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Dry Cure vs Culture

PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 5:52 pm
by mclynch
Hey... sausage newbie here. I've made a bunch of Italian sausage and brats. Everyone loves them and they go way too fast!

I've just made 10 lbs each of pepperoni and salami (both with about a 70/30 pork to beef ratio. I used the Prague #2 powder according to the instructions. The recipes I followed said nothing about cultures. But now I'm reading more and finding that most people use cultures.

My question is this, I've already got 20 lbs of sausage dry-curing in my basement (46F)... a) will it be OK? and b) what is the advantage of using the bacterial cultures? and c) Which is the best one for salami/pepperoni?

Thanks for your help!

Re: Dry Cure vs Culture

PostPosted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 11:34 pm
by BriCan
mclynch wrote:Hey... sausage newbie here. I've made a bunch of Italian sausage and brats. Everyone loves them and they go way too fast!

I've just made 10 lbs each of pepperoni and salami (both with about a 70/30 pork to beef ratio. I used the Prague #2 powder according to the instructions. The recipes I followed said nothing about cultures. But now I'm reading more and finding that most people use cultures


Some use starter cultures and some do not, ~~ I am in the camp of people that do not .. on a side note I do this for a living and my customers like the clean taste that is associated when one does not use them

It is a matter of choice for people :)

My question is this, I've already got 20 lbs of sausage dry-curing in my basement (46F)... a) will it be OK?


The answer is yes most defiantly, the only thing to be concerned about is your humidity as this needs to be between 70% and 80% otherwise one can get casehardening .. that is to say the outside of the Salame dries out far quicker than the inside thus trapping the moisture within the salame


and b) what is the advantage of using the bacterial cultures?



Consistency, ... tasting the same every time you make that particular item .. usually has a slight to a moderate tang/acid taste to it which is what most commercial salames are about

and c) Which is the best one for salami/pepperoni?


Having tried a few of them and not liking what they bring to the table as I have said not things that I use so will leave this for others to chime in

Re: Dry Cure vs Culture

PostPosted: Mon Feb 13, 2017 3:00 pm
by NCPaul
I like using Safepro F-LC. Here's some info about it:
http://www.cmc-cvc.com/sites/default/fi ... Safety.pdf
I find that it drops the pH below 5.3 in two days at room temperature with 0.3 % dextrose. It does not seem to me to make a tang/acid taste with this amount of sugar. Having this additional safety hurdle is worth the peace of mind. In forty years I'll have Brican's level of experience and I'll try it without cultures.

Pepperoni Problems...

PostPosted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 1:59 am
by mclynch
This was my first time making a cured sausage; made 10 lbs pepperoni and 10 lbs salami. The grinding, mixing, and stuffing all went well. I used the recommended amount of Cure #2 powder. I hung them by twos in my basement and monitored the temp & humidity: Temp 46F and humidity 50%.

Three weeks later the once round and plump sausages are now all dried out and misshaped... not at all round anymore. The flavor is OK, but not great... very little evidence of the spices, including cayenne and ghost pepper powder.

What did I do wrong?

Mike

Re: Dry Cure vs Culture

PostPosted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 6:56 pm
by wheels
To answer that we need to know the full recipe and procedure that you followed.

Phil