Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

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Re: Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

Post by SMR » Wed Dec 11, 2019 03:04

And the beef too
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Re: Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

Post by redzed » Wed Dec 11, 2019 03:33

StefanS wrote:
Wed Dec 11, 2019 02:47
Last few days we have had a lot of snow. And when is snowing in central Mass - it is mean - time for some projects.
Salami Worcestero (hihihi Americano- Italiano-Poloneis). otehr words - some modification of Salami Ligawa's
Class I - lean meat from ham, loin, butt - 4.2 kg
Pork belly - 2.2 kg
Lean beef - 2.0 kg
Fat back - 2.0 kg
Sea salt - 22.5 g/kg
Cure #1 - 2.5 g/kg
Meats cubed in egg size, salt and cure added - vac pack and left 48 hours in refrigerator.
Fat back cubed in around 1/2X1/2" size, salt and cure added - 24 hours in refrigerator then 24 hour in freezer.DSC_0152.JPG
After that time - meats were put in box by layer (lean meat on battom, pork belly, Grounded beef by plate 3 mm, then frozen fat)DSC_0154.JPG
. Little compacted.
Then left for around 1 hour in natural freezer DSC_0156.JPG
During that time - spices prepared, starter culture dehydrated, staffer and casings ready.
Spices -
White pepper - 2 g/kg
Black pepper-2g/kg
Multi -color pepper corns whole - 5 g/kg
Garlic granulated - 3 g/kg
Cardamon - 0.3 g/kg
Ginger 0.3 g/kg

Cure #1?
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Re: Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

Post by StefanS » Wed Dec 11, 2019 03:40

Yes - in this one cure #1(smaller casings diameter). In another (recipe coming soon) one in beef bung is cure#2 (and cure #1 also :) )
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Re: Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

Post by SMR » Wed Dec 11, 2019 05:08

Those are 3.25 inch casings. They are not going to dry quickly. Maybe C#2 is a better choice, but I like your inventiveness!. And the natural cooler looks open for business!
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Re: Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

Post by redzed » Wed Dec 11, 2019 05:49

I would also would recommend #2 for casings over 42mm. Alternatively you could also bump up the #1 to 3g/kg (188ppm) or even 4g/kg (250ppm) and still be way under the legal limit. A portion of the nitrite is in fact first converted to nitrate, and then back to nitrite. So using Cure #2 in every dry cured product is not exactly the 11th commandment. Gerhard Feiner in his textbook on Salami production sees no merit or value in using nitrate in salami.
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Re: Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

Post by StefanS » Wed Dec 11, 2019 16:17

SMR wrote:
Wed Dec 11, 2019 05:08
Those are 3.25 inch casings.
exactly - 2.25 inch.
I have made some experiments with nitrate and compared with nitrite - IMHO there not differences. Also I have consider use of specific starter culture (fast) with relatively high amount of sugars so drop of pH was fast. That mean - Staphyloccocus strains wont have enough time to work. Time of curing in refrigerator (48 hours) wasn't enough to convert whole nitrate to nitrite. My next salami (to be posted) - I have used Cure#2 - but it is a much different approach on few levels of making it.
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Re: Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

Post by redzed » Wed Dec 11, 2019 17:29

StefanS wrote:
Wed Dec 11, 2019 16:17
Staphyloccocus strains wont have enough time to work.
Stefan that depends on how low your pH will be after the ferment. The Flora Italia starter claims to contain a strain of S. carnosus that can function in a higher acid environment. It would have been great for them to give us more detailed info on that in their spec sheets, but they don't. But here I would assume that there is still some activity when the pH is 4.7 - 4.8. Usually the Staphyllococcus bacteria will slow down at 5.3 - 5.2 and below 5 most activity will cease. However, that does not mean that the bacteria cells all die, they just stop growing. So when and if the pH in the salami rises, the bacteria will grow once again. And continuous activity of these bacteria during the entire maturation period is very important in determining the quality of the final product.
StefanS wrote:
Wed Dec 11, 2019 16:17
Time of curing in refrigerator (48 hours) wasn't enough to convert whole nitrate to nitrite.
Yes nitrate barely works at refrigerator temperature. But it's not meant to be. The Cure #2 formulation was designed for the nitrite to immediately start working in the meat and convert to nitric oxide and the nitrate to slowly convert to nitrite over the course of the drying/curing period.

