Post
by cajuneric » Sun Sep 26, 2021 14:10
Hi Smokeychris,
Very strange. Flavor of Italy (in my experience) has been an incredibly predictable starter culture. When using .2% dextrose I have found that 100% of the time it get's to 4.9ph between 18-24 hours at 76-79f. Would you mind sharing a few details about the starter culture itself. Like what's the expiration date, has it been kept in the freezer during storage, did you allow the culture to "wake up" for at least 30 minutes prior to using. Also, how are you testing the ph of your meat? pH strips, ph meter, etc.. If using a ph meter what brand is it and was it calibrated prior to using?
Aside from the ph reading you will know that flavor of Italy has properly fermented your meat when the meat's color has been magnified (towards the reddish look), the smell will have a slightly acidic fermented smell (hard to spot if you are not familiar with the smell), the meat sample will have firmed up quite a bit. It will no longer resemble the soft ground meat that you started with, it will seem like a firm rubbery mass, and if you pull it apart it will "tear" in strands. These are the visible signs of sausage meat that's fermented to below 5.2ph