Bad Batch

[Flumes]

Well....I am a bit frumpy today.

My first bad batch in a while. I noticed a fawny coloured mould about 2 weeks ago. Hoping it would go away, I took some vinegar to them thinking it might help. Oh well, it didn't hurt! lol

Well, today I took a gamble and cut one open.

Not very much curing going on in the inside but still nice colour. Clear evidence of black spots on the outside

I don't think they are going to fare well, so I will bin them as the english might say. 12 salami, about 50 lbs of original meat. Oh well....about 150 Can dollars down the drain, but a lesson learned.

So why did it happen? I think a couple of reasons.

1. Most probable...I cut back on the salt to 3 oz per 10 lbs of meat. (less than 2%) Normally I do 4 oz per 10 lbs but that must have been the borderline.

2. I might not mixed the meat well enough. I remember being short on time as I had to work that nite and I was in a hurry.

I'm not really upset....I enjoyed about 30 lbs of dried sausage from the same batch of meat that turned out very good. I guess they salami spoiled from taking longer to cure than the sausage.


I am still learning. My next batch will include Prague Powder #2. I have only used recipes my Dad gave me and salt was the only curing agent used. Now with a bit information from this site, I think I might be able to
blend the PP#2 into his old recipes and still maintain the original flavour.

I'll take some pics of the mistakes, and also of the latest batch. (3% salt)

I also got a tip from a friend who presses his salami for a couple of days.
This flattens the salami out a bit and when they dry out, they have less chance of developing a hole or void in the middle. He also only uses salt to cure. I'll get some pics of that too.

Anyways, I hope you all have better luck than I did.

Anthony

[Oddley]

I'm sorry to hear about all that salami being thrown away. I think you are probably right, if you are just using salt, then you must use the right amount. If you use 4oz per 10lb meat this will give you 2.5% salt, this is what the FDA recommend, as a minimum.

There is an interesting discussion on how salt works Here.

There is also another interesting discussion on making Soupys with just salt Here.

[Hangin_Salami]

Sorry to hear that flumes. Thats a heart breaker for sure. On the other hand, It's still not too late to do another batch

Did you peel back the casing to see if the mold has gotten into the meat?? If its only on the surface of the casings it may still me salvagable. As far as cutting into it, if the color is still good and it doesn't smell foul at all it is probably still good, It should still be soft in the middle.

I pressed half of my batch last year, and there wasn't any difference in the two other then the looks of it. I did find with the pressed ones, it creates thin grooves in the casings while dryng and makes it pretty hard to remove them when they are ready. Just seemed like more work for nothing. To each their own I guess.

Keep us posted and I would like to see those pics!

Cheers
Chris

[Flumes]

Some pics of the bad salami. Please excuse the poor quality. I only had my camera phone with me.


Salami with fawny mould hanging in the cold room.



Salami with exterior washed.



Close up of the black spots.



A closeup (poor quality) of the bottom of that salami.





Salami cut in two. Notice lack of curing....It's been 7 weeks and they look like they were just made (on the inside)!







Oh well....live and learn. Hopefully thru my mistakes, others will benefit.

[Hangin_Salami]

Hey Flumes,

Just curious if you pitched them all or are you going to leave them to see what happens after the three months?

Chris

[Flumes]

Hey Flumes,

Just curious if you pitched them all or are you going to leave them to see what happens after the three months?

Chris

I kept the best one. It has a couple of small black spots but nothing like the others. I called my uncle in Italy and told him about my bad batch....he said he would have let them hang for a while also.

My thinking is that I don't wat the bad mould to be transferred to the new salami in any way. So the one I kept is quarantined from the others.

Out of curiosity, (and boredom), I am trying my luck at a couple of prosciuttinos (as we call them). The recipe is simalr to Poli's coppa recipe. The only difference is we salt ours for three days then leave a bit of the salt on the meat when it is encased. I also added a bunch of whole cloves, hungarian paprika and lotsa black pepper. I also used Prague Powder #2 for the first time....Two teaspoons for 10 lbs of meat. (I think I will sleep better now )

I am using the elastic netting over the casing to keep them nice and tight while curing. I had a problem stuffing the natural casing as it had a couple of holes and developed a bad tear. So I patched the wholes and sewed the tear as best as I could. We'll see what happens.

(Gawd the memories that came when I was washing the natural casing for the first time in about 25 yrs. What a stink! lol )

Anyways, I'll keep ya posted on the lone bad salami and the prosciuttinos as they progress.

What do you have going on right now?

Anthony

[Hangin_Salami]

My inlaws batch is full of the same spots. He has spoken to a few people about the spots and they all said leave them till the end and if the it didn't touch the meat then they are fine(but dont take their word for it just incase).

As far as what I have on the go, 160lbs of Salami, two cappicolas, and a really salty pancetta. I didnt end up making the little salamis because the meat that was on sale didnt look very good at all.

Getting th itch to make a batch of fresh sausage though. just need to get motivated, I've been working llike a dog!

Talk to ya later
Chris

[Vernon Smith]

Tony, Chris,
I too had some black spots on an earlier batch. I wiped them with vinegar too. The spots came back but the salami was still good inside. I have never obtained the white penicillin coating that many experts seek but the salami is always good even though the tropical Solomons is not an ideal place to make any kind of cured meat. I don't know why you net the salami. Please advise. Doesn't bunching together slow down the curing? Very interested.
Vernon

[Hangin_Salami]

Hey Flumes,

Just to give ya a little update, My Inlaws have eaten 4 sticks of The Salami now and nobody has gotten sick whatsoever. I was over there tonight and he broke one open for me, The casing looked like a very bad case of black chicken pocks. He pealed the casing back and it looked perfect. The middle was also perfect. I tried one small slice just be on the safe side and the taste was also spot on. I'm assuming it is safe to eat but once again, don't take my word for it.

Chris

[aris]

Hey, that's a great idea - give suspect salami to the in-laws

[Hangin_Salami]

Well the neighbors dog usually does the trick lol. The Inlaws make their own Salami. But I wouldn't hesitate to let them try suspect Salami hahaha.

Cheers Chris

[Flumes]

Darn! I htrew out my bad batch...but I kept one salami for testing.

Oh well....live and learn. (kicks self in the butt)

My latest batch looks 100 percent better. I'll take some pics of that when I get a chance.

Take care

[Flumes]

Tony, Chris,
I too had some black spots on an earlier batch. I wiped them with vinegar too. The spots came back but the salami was still good inside. I have never obtained the white penicillin coating that many experts seek but the salami is always good even though the tropical Solomons is not an ideal place to make any kind of cured meat. I don't know why you net the salami. Please advise. Doesn't bunching together slow down the curing? Very interested.
Vernon

Vernon, Chris....

I just tried my experimental salami that I kept from the bad batch. I am sorry that I threw out the bunch because I found the black spots were only on the casing. They did not penetrate into the meat at all.
And the taste was fantastic. I might have been able to wait another week or two as this salami did not cure very quickly...but I couldn't wait.
I should have kept the others....but hindsight is 20/20.

As for netting, my family has either pressed the salami, or added netting to minimize the salami drying too quickly on the outside and creating a void on the inside. (It doesn't normally happen with the smaller diameter salami, but I worry with the larger 2-1/2 or larger diameter salami.

I also agree that bunching the salami like I did, does slow the curing process. But I think if I rotate them every once in a while, I might be able to balance that out. I'm learning...albeit the hard way sometimes...but I am learning

Take care

[Hangin_Salami]

Thats stinks flumes!

At least you know for next time!

Chris