Talk to me about fermentation.

[manfran]

Hi,
So, my previous dry cured sausage experience was a saucisson sec. It was delicious. However, the recipe I followed (Ruhlman) did not include a starter culture.

My next attempts are an Italian Salami, and Spanish Chorizo. I am following Ruhlman's recipe again for both.

The recipe recommends bactoferm FRM-52, which is tricky to get in the UK. and anyway, I have read that TSPX is a better culture for southern European sausages.

As you might appreciate, for a novice, it is completely counter intuitive to leave fresh pork out at about 25 degree C (recommended for TSPX) for 12 hours or so. Stupid question, I know, but to you experts, does that sound right. This 'incubating' seems completely alien to me.

Another point which I hope you guys can clear up for me. In the Italian salami recipe, Ruhlmann writes that I should leave the sausages (with added culture) to incubate. However, in the chorizo recipe, which uses the same culture, there is no mention of incubation, and recommends I move the sausages straight into dry conditions. Does this seem right, or do we think that this is an oversight?


Any advice gratefully received.

[solaryellow]

I have made both of those recipes and at the same time. I followed the directions on the starter culture rather than what was in the book and the chorizo turned out great.

[tommix]

I sure wouldn't leave "fresh" pork out at 77 degrees F, that is not right. If you are going to dry cure your salami, chorizo, or whatever then they should be fermented at 68-75 degrees F for at least 48 hours, for T-SPX don't exceed 75 degrees. After fermentation then dry at 55 degrees F. and at least 75-80% RH.

After you have combined all your ingredients; meat, spices, cure then add your T-SPX just prior to stuffing. there is an information sheet on cultures at www.butcher-packer.com., also the sausagemaker has an info sheet that tells you time and temps. www.sausagemaker.com

Tim

[grisell]

Hi,
So, my previous dry cured sausage experience was a saucisson sec. It was delicious. However, the recipe I followed (Ruhlman) did not include a starter culture.

My next attempts are an Italian Salami, and Spanish Chorizo. I am following Ruhlman's recipe again for both.

The recipe recommends bactoferm FRM-52, which is tricky to get in the UK. and anyway, I have read that TSPX is a better culture for southern European sausages.

As you might appreciate, for a novice, it is completely counter intuitive to leave fresh pork out at about 25 degree C (recommended for TSPX) for 12 hours or so. Stupid question, I know, but to you experts, does that sound right. This 'incubating' seems completely alien to me.

Another point which I hope you guys can clear up for me. In the Italian salami recipe, Ruhlmann writes that I should leave the sausages (with added culture) to incubate. However, in the chorizo recipe, which uses the same culture, there is no mention of incubation, and recommends I move the sausages straight into dry conditions. Does this seem right, or do we think that this is an oversight?


Any advice gratefully received.

Yoghurt will also work as a lactic acid fermentation starter. I use it all the time. Dissolve a tbsp of yoghurt in a few tbsp of unchlorinated (bottled) water with a pinch of dextrose or sugar. Leave, covered, in room temperature for six hours. Mix with the stuffing.

Lactic acid fermentation of salami is usually accomplished in room temperature (ca 20 C/68 F) for 72 hours, before moving the sausages to the drying chamber. A high humidity is advantageous, and of course a mould culture. I use a disconnected refrigerator with a hung up terry towel. The details about mould are described here http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=8561

You are right about the counterintuitive sensation of storing ground meat in room temperature, if no culture is present. A culture present will cause the drop in pH that is essential for a safe drying process. The elevated temperature is necessary for a fast growth of these beneficial lactic acid bacteria. At a lower temperature, other strains of bacteria would take advantage.

There are many recipes that neither use a culture nor a fermentation period. These recipes stem from ignorance. In order to make safe salami, both a culture and an incubation period are necessary. A mould culture is strongly recommended to avoid wild mould from forming (wild mould will spoil the product). If the type of the salami is one that doesn't have mould, the mould can be wiped off at a later stage, but it's much safer if the mould is "right". Wild mould can form dangerous toxins.

As for the difference chorizo/Italian salami, chorizo is traditionally dried at a higher temperature (>16 C/60 F) so theoretically the lactic acid fermentation takes place simultaneously with the drying. However, fermenting below 20 C is not recommended because of the longer time it takes. Drying at that temperature is not recommended either because of the risk for staphylococcus, which starts to grow at 15.6 C. So, in short, a temperature of ca 16 C is too low for lactic acid fermentation and too high for bacterial safety.

My recommendaton, for the sake of simplicity, is to use the same method for all air dried products, that is:

For air-dried and/or cold-smoked sausages:
1) Inoculation of sausage stuffing with a lactic acid culture
2) Stuffing
3) Spraying the sausages with mould solution
4) Incubation (fermentation) at 20 C for 72 hours and high humidity
5) Drying at 12 C/54 F and 75+% relative humidity

For air-dried and/or cold-smoked whole muscles:
1) Curing/salting
2) Spraying the meat with mould solution
3) Incubation (fermentation) at 20 C for 72 hours and high humidity
4) Drying at 12 C/54 F and 75+% relative humidity

[larry]

I just put a batch of sopressata and a batch of chorizo in my curing chamber. I used ruhlman's recipes for both. I also thought the lack of fermentation for the chorizo was odd, given the use of the bacoferm, but I only fermented the sopressata. I wouldn't think such a glaring omission would go uncorrected, and I have seen nothing on ruhlman's blog to indicate that it was a mistake. I looked at lots of other chorizo recipes, and didn't find any calling for a fermentation phase. I'll keep posting and report back on the unferemented chorizos when they are done.

When I do ferment, I take a ph reading with cheap ph paper when they go into the fermentation, which is usually around ph 7, and again before I take them out. I usually shoot for a ph of 5. This indicates to me that the bactoferm has feasted on the food I gave it, be it dextrose, milk powder or both, and that the sausage has settled down to the point where it is ready for curing. I'm no scientist, but I have let the fermentation go longer after getting too high a ph reading, waiting for it to get lower, and it worked.

[larry]

This is an update on the results of Ruhlman's chorizo recipe with bactoferm and no incubation step.

I followed the recipe exactly, and the chorizo came out fine. It did lose weight fairly fast, and I took them out of the curing chamber at about 50% weight loss, which took around three weeks. They have a pleasing taste, which is a little heavy on the ancho chile, which I will probably reduce or omit next time. My conclusion is that an incubation step would not hurt, but it didn't seem to matter that it was omitted in the recipe.

I also just cut into my second of two pancettas. The first one was cured for about two weeks and was fine, but the second one cured for a month and was fantastic.

[grisell]

Good that it went fine!

It will ferment if you have a culture, even if you don't incubate. It just takes longer time. The reason for the incubation at an elevated temperature is hygienical; you want a prompt fermentation and drop in pH to inhibit pathogenic bacterial growth.

[wheels]

Both the temperature and the glucose level will have quite an effect on T-SPX - a starter culture for traditional fermented sausages which doesn't contain a lactobacillus strain of culture.

The producer recommends a fermentation temperature for these types of culture not higher than 24ºC (75ºF).

HTH

Phil