Newbie Question - First Bresaola - slow to mold

[anedand]

Greetings,
New to the craft, new to the forum, super excited to have found this resource.

I am currently drying my first bresaola and I'm seeing very little mold activity and wondering if I should be worried or if I've done something wrong. Here's a recap:

I started with a 14 day cure in my home refrigerator, rinsing and re-applying the cure after 7 days.

After 14 days, I rinsed the muscle, slipped it into a 100mm collagen casing, tied and sprayed with bactoferm-600
The bactoferm was mixed as instructed and held for 12 hours and then diluted using distilled water.

48 hours in a small wine refrigerator at 20C and 80RH.

http://imageshack.com/a/img537/126/WBPBfs.jpg

Starting some Capocollo this week so I want to make sure I've got everything dialed.
Thanks!

Then into a full size drying fridge set to 12C and 70RH.

It went into the drying cabinet on November 7, so I'm 10 days in and just starting to see a little powdery white mold.
Initial weight 1190g
Weight on Day 9, 1017g

Given that I sprayed the casing with the Bactoferm, I expected more mold.

One noteworthy hiccup: The 100mm casing was not super tight, so I had trouble removing all of the air pockets that formed during tying. Today the casing looks very loose and the mold that is forming seems to be taking hold mostly near the twine and along taunt flat areas where the casing is clinging tightly to the meat.

http://imageshack.com/a/img540/2671/zKPV2J.jpg

[NCPaul]

Welcome to the forum. The mold needs moisture to grow (from the meat) so the areas where the casing is not making contact with the meat are not likely to get much mold. The more common problem is having unwanted molds taking hold on the meat under the casing, be on the lookout for those. The casing that seems too small is usually the right one.

[wheels]

Welcome,

I agree with NCPaul. With hindsight you'd have maybe cut the casing to be able to wrap it more tightly around the meat.

The mould that is forming looks good though.

I'd watch the RH carefully: at this stage 70% is at the very bottom of the range I'd want. It wouldn't hurt to be a bit higher.

HTH

Phil

[anedand]

Thanks for the feedback - I'll keep a close eye on it!

[crustyo44]

I always put HD elastic netting around my Coppa's, Bresaola and salamis. I have even put it around the UMAi bags in the beginning to nip troubles in the butt.
Seems to work for me.
Cheers,
Jan.

[anedand]

Results!

http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag1 ... 46ff91.jpg

I pulled the bresaola yesterday and sliced into it. As you can see the results weren't great. I did not develop much in the way of mold, due in large part I assume to how loose the casing was. I ordered some 90mm casing and elastic netting for the next one. My cure recipe had the salt content around 5% which I am finding to be borderline inedible - the result is way too salty.

Also the color is not uniform, which I believe is a drying/case hardening issue. I would welcome any feedback, going to start curing another this week and drop the salt down to 2.5%. Hopefully with a better casing and better mold I can get more uniform drying.

[BriCan]

Results!I pulled the bresaola yesterday and sliced into it. As you can see the results weren't great.

It all depends on how one looks at this

I did not develop much in the way of mold, due in large part I assume to how loose the casing was.

It is possible -- but maybe not the reason as you can see by mine below some two months into the drying there is little mould --- mould can depend on a lot of things -- temperature, humidity, time of year, location and others

All my mould is naturally occurring -- no sprays, add ons or such

I ordered some 90mm casing and elastic netting for the next one.

For mine i am using beef caps 5+ (due to the size of the piece of beef) plus the netting

My cure recipe had the salt content around 5% which I am finding to be borderline inedible - the result is way too salty.

Definitely (IMO) way too high on the salt content --- most/some use 2.5% salt ... I myself use 2% salt as I and my clients find this acceptable -- the other thing needed is Cure #2 as this is a long term cure (some choose not to use it but to be on the safe side it is advisable until one rightly knows what one is doing) the usage is 0.25%

So I used the following ---- salt at 2% --- plus Cure #2 at 0.25%

Also the color is not uniform, which I believe is a drying/case hardening issue.

Two things about the colour -- has not dried long enough ... mind you the calculations on yours shows 31% weight loss (I go to 40% as I like as well as my clients a dryer product) the other you have only mentioned salt but no mention of cure (did I miss reading it ) .... Cases hardening 'usually' shows as a dark ring around the edges and I am not seeing it

Hope this helps

[anedand]

Thanks for the reply BriCan,
I definitely appreciate the feedback. To answer your question, yes, I used approx. 0.25% cure #2 in addition to the salt. I may have misdiagnosed the case hardening, but when I cut into it, there was a definite color change between the very center and the edges - like a partially marinated or poorly cooked steak - but perhaps your point is the center is not dried fully yet? Here is another photo:



I have 2 questions about the drying/weight loss:
1. Do you measure the weight loss only during the drying period - meaning should my starting weight be the weight of the raw muscle before I begin curing, or the weight of the cased and cured meat as it's going into the drying cabinet? I did not weigh the bresaola until I had already cured it - just want to be certain that is correct.

2. In the future, if I cut into the bresaola and it appears to need more time, can I wrap it up and return it to the cabinet. In this case, given the saltiness, I won't bother, but in the future - just wondering. If so, do you wrap in muslin or cheesecloth to protect the exposed edges where it was cut?

[NCPaul]

I weigh for my starting weight after curing and after it is cased and tied (or netted). The color difference you are seeing may be due to the large difference in salt level between the outer edges and the center.

[BriCan]

Thanks for the reply BriCan,
I definitely appreciate the feedback. To answer your question, yes, I used approx. 0.25% cure #2 in addition to the salt. I may have misdiagnosed the case hardening, but when I cut into it, there was a definite color change between the very center and the edges - like a partially marinated or poorly cooked steak - but perhaps your point is the center is not dried fully yet?

I believe that the center has not dried as yet due to the low weight loss ... you are sitting at 31% which is on the low side as I have said .. As NCPaul has said .. (I have a hunch he may be right) .. colour difference between the outer edge and center may/might be due to your high salt content and salt has not penetrated to center

One other thing while I remember .... 'always' make notes on what you are doing ... there should be no "Approx." when using cure

I have 2 questions about the drying/weight loss:
1. Do you measure the weight loss only during the drying period - meaning should my starting weight be the weight of the raw muscle before I begin curing, or the weight of the cased and cured meat as it's going into the drying cabinet? I did not weigh the bresaola until I had already cured it - just want to be certain that is correct.

NCPaul has already answered this ... Always weigh after the meat has been cured .. cased .. tied or netted and is ready to hang to dry

2. In the future, if I cut into the bresaola and it appears to need more time, can I wrap it up and return it to the cabinet. In this case, given the saltiness, I won't bother, but in the future - just wondering. If so, do you wrap in muslin or cheesecloth to protect the exposed edges where it was cut?

Simple answer ... yes

Save yourself some grief ... extend your drying time to a 40% weight loss and you will not have the problem of trying to cover a cut end

Take a look at Wheels blog and while you are there look at his photos of the finished product ... his colour is fantastic even and bright

http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/?e=811

[wheels]

It's amazing how photos of bresaola can be misleading. The two photos of your product look so different to each other.

Thanks for the compliment Robert and I'd like to pick up on what you said about keeping records. That bresaola is the culmination of many lesser attempts along with tinkering with getting the correct drying conditions etc. It's only by keeping details of every thing I do that I could achieve this.

It's funny, the whole bresaola looked to to have a darker ring around the edge and my heart dropped when I saw it. But, on slicing, it's not apparent. You can see it here:




FWIW this is at 40% weight loss and with 2.8% salt.

HTH

Phil