mold production and curing times

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mold production and curing times

Postby meathands » Sun Feb 02, 2014 5:54 pm

Hello All,

I'm giving Cacciatorini salamis a go however I have very dry conditions and it appears they are drying out a lot quicker than my recipe stated (12-15 days ferment/room temp, then stored cool and dry).

I'm on my 6th day fermenting in somewhat non-ideal conditions. For the first 24hrs the location was difficult to keep the RH up. It was around 55-65% and the temp was probably a little more variable too around 70 during the day and maybe 67 or so at night. I misted pretty regularly around and on the cacciacitorini. Probably more than required as I was afraid of them drying out too fast and case hardening becoming an issue.

I then moved them to a better location near a rad and I can get the RH around 65-75%. Due to these somewhat variable conditions I'm still misting around them to keep the RH up, but must less directly on them.

Here are my questions:
Is it OK to mist them this much? Could I be encouraging any bad molds inadvertently?

I'm not using any mold inoculation during spraying (or as a starter culture just wine) and it's on the 6th day and there is no mold production whatsoever. I did use a cure salt with nitrite. Is this OK?

I've read it is but I wanted to get other input. They do have a nice color and subtle pleasant odor. I'd say they've lost quite a bit of their weight maybe 20-30%. I did give them a little squeeze to see how even the firmness was and if the outside was just hardening up. They felt OK and now they feel pretty firm throughout and firm enough to slice. Even though it's only been a bit over a week, they look ready dryness-wise. To finish/store, I was thinking of putting them in the fridge covered in some cheesecloth maybe with a small tupperware with a damp sponge in it to keep the humidity up. Is it OK to eat these little bad boys now at day 6? Is it OK to eat them raw? I know the Italian hunters they derive their name from did! Is there a minimum ferment/cure time for safety?

I have an old cacciatore salami I found in the back of my fridge. It's been there a while and the meat looks darker than ideal and I don't think I want to eat it, however I did find a bit of white chalky mold near the back, and some fuzzier white spots too. Can I use this mold now, at day 6, to spray my cacciatorini? Or is that pointless now?

Thanks for your time, and sorry for the length, I wanted to provide as much context as possible. I'm new to this art and I'm real excited. They look so awesome hanging. I can't stop looking at them! And my gf is always laughing at me.

Cheers,
meathands
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Re: mold production and curing times

Postby meathands » Mon Feb 03, 2014 5:43 pm

Wow 34 views and no replies? Is more information needed?
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Re: mold production and curing times

Postby herjac » Tue Feb 04, 2014 9:54 pm

It's difficult to answer your questions without more information...
What recipe did you use? Did you follow it or not?
Did you weigh the sausage or are you just guessing at weight loss?
What cure did you use?
Where are you located?

If you decide to try the sausage, if it smells off, bin it. Dry cured sausage is not the easiest to make.....
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Re: mold production and curing times

Postby Dingo » Tue Feb 04, 2014 11:25 pm

Hi Meathands & welcome to the forum...

As Herjac proposed..it is difficult to answer your question.

That being said...there are some basics when it comes to making salami & please dont take this the wrong way; with careful preparation home made salami and cured meats cant be beat. However, i think you may have jumped in three feet and all. Anyway..to answer your question...to the best of my ability anyway;

Is it OK to mist them this much? Could I be encouraging any bad molds inadvertently?

That's a hard one. How much did the RH fluctuate? How long were the Highs and Lows? Yes it is possible that you inadvertently created an environment for bad molds to grow.

I'm not using any mold inoculation during spraying (or as a starter culture just wine) and it's on the 6th day and there is no mold production whatsoever. I did use a cure salt with nitrite. Is this OK?


Having the white mold grow on the exterior of the salami isn't an essential part of the process. My first couple of salamis had no white mold. It is desirable as it helps prevent bad mold growth. Generally, and I mean "generally" as once a chamber has been innoculated the white mold seems to come back, to get the mold you need to culture and apply it externally, either the Mold600 packs or other means (Grissel did it with Brie I think..could be wrong)

I've read it is but I wanted to get other input. They do have a nice color and subtle pleasant odor. I'd say they've lost quite a bit of their weight maybe 20-30%. I did give them a little squeeze to see how even the firmness was and if the outside was just hardening up. They felt OK and now they feel pretty firm throughout and firm enough to slice. Even though it's only been a bit over a week, they look ready dryness-wise. To finish/store, I was thinking of putting them in the fridge covered in some cheesecloth maybe with a small tupperware with a damp sponge in it to keep the humidity up. Is it OK to eat these little bad boys now at day 6? Is it OK to eat them raw? I know the Italian hunters they derive their name from did! Is there a minimum ferment/cure time for safety?



This is the MAJOR stop sign for me at least. Understand that I'm not the most experienced salami guy, but i'm trying to help you out. Sometimes on this forum if you ask an uncomfortable question...you'll get an uncomfortable silence. I mean no disrespect as I've learned everything from the gurus on this site. To the point..6 days sounds extremely short for salami. However you need to tell us more detail...what recipe, & casing size? My first Tuscan salami was in hogs casing and took 14 days to dry (and I was concerned that wasn't long enough!) in a 65F/65RH cabinet.

Correct me if i am wrong...but you have made a salami with no starter culture, an undisclosed amount of nitrate and less that ideal fermenting/curing conditions/time. :shock: I'm not saying that it is good or bad...but are you willing to gamble with your health/life?

If i were in your shoes I wouldn't eat the salami. Bin it..Chaulk it up to experience and do some more research and try again. There's plenty of information available on this site and others on how to make a safe salami.
I hope i didn't offend you, and you take this reply in the manner it was intended. Don't give up...home made salami is the best! :drool:
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