Looking forward to Christmas or may be just after.

markjass · Post by **markjass** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 04:03

After extensive reading and Igor Duńczyk advice I put 2 grams of dextrose and 2 grams of sugar per kg of meat in the sausages. Did not bother with the milk powder in the Crespone.

These four types of salami have been fermenting at 21 degrres C and 90% humidity for 72 hours.

Csabaii, Pepperoni, Crespone, Chorizo
Ph 12 hrs, 5.56, 5.51, 5.57, 5.6,
Ph 72 hrs, 5.1, 5, 5, 5.2,

I am going to cold smoke them tonight. White spot mould has began to appear on the synthetic casing already, but not on the natural casing. That strikes me as being early. I have one thought about the synthetic casing is it going to alow the sausages to breath.

Made this posting and then thought that it should have gone in the crespone one; not sure about that. If you think this should be so can you move it CW.

Mark

Igor Duńczyk · Post by **Igor Duńczyk** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 09:18

Hi Mark,
It seems that the pH values this time got down somewhat faster than with your first batch - right? Interesting to hear if they will go down even further...
But I jumped a bit in my seat when I saw the artificial casings which reminded me of the barrier casings I use for Onion Mettwurst polish style

Which brand are they, and were they packed absolutely sterile, like in a sealed bag, when you bought them ?
I guess you soaked them thoroughly before filling, but it takes just a few invisible spores on the outside to create a white sensation -and I´m not talking about techno-music here....
How cold is your cold smoke?

markjass · Post by **markjass** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 09:32

No I have got some concernes about the casings. Yesterday was a public holiday (Labour Day - the celebration of the 40 hr working week -yea right) and I have not had time to speak with the outlet that I buy my kit from. In the past I have used yhem on poached sausages and on cured and smoked sausages (certainly they have picked up the smoke, so there must be some breathing space). I know they are not waterproof as water gets in when I cool the sausages after baking them. If they are not the right type I will spend hours pricking the casings with a pin. So far there is no sign of mould under the casings.

The other option may be to cut the casing off and wrap them in some collagen sheet that I have. I hope it will not come to this. I will weigh them every day for a few days to see if they are loosing weight.

Mark

Igor Duńczyk · Post by **Igor Duńczyk** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:38

OK - I hold my fingers crossed! They just appeared a bit glossy on the picture.
Otherwise if you come across a locally produced salami type sausage with a casing that appeals to you just ask the producer where he´s buing them - perhaps his supplier is willing to sell smaller amounts too. Worth a try I´d say.

markjass · Post by **markjass** » Sat Nov 02, 2013 07:48

Phew. The sausages are slowly loosing weight.

Mark

markjass · Post by **markjass** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 11:54

I have got a weight loss problem. My sausages have lost about 16% weight in 7 days. This sounds like a problem. Here are some pictures.

Post by **redzed** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 17:06

Does not sound like too much of a problem. It's only a week! And what are you using as your starting weight? It should be the raw weight of the sausage just after stuffing and before fermentation. I stopped weighing my dry cured products and stopped counting the days. I now just look at them and give them a squeeze test. I cut into one when I think they are almost ready to check the inside texture.

I noticed in your notes that you are running a fan. Is it a circulating or exhaust fan? How often are you running it?

Igor Duńczyk · Post by **Igor Duńczyk** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 23:04

Mark - I don´t remember how many different calibres you filled this time but those in hog casings will probably loose humidity at a markedly faster pace than those in large caliber casings. And the drop in water activity you can choose to regard as an advantage rather than a problem

Looking forward to hearing about the taste impression....

Igor Duńczyk · Post by **Igor Duńczyk** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 23:06

...oooops - should have cast a glance at the picture above

What was the calibre of the artificial casings ?

markjass · Post by **markjass** » Tue Nov 19, 2013 05:00

The sausages have all lost more than 34% of their post ferment weight in 19 days (ph was lower than 5.2 at the end of a 3 day fermentation). I am surprised that this happened so quickly. The first time I made some it took 49 days. The difference is that during the drying phase they have had a cold smoke of 8 hours (2*4 hrs). I also ran the drying temperature at 16 degrees for the first 8 days and then dropped it to 12 degrees. The humidity after fermentation was set about 75 degrees rather than 85 degrees. I had the fan running all the time (just circulates the air). It was running double the speed on the dial.

The sausages are still slightly soft (not an issue for me). I have just cut one of the sausages open. The holes ??due to poor packing or the speed of water migration?. The flavour is not to acidic for me, but is not as pronounced as I thought it would be. Could that be due to the speed of drying or that I just underestimated the loss of flavour. Do you think there is evidence of case hardening in the pictures.

How should I store them? I can store them in my household fridge or I can adjust the temperature of my humidity chamber or drop the humidity. I may be able to get it down to about 65%. Should I turn the fan off or just as low as it can? If I leave as is they will get more firm. Equally they will firm up in the fridge.

Mark

Igor Duńczyk · Post by **Igor Duńczyk** » Wed Nov 20, 2013 02:04

Hi Mark,
I don´t remember if you in the end used Biobak Ultra once again or the Sacco Lyocarni VMB-02?

Anyway - the wholes indicate that the pH drop took place very quickly while the surface closed too rapidly to allow the migrating water to leave the core/center of the sausage.
The 90% humidity during the fermentation period ought to have been just about enough because your temperature was (only) 21 degrees, but judging from the pictures (especially the one made with flash) it seems that there is a dry rim near the casing surface and even if it is only 2 - 3 mm thin I guess that it´s markedly harder/tighter than the inside of the sausage? (which looks soft). So perhaps humidity sould have been higher.

Not knowing your actual fan speed during fermentation, I can only advice that it is kept very moderate. With a too strong air circulation you risk to dry out the surface of the sausages, thus causing the undesired dry rim. For continued maturing keep the fan speed on a moderate/light level.

I would suggest that you continue with an "experiment" by leaving some of the sausages in your frigde and some of them in the humidity chamber at app. 70% (not less) and low fan speed. You´ll them be able to check the progresss of the dry rim, whether it gets better or worse.