My first salami...

Tips and tecniques on dryng drying, curing etc.

Re: My first salami...

Postby Steven_B » Thu Feb 23, 2017 9:45 am

Hi,


I think that it is a lot easier to increase the chamber's RH than reducing it.

A tub of salt is often recommended for reducing RH; the salt absorbs the moisture and you then remove the salt to dry out (replacing it with dry salt, so you have a cycle of salt removing moisture).

I tried this and I found it to have limited effectiveness. In other words, it didn't really work for me.

To add humidity, I suggest a couple of large, wet, sponges (or towels) in a bowl at the bottom of the fridge. Anything that will gradually dry out will have the effect of releasing moisture into the chamber's interior.

Another good idea is to use Google to do a site-specific search on this site for other people's methods of increasing humidity.


Best wishes
Steven
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Re: My first salami...

Postby wheels » Thu Feb 23, 2017 1:48 pm

There is no question in the matter. Reducing RH is far harder than increasing it.

Phil
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Re: My first salami...

Postby etsolakis » Mon Feb 27, 2017 9:36 pm

Which is the best humidity to cure salami?
Now the humidity is about 82%.
During the day is about 75-77%.
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Re: My first salami...

Postby Steven_B » Mon Feb 27, 2017 9:49 pm

That's pretty much how the RH is where I live and it all goes well for me.

75% RH is a decent humidity level for after the initial drying stage (too low at the beginning can lead to too-fast drying and 'case hardening' where the outer edge of the sausage gets more dry than the core of the sausage).

My experience has been that the humidity of the sausages at the beginning of the drying is enough to raise the chamber's humidity to the 95% (or higher) level.

Thereafter the humidity gradually drops and stabilises - for me, it stabilises at about 75%

As I mentioned, I flap the fridge door if I feel that the RH isn't coming down fast enough.

Which part of Greece are you in?

Incidentally, we had σουπιές με πατάτες for dinner tonight - leftovers from a dinner party at the weekend, made by our friend Dionysious.

:O)

Best wishes
Steven
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Re: My first salami...

Postby etsolakis » Mon Feb 27, 2017 11:26 pm

Hi Steven!!

I' m in Crete(Greek island)!!
Σουπιες με πατατες sound really tasty!

I left my salamies for 24 hours in a room, in 23-25C and humidity at about 50%.
Do you think, this will be a problem;

Next day I put them in a cool and wet room, in about 12-15C and humidity at about 85% (72-77 during the day).

How many days do you think, for curing?
The diameter of your salamis?
My salamis are about 5-7cm thick.
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Re: My first salami...

Postby Steven_B » Tue Feb 28, 2017 10:25 am

>>> I left my salamies for 24 hours in a room, in 23-25C and humidity at about 50%.

>>> Next day I put them in a cool and wet room, in about 12-15C and humidity at about 85% (72-77 during the day).

Which culture are you using?

This is about as good a guide as you can get, Gebarowski and Marianski's web site:

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... ed-sausage

Be sure to read all of the pages linked by the orange button at the top:

Fermented Sausage
Cultures
Equipment
Safety Hurdles
Standards
Traditional


:O)
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Re: My first salami...

Postby Steven_B » Tue Feb 28, 2017 10:26 am

From the notes section at the bottom of: http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... e/cultures

Technical information sheets provide the recommended temperatures for fermentation, however, bacteria will also ferment at lower temperatures, just more slowly. For example, the technical information sheet for T-SPX lists temperatures as 26-38º C, optimum being 32º C. T-SPX will ferment as well at 20-24º C which is not uncommon for "European" style sausages, and 48 hours or more is not atypical.
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Re: My first salami...

Postby wheels » Tue Feb 28, 2017 1:47 pm

etsolakis wrote:Σουπιες με πατατες sound really tasty!


That's easy for you to say!

What are Σουπιες με πατατες?

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Re: My first salami...

Postby Steven_B » Tue Feb 28, 2017 1:58 pm

Σουπιές με πατάτες = Soupyes me patates = Cuttlefish with potatoes

Looks like there are dozens of variations, here's one:

http://www.kalofagas.ca/2009/04/15/cutt ... -potatoes/

Ours was cooked with something green but not herby. We were also tasting a lot of wine and I can't remember what the green stuff was! Kale? Spinach?

Very yummy anyway...

:O)
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Re: My first salami...

Postby wheels » Tue Feb 28, 2017 2:37 pm

Many thanks

Phil
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Re: My first salami...

Postby etsolakis » Tue Feb 28, 2017 2:45 pm

Phil, what about your opinion for my questions?

Steve

Thank you for the links.
I used LS25.
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Re: My first salami...

Postby etsolakis » Tue Feb 28, 2017 4:34 pm

3rd day of curing my salamis.

1. Some white mold appears, mainly where the pieces of fat, touch the casing. (I haven't spay them with any mold). Is this logical?
2. The texture of the casings is a little sticky. Is this logical?
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Re: My first salami...

Postby wheels » Tue Feb 28, 2017 5:53 pm

I was waiting for you to answer Steven_B as to what culture you are using. I would have fermented for longer at the higher temperature with a higher RH than 50%. But that's past and there's nothing you can do about that now. Fortunately, the RH was only low for a day.

The 12-15°C with 85% humidity is a good starting point. I'd aim for the lower end of this temp range. You'll find that as the meat gradually dries, the humidity will fall. I like to keep it around 75-80%. White mould is fine and casings are often a bit sticky in the early stages. I can't say that I've noticed mould concentration around the areas where fat is, but I spray mine so that's probably the reason that I haven't.

Hope this helps.

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Re: My first salami...

Postby Steven_B » Tue Feb 28, 2017 8:49 pm

I can't find any guidelines for use of LS25 - the closest I can get is the manufacturer's web page: http://www.gewuerzmueller.com/en/produc ... ercultures

But that doesn't have any instructions. Did you get instructions for use with the culture?

---

My own feeling is that humidity will be less important for starter culture development than temperature (the reason being that there is plenty of moisture inside the sausage for the starter culture to grow). So I wouldn't worry about the effect of low humidity on culture growth during those first 24 hours.

I imagine that the need for high RH during the first few days has more to do with avoiding case-hardening; the higher temperatures (20-25oC) required for starter culture establishment, combined with a low RH might promote rapid drying of the surface if the sausage.

Also, if you are hoping to achieve a surface mould, high RH is good.

---

Speculation on the mould/fat relationship:

your LS25 rapid-acidification culture has rapidly acidified the muscle portion of the sausage while the fat portion retains enough moisture to allow a surface mould to grow but - as the LS25 doesn't grow so well on the fat - the fat has not experienced such a rapid PH drop and the surface mould can grow there.

Like Phil, I spray my salami with a mould culture and so get mould development all over the surface.
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Re: My first salami...

Postby etsolakis » Wed Mar 01, 2017 12:53 am

Thank you guys for the reply..!!

I let you know about my salamis...

Phil, how many days do you think, are enough in about 85% humidity?

PS. Some meat (including salt, spices and LS25) left, (about 700gr), because I didn't have enough casings.
I put it in the freezer. Any opinion what to do with it?
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