PH is not dropping

Air dried cured Meat Techniques

PH is not dropping

Postby Tvb » Sun Sep 08, 2013 8:14 am

Hi there,

I seem to have a little problem with fermenting sausages. The PH is not dropping! Last wednesday I made a batch of chorizo. I hung it in my little fermentation chamber at 21C/93%RH, but after three days the PH was about 5,8. I measured it agian this morning and nothing has changed. It should be 5,3 or lower, right? I think I will wait untill tuesday, and then smoke and dry them anyway. They smell amazing and I would hate to bin them. I made a fennel-salami a while ago which didn't drop as well. I dried it anyway and it tasted amazing! I hope somebody can tell me what I am doing wrong. Maybe the PH strips are not accurate enough?

This is the recipe I used:
1kg Pork shoulder
20g pimenton dulce
5g garlic powder
5g black pepper
25g colorozo salt
5g seasalt
3g dextrose
0,5g SK Soft 50 starterculture

Cheers,

Tom
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Re: PH is not dropping

Postby wheels » Tue Sep 10, 2013 6:53 pm

It's very difficult to comment without knowing more, and even then, I know nothing of that culture. Were the test strips 'narrow band'?

Phil
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Re: PH is not dropping

Postby NCPaul » Wed Sep 11, 2013 6:43 pm

From what I've been able to find, the starter culture is distributed by a German firm named Van-Hees. The culture has only staphylococcus carnosus in dextrose. The web site says it is to be used with the acid source glucono-delta-lactone (which they sell as Primal rapid). I would not expect this culture to decrease the pH rapidly, it is mainly used for flavor (or flavour) and color I believe. Looking at the offerings, I would try to obtain Primal Protec Z 50 which has lactobacillus and pediococcus to lower the pH. This culture appears to be similar to Bactoferm F-LC. The fermentation would be better at a slightly warmer temperature if it can be managed.
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Re: PH is not dropping

Postby Tvb » Sat Sep 14, 2013 3:18 pm

Hi guys,

Thanks for your answers.
@Phil: The strips I use can measure from PH 4 to 7, with 0.3 intervals.
@NCPaul: Thanks for looking into this starterculture. It's from Van Hees indeed. The strange thing is, that I made a batch of salami with the same culture and it dropped to 5.1 in three days! Can't figure out why it didn't work this time. I'm trying to get my hands on other startercultures. My local butcher will try to order some for me.
By the way, I just found out that the webshop where I ordered the culture, suggests to use 2 grams per kilo, while according to the package you should use 0.5 grams per kilo! Maybe they're familiar with this PH-problem. Will try to contact them and keep you posted.

Greets,

Tom
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Re: PH is not dropping

Postby Tvb » Sun Sep 15, 2013 12:21 pm

I contacted the webshopowner. Turns out I should have stored the cultures at -18C! Problem solved I guess...
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