of fermentation to set the humidity controller to be 70~60 made me frustrated as I thought this should be the reading ..

Yes my sausages are little but sweaty.

Thank you for sharing your experience with your batch of Soppressata.

@Bob K

Thankfully I didn't use sucrose. I used a mix of dextrose and brown sugar since I had no enough dextrose and no grocery stores around me sold it, I was forced to use the sugar.
When you say 1.3% do you mean 1.3% of the meat weight ? if yes, then I think what I used would be around 0.6% sugar and 0.7% dextrose.

I agree with you about the amount of culture he calls for. When I saw the package, I noticed that it said 25 gram cure 100 lb of meat ! so I didn't understand why 5 lb would need 5 grams of culture..

Thank you all for your advised. It is absolutely a great help. I am very grateful.

I learned my lesson now that the humidity should not drop significantly the first week or two.

I will keep that in mind moving forward..

I will update with a post ASAP about how they look.

Thank you again
Last edited by warston on Fri Nov 09, 2018 17:55, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by warston » Fri Nov 09, 2018 17:26

@Redzed

Thanks for the suggestions !

I will try that in my next batch :)
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Post by Bob K » Fri Nov 09, 2018 19:08

warston wrote:When you say 1.3% do you mean 1.3% of the meat weight ? if yes, then I think what I used would be around 0.6% sugar and 0.7% dextrose.
Ok. What will happen is the sugar will not be fermented and will add sweetness,the dextrose is a bit high for for most but personally I don't mind it a bit tart.

Bottom line is the sweet will temper the sour and you will have a unique salami!

LOUSANTELLO makes a lot of Sopressata and has made a nice video of the process http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=8598
Its well worth watching

P.S.
Is that a full sized fridge/cooler?
warston wrote:Thankfully I didn't use sucrose. I used a mix of dextrose and brown sugar
P.P.S. Brown Sugar is sucrose
Last edited by Bob K on Fri Nov 09, 2018 19:24, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by warston » Fri Nov 09, 2018 19:12

Thanks Bob !

I will watch that video right now.

You guys are such a help !
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Post by warston » Thu Nov 15, 2018 05:37

An update on how it looks now after a week.
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