First time fermenting questions

[Monnowman]

Hello,

I've just started my first batch of fermented sausages after graduating from dry curing pancetta in the fridge. My wife kindly bought me a secondhand wine cooler for Christmas which seems to work quite well at providing the temperatures I want and I haven't had an issue with humidity (yet). I'm into the second week of dry curing at 12 degrees C two batches of sausages: Salami Finocchia and Chorizo (mostly) following Marianski's recipes http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... inocchiona and
http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-recipes/chorizo. I made a kilo of the salami and a kilo of chorizo.

I say "mostly" because I used some relatively meaty pork belly so the fat content in both is probably higher than his. I didn't have an accurate scale to meaure the T-SPX culture he recommends (I have since bought one) so did some maths which resulted in using about a quarter teaspoon of the cutlure per kilo of meat. I added the culture dry, sprinkling it on the meat before mixing well. I then fermented both batches at 20-22 degrees C for 48 hours and have sinced had them at 12-14 degrees. I haven't tested pH and as yet have not bought any pH strips.

Some (possibly paranoid) questions that may have been answered in previous posts so apologies if I haven't spotted them:

- I only spotted the technique of activating the culture in water before adding to the mix after I had made the sausages. Is adding it dry a big mistake?

- I'm concerned I didn't add enough culture. Is a quarter level teaspoon enough for a kilo of meat?

- I want to order some pH tsting strips - can anyone recommend some and a good technique for using them?

- If I haven't got a sastisfactory pH immediately after the initial warmer 48 hour ferment can but after the longer (4-6 week) drying period DO get a satisfactory pH, can I feel confident the sausages are safe to eat, if the weight (which I have measured) has reduced by 30%?

[NCPaul]

Welcome to the forum.

Paranoid questions are OK (and yours aren't). Adding the culture directly to the meat is fine; actually recommended by the maker.

I weigh the culture and use 0.75 grams per kilo. Now that you have a scale, would you weigh a quarter level teaspoon for us? Did you use the same sugar and amount as specified in the recipe?

No help on pH test strips.

I had pH of 4.9 - 5.3 in 36 - 48 hrs. this year using T-SPX with dextrose at 0.3 % and sugar at 0.3%. It is important to remember that T-SPX is used for mild acidification; a culture like F-LC will give a more immediate drop. It is also important to remember that pH is only one of the safety hurdles necessary.

[Monnowman]

Thanks for the suggestions