NCPaul wrote:How does the coppa "feel", uniform firmness?
Paul, I checked the firmness this morning - feels firm but still slightly malleable. Definitely firmer than the 2 younger, larger coppas, but definitely not hard or dry feeling. I would say it is slightly softer in the middle than on the ends, but barely and without knowing specifically what to look for I'm not sure that means anything. Certainly nothing that made me think there was a problem and nothing to make me think it's dry enough to slice, but again, I'm looking for feedback here because I'm not sure what's happening or what exactly to look for.
wheels wrote:Only you know your chamber, but the first thing that springs to mine is the possibility of case-hardening caused by the fan.
Phil, case hardening definitely crossed my mind, but I'm not certain how to determine. If you read above, the muscle still has some give, and the exterior seems soft and pliable, certainly not dry if that would be detectable in hardening. The casings are beef bungs for what that's worth.
wheels wrote:But it looks as if you've been successfully using this set-up for a while?
I'm posting in the beginners forum for a reason
I'm very new at this and this is my first coppa and only my second piece. One related note, my humidity did climb over 80% overnight on Monday - which is making me wonder if it's that is something I need to deal with. I have the humidifier set to trigger at 70%RH so somewhere around 69% humidifier kicks on, it hits 70% pretty quickly and shuts off, but since the sensor isn't immediate, and there is some distance between the probe and the humidifier, the RH generally continues to climb to around 74% or 75% before it begins falling again. If the chamber is closed (I often leave it cracked open since the conditions in my garage are very favorable most of the day right now - literally 55F and 71% this morning when I left) and not cooling regularly (as it is now) that tends to build up a bit, which it may have done while I was gone over the weekend, perhaps over-hydrating the meat and giving me a slightly elevated measurement on Monday? Just a thought.