first timer air pockets.

[yianni]

Hello

I just hung my first soppersatta batch after fermenting for about 14 hours. I am using Rhulmans recipie. I also tried making a mold solution from a store bought sausage and sprayed it right before fermentation. I moved them to my curing fridge and noticed air pockets which I immediatly doned some vinil gloves and pricked all over. I made a pricker with a cork and three needles.

1 is all hope lost?

2 when can I expect to see good mold?

3 also is 80 humidity too high? I added a salt pan with water and plan on keeping the door cracked.

They are pretty firm if that helps. For good measure I pricked them a lot while looking for air bubbles.

Thanks

[Dingo]

Hi Yianni, answers to your questions in order;

(1) Nope..stuff a little tighter next time...however pricking is fine. Techincally you should sterilize the needles with a flame first ( in case you lanced boils or something last week). I use corn cob spikes.

(2) The white mold can be a fickle thing. I've had it turn up of it's own accord and not show up even after I've inoculated with Mold600. In the perfect environment you should see it in the first couple of days.

(3)80% is a little high for aging. You will be at risk of unsavoury organisms moving in. I try achieve 60F @ 60%

From your photo, it looks like your fridge is not frost free. Depending on your location and need to either humidify or dehumidify you might have some issues controlling humidity. Temp is pretty easy. Many of the other members use the frost free fridge/humidifier solution. The concept/process is the heat source heats the chamber up until the fridge starts, reducing temp and humidity. The humidifier starts up to correct the humidity..the fridge turns off....the heat source heats up etc etc..
Also, get some pH strips...it takes the guess work out of fermentation. Marianski's book is great at explaining the chemistry of it all.

[yianni]

Thanks, I kept the door cracked and the humidity seems pretty stable around 63. I do have maranskis books as well. I am planning on getting a little bigger fridge from a friend where I will outfit with better humidity control soon. My wife would not appreciate me hacking up this wine fridge I'm using now. I do have it plugged into a temp controller set at 60.

[Mohalk]

The humidity to me seems a bit on the low side even without much airflow. I like to keep it around 75% at the lowest for the first 2 weeks of drying. Case hardening happens quick.

The numbers that work for me in my drying shack are 55f and ~75%-80% humidity but I do have good airflow. This is something you'll have to get a feel for with your equipment.
Good Luck
Al