www.sausagemaking.org

My first attempt started yesterday, using essentially the recipe on the wedlinmove web site. My main issues were using a less than optimal means of stringing the sausages up (I now know how to do it better next time!) and more air bubbles than I'd like (probably due to the mix having less liquid than for an uncured sausage, and so being stiffer).

They're now fermenting in a plastic crate next to the Aga. The starter was LC25. The temperature is around 23 C but I'm struggling to get the humidity up above 75%: it';s hovering around 72 - 73% at the moment. The lid of the box doesn't fit too well as the chorizos are hanging from a rod placed over the top.

Should 24 h in these conditions be about right? I'll be moving them down to the cellar for drying, where I can tune the humidity between 90% and 70% by moving betwween the base of the wine rack and the bench where I store the beer The temperature down there is a nice, stable 13.5 +/- 0.3 C.

Martin/

Martin

The producers fact sheet shows LS-25 doing its stuff in 24 hours at 24°C so it may need just a little longer at 23°C. Can you not put a bowl of water in the box to up the RH?

Phil

Thanks Phil. I'll probably leave it in for an extra night (36 h). It's got wet kitchen towel in the bottom of the box and a wet tea-towel over the top, but the lid is raised 5 cm all round so there's still some exchange of air with the ambient atmosphere.

They look and smell good!

Martin/

Let us know how they go Martin - Chorizo are one of my favourite sausages.

Phil

Some of the chorizos are nearly ready. I had some issues with blue / green mould growing on them, and wiped them down with vinegar. Following Phil's suggestion I increased airflow with a fan. I've just weighed them again and given them another wipe with vinegar, as there were signs of blue mould recurring.

Weight loss varied between 28% and 48%, surprisingly (to me) wide. They're hanging from a bar inside a plastic laundry basket in the cellar. It's clear from the weight losses that the ones at the outside see a better airflow than the centre ones and have dried faster. No signs of case hardening, but some are much softer at the bottom (where airflow is presumably lower) than at the top.

Some are also much softer on one side than the other, the soft side being the one where the sausages are facing each other.

I think this illustrates the importance of airflow and of controlling it. Next time I'll try rotating the sausages both individually and along the rail to try to dry them more uniformly. It's been an interesting learning experience so far.

They smell good! Looking forward to trying them.

Conditions seem nice and stable with the fan, around 14.0 C +/- 0.3 C and RH around 81% +/- 1 or 2%.

The next batch might be in a dedicated curing cabinet. I've scored a second-hand fridge, and have a fan and dual channel temperature controller coming from Ebay.

Martin/

It sounds to me like everything that's happened could be expected then Martin.

I look forward to seeing the results. I'm sure they'll be great.

Phil

Tried some today. Good. Not great, but good. There's a slightly musty taste, and they're quite spicy (lots of pimenton picante!). On average they were dried to 45 - 50% weight loss over a month, so they're quite firm.

I'm quite pleased, given the amount of mould of various colours on them in early days. The increase in airflow as suggested by Phil certainly saved them, and a fan is going into the new curing fridge for which most of the bits are now here.

Now, the next question: what's the best way of storing them in the 'fridge? Unwrapped, cling-film or plastic bag? How long will they keep (aside from being consumed)?

Martin/

I dont know about Wheels, but I never ever put culture in my Chorizo, I do let the paste sit before stuffing but thats more to do with letting the Pedro Ximenez do its stuff!

Our larger diameter, slicing, type gets a white coat from being in teh chamber but the rings tend not to and we keep them free of mould altogether.

Just a thought, but I would assume it would solve a) mould issues, b) mustiness to leve all this out.

As for storage, I never let anything near a fridge, just adjust production to appetite and never stop using it!

Chorizo - the king of quick charcuterie! yum, must get on with another batch

Martin

Watch out with the fan in the fridge - it's easy to have too much of agood thing and end up with case hardening.

I hate to suggest it for fear of you not liking them, but my recipe for chorizo is here:

http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/weblog ... php?id=529

Phil

Heres mine!

1100g Pork Shoulder (or other fairly lean cut) minced fine
350g Pork Belly either hand diced or coarsest mince (12-14mm)
75ml Pedro Ximenez Dulce de Postre
25g Salt
25g Sweet Smoked Paprika (Proper, Good stuff!)
12g finely minced Garlic
6g Turbinado Sugar
5.5g Cure 2
3g Freshly Ground Black pepper

Ensure your meats are very cold, especially the belly.
Mix together keeping the larger fat's consistency un damaged.
Add dry mix ingredients and mix well.
Add booze and mix again.

Leave to steep overnight (yum!)

Stuff into hogs and tie into rings, thread on a pole and hang for a couple of weeks (about 50F and 70-75RH)

Bingo! These will never let you down (and a certain celeb chef reckons they are the best he can get!!)

Thanks chaps. Point noted about not infecting with mould. I'll try to wipe down at the first sign of mould next time.

Also thanks for the warning about over-fanning. The fan I put in the cellar (possibly a bit too late) was, as fans go, pretty poor. It was more of an air stirrer than a fan with barely any discernible flow out of the front.

My preliminary thoughts on the 'fridge mods are to use an 80 mm computer fan blowing down through a baffle onto the surface of a saturated NaCl solution in a salad drawer, with the air then circulating back up and around. The temperature controller is a dual output jobbie which will be used to switch the 'fridge on and off, and if heat is required will turn on a 100 W bulb (or similar).

Phil's blog recipe is fairly close to the Wedlinomove(sp?) web site one which I used.

Cheers!

Martin/

QWF

They look great, better than mine in fact. But unfortunately I can't use alcohol.

Out of interest, how did you calculate the cure #2? It's higher than I would normally use for a sausage.

Phil

Phil, we might have been through this before (if so forgive me) but it might be worth trying a mix of good quality sherry vinegar and apple juice concentrate, just muck about with the blend until it tastes about right?

Cure wise, its just whats been jotted in the tattered black book for years, never thought about it being particularly high

We've not, and yes, that's a good idea. I thought of grape juice but was worried about the sweetness. Your suggestion of vinegar would solve this (although last time I used vinegar the chorizo was crumbly). However, given that just from looking at it I think that it's a great recipe, I'll have a play.

The cure level is not 'extra high' but is in excess of the 156/150 PPM US/UK levels.

Phil

Boiling the wine to remove the booze isn't enough? Ten minutes boiling should eliminate every trace of alcohol.