High humidity curing chamber

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High humidity curing chamber

Postby CCollins54 » Tue Nov 29, 2016 12:14 am

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum and new to curing.
I have set up a curing chamber in a 8x10 walk in cooler I had the temp set at 60F. The humidity seems very high tho. It reads anywhere from low70s (when the unit is running to high 90s when just the fan is running with the average being in the upper 80s. Will I be able to cure sausages in these conditions? Should I try the rock salt method to slowly lower the humidity as time goes? I currently have a batch of chorizo hanging that I made following ruhlmans recipe using bacto fern 52 and insta cure 2. I kicked the temp up to 75 to incubate the fermentation. The humidity is currently sitting at 94%. Any input would be appreciated
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Re: High humidity curing chamber

Postby NCPaul » Tue Nov 29, 2016 11:52 am

Welcome to the forum. :D Those conditions should be OK at the start. After the chorizos have lost about 20 % weight, the humidity will need to come down slowly. For that size space I would find a small dehumidifier. You might also consider decreasing the temperature as the weight is lost.
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Re: High humidity curing chamber

Postby CCollins54 » Tue Nov 29, 2016 3:49 pm

Thank you for the response. I have read several different opinions on the length of fermentation everywhere from 12 hours to 72 hours? Using bactoferm f rm 52. I'm leaning towards the 48 hour range does that sound right?
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Re: High humidity curing chamber

Postby NCPaul » Tue Nov 29, 2016 4:36 pm

The pH drop is also dependent on the amount of glucose/dextrose and sugar you have given the bacteria as food, but for a fast fermenting culture that should work. I typically use 0.3 % dextrose and 0.3 % sugar with Bactoferm F-LC at a similar temperature for that time.
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Re: High humidity curing chamber

Postby CCollins54 » Tue Nov 29, 2016 9:13 pm

The recipe only called for 2 Tablespoons of dextrose for 10 lbs...
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Re: High humidity curing chamber

Postby RodinBangkok » Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:12 am

Maybe a stupid question but are you still using the unit as a walking, if so it will be very difficult to control temp or humidity, along with a lot of unknown cultures being introduced.
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Re: High humidity curing chamber

Postby NCPaul » Wed Nov 30, 2016 11:47 am

His conversion in grams (which you should be working in) works out to 0.4 %, so it should be fine. Checking the pH is best.
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Re: High humidity curing chamber

Postby CCollins54 » Wed Nov 30, 2016 12:52 pm

Thanks for all the help. I will start going by grams in the future. And no I am not using the cooler for anything other than curing.
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Re: High humidity curing chamber

Postby CCollins54 » Wed Nov 30, 2016 4:34 pm

One more question. Is it normal for the to be a pretty pungent smell in the chamber during the fermentation? And does this smell stay that way during the whole process?
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Re: High humidity curing chamber

Postby NCPaul » Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:18 pm

Yes. No. :D
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Re: High humidity curing chamber

Postby CCollins54 » Sun Dec 04, 2016 4:50 pm

I'm having a hard time getting the humidity down at 60 and at 55f is it alright to drop the temp to 50F. The humidity stays closer to 75 at this temp.
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Re: High humidity curing chamber

Postby NCPaul » Sun Dec 04, 2016 5:11 pm

Yes. :D
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