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Case hardening in a dry ager - air flow control
Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 10:41
by Itay
Hello friends, I need your professional help. I have a dry ager fridge. I completely control its humidity and temperature through its sensors and through external controllers I added. Still, my salami dries out too quickly, creating case hardening. After several attempts and analyxing all the data I am absolutely sure that the air flow produced by the internal fan is the problem, especially when it comes to a small batch of sausages and/or large diameters (55mm and up). I would love to hear ideas or a solution to control the air flow. I talked to the manufacturer and there is no way through the settings of the refrigerator. I have to come up with a solution...thanks in advance!!
Re: Case hardening in a dry ager - air flow control
Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2023 19:21
by Devo
Well I am not a professional at all but what kind of dry age fridge is it? Did you buy one that is made for dry aging or did you convert a regular fridge over to make a dry ager fridge? Knowing this information would help others help you with your problem. What humidity are you running in it? Does it have large swings up and down or does it stay pretty steady? Lots of things can cause case hardening. Air flow is just one of them.
Re: Case hardening in a dry ager - air flow control
Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2023 08:49
by Itay
I have "dryager", the brand. it is set to curing mode not to dry aging mode. I completely control; Humidity (75-80%) and temp. (8-12c).
what else can cause case hardening?
Re: Case hardening in a dry ager - air flow control
Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2023 09:20
by michi
Itay wrote: ↑Tue Apr 04, 2023 08:49
what else can cause case hardening?
If temperature and humidity are correct, the culprit would have to be excessive air flow.
Re: Case hardening in a dry ager - air flow control
Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2023 15:58
by Devo
Not knowing the dryager I had to look it up. They are pretty darn expensive units. It also seemed to me they are sold mostly for aging meat rather then dry curing meats. At least that was impression from visiting the web page. I agree it could be to much air flow causing large swings in the humidity. Do you have a way to track the humidity? Perhaps a graph that will show you temperature and humidity at the same time? This will help you determine if the cooling unit is making a difference in your humidity. I run a small dehumidifier called eva-dry to help control large swings in humidity. Seems to help.
Lots of good info here:
https://tasteofartisan.com/meat-curing-chamber/