Curing Room Equipment

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georgelogue
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Curing Room Equipment

Post by georgelogue » Tue Nov 24, 2015 17:46

We recently remodeled a 1700's barn and there is a pit underneath the first floor. It has stone walls and a poured concrete floor. It's about 8ft x 12ft. i've had some sausages hanging in there to check what the environment is like. I'm guessing it isn't conducive to meat curing because i'm having trouble getting chorizo and sauisson sec to come out properly. The casing is drying and the sausage still feels mushy.
the pit is reading 63.7 degree F and 63% humidity with a digital thermo and hygrometer and the analog hygrometer i have is reading 55% i calibrated them both using the salt method.
i guess my question is what options do i have to turn this into a more operational curing room. all i can find for curing room equipment is the stuff people use to convert refrigerators into curing chambers. i'm sure the temp and humidity of the room will fluctuate in the warmer months. any help is greatly appreciated
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Butterbean
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Post by Butterbean » Wed Nov 25, 2015 03:50

I was recently talking to someone else about curing rooms and how he had seen many people spend a lot of money digging cellars only to pour concrete for a floor and the concrete zaps the water out of the air. He is Italian and has been in the food business for over 30 years so I don't question what he says. However, I cure on concrete and my solution has been to spray water on the concrete floor when needed and this works better for me than my chamber. (Granted it took me over 3 years to figure this simple solution out) You might want to just give that a try and see what you come up with.

According to him, the best curing cellars should have dirt floors.
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redzed
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Post by redzed » Wed Nov 25, 2015 22:50

Hi George, nice to have you aboard! Looks like both your humidity and temp are a bit off. During the early stages of curing you need to have the humidity at around 80% and it's not a good idea to have it lower than 70%. You can solve that by doing what Butterbean suggested or using a humidifier. The temp might be a bit more problematic. You need your temp to be under 59, best if it would be in the 50-55 range. Can you install an intake vent to drain colder air from the outside? That way your cellar might be functional for at least part of the year. Having said that, your environment will probably work with semi-dry products liked summer sausages and country hams that have a good fat cover, as well as cured products like pancetta.
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