I'm also interested in seeing what the difference will be between the natural and fibrous casings. Recently I have been reading studies where it was found that natural casings are a source of bacterial cultures, not only Staphyllococcus and Kocuria strains but also lactic bacteria like L. sakei. The paper presented a good case for using natural casings for fermented salami type products.
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Re: Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

Post by StefanS » Thu Dec 12, 2019 03:14

It was snowing in Mass a lot - so it was time again to think about salami... :D . During reading a book by Marianski - "Spanish Sausages..." I got across recipe for Lomo Picado - https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausag ... omo-picado. I have found it interesting but also not enough practical - ( a lot of Pimenton, lot of sugars, not starter culture, only lean meat) - so why bother myself with cutting, stuffing and having again loin (possible without bonding with taste of Pimenton). Following a snow blower I got a little different idea. Cubed lean part of loin i pieces like 1/2x1/4x1/2 inch (close enough) and a little of fat back as close as possible to 1/4X1/4 inch. I have mix them with Cure #2 and salt. Then same day i have discovered on bottom of my freezer nice piece of ham with fat cap. Defrosted it (1.5 day) plus cutting in pieces 1/2X 1/2 inch left me not enough time to cure it with #2 so i made it with Cure #1 plus salt. So finally - recipe for Salami Stefanooo :lol:
Pork loin center cut without any fat, silver skin (100% lean meat) - 3.15 kg
Fat back - cubed - 1.10 kg
ham lean - 1.2 kg cubed
fat from ham - 0.3 kg cubed
cubed pork loin meat + cubed fat back - cure #2 2.25 g +salt 22.5 g/kg (cured for 72 hours in vac-pack - refrigerator)
cubed ham + cubed fat - cure #1 2.5 g/kg + 22.5 g/kg salt (cured 24 hours in vac-pack - refrigerator)
DSC_0178.JPG
Mixed by hand with spices -
Black pepper - 2 g/kg
White pepper - 2 g/kg
Herbal pepper (special mix - polish style) - 1 g/kg
Oregano - 1 g/kg
Thyme - 0.5 g/kg
Rosemary - 0.3 g/kg
Garlic granul - 3 g/kg
Dextrose - 3 g/kg
Sugar - 3 g/kg
Bactoferm T-SPX - 0.125 g/kg + SafePro- Flavor of Italy - 0.125 g/kg
DSC_0179.JPG
DSC_0183.JPG
pH on before fermentation - 5.72
Casings - beef bung 4.5-5.0 inch
DSC_0185.JPG
Fermentation - 17.5-18 *C (64-65 F). humidity 90-95 %.
DSC_0187.JPG
After 24 hours - pH - 5.58-5.60
36 hours - pH 5.34-5.35
DSC_0188.JPG
48 hours - pH - 5.01. Pieces removed to colder garage - 8*C (47-48 F) and 90% humidity
After 10 hours inoculated with mold 600 and moved to curing chamber
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Re: Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

Post by redzed » Thu Dec 12, 2019 03:54

I really like the progression of the fermentation here. I know that the Flora Italia was designed to ferment fast at higher temps, but it goes against science and tradition. Might be good for a commercial producer, but at home we can make better products.
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Re: Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

Post by StefanS » Thu Dec 12, 2019 14:35

redzed wrote:
Thu Dec 12, 2019 03:54
Might be good for a commercial producer, but at home we can make better products.
or CHR Hansen made a special starter culture for US salami market - fast acidifying culture with trace of southern European taste. (in mind? or reality? - I will know in some weeks)
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Re: Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

Post by StefanS » Mon Feb 24, 2020 19:47

Would like to report about that salami - viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8205&start=75
today was a day when I decided to open up some of them - pieces stuffed in fibrous protein lined casings (60 mm dia.) Weight loss - 39-40%. Other pieces still hanging in chamber.
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Re: Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

Post by SMR » Mon Feb 24, 2020 20:46

They look good! I have a question about the humidity that is used during drying/curing. I had been using 70%, but bumped it to 75% for my Culatello. My coppas gained weight over 6 weeks and everything was wet and puddles formed on bottom of chamber. Came to the conclusion that my sensor was off. Thanks to cajuneric for the video on calibrating the inkbird controller. I was off by 5%!

I am now thinking 75% is where I was when I was set at 70% and I was at 80% when set at 75%.

I have it set at 70% after calibrating and the surfaces are starting to dry to the touch. It’s been 2 days. Should I be using 75% the rest of the way?
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Re: Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

Post by redzed » Tue Feb 25, 2020 06:13

Salami looks really good! Nice even drying. After almost a year without a curing chamber I finally found some time and refitted another fridge and in this one I also nstalled a dehumidifier.

Your pH readings are way out of whack because the meat is too dry. I'll bet that the true pH is no more than 5.2 maybe 5.3. Take a look at the last part of this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbuz94P ... bN5gFkh_Sw
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Re: Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

Post by SMR » Tue Feb 25, 2020 17:30

Disregard my earlier question. I need to get my vision checked! I knew there was a reason I raised my humidity controller setting to 75% after reviewing this discussion, but I couldn't find my way back to it. I see it now on Page 3.
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Re: Cured, dried and fermented by StefanS

Post by Lonster » Tue Mar 10, 2020 01:44

StefanS. How was the flavor? Taste like Italy? With the new starter culture.
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