Safety of case hardened Salami

[ericrice]

So I've been kicking this around but wanted to throw it out to members with more knowledge than I. If a salami is case hardened somewhat, obvious darker ring but 30% or close weight loss I understand the look and texture may not be perfect but my real question - is it harmful to eat it. I understand without the appropriate water loss it wouldn't be shelf stable but I tend to think with the culture and cure it is safe to eat if refrigerated and consumed in a few days. Thoughts?

[wheels]

Do you have a vac-pac machine? If so, or you can get access to one, vac-pac it for a couple of weeks - it's said to 'even things out'.

HTH

Phil

[ericrice]

I do - have one wheels - thanks really just wondering if something slightly to moderately case hardened needs to be binned. I tend to think it is safe to eat but....

[Y@t]

I Have eaten several salamis at the 30% mark. I think (my opinion and experience) that if the 30% stage is reached quickly enough it is ok. I have had some salamis that case hardened, they eventually lost the proper amount of weight, but when cut open had the smell of funk. I think they took way to long to lose the weight (improper Aw change) and did not smell appetizing. The nose knows...

[wheels]

Logically, if they've case hardened, they lose lots at the edge and none in the middle.

So 30% is an average of the two. One may be 50% and one 10%. As such, the 50% should be safe, and the 10% not so.

To my mind, if you don't even the two out, the product won't be safe.

Phil