Hello All,
I'm giving Cacciatorini salamis a go however I have very dry conditions and it appears they are drying out a lot quicker than my recipe stated (12-15 days ferment/room temp, then stored cool and dry).
I'm on my 6th day fermenting in somewhat non-ideal conditions. For the first 24hrs the location was difficult to keep the RH up. It was around 55-65% and the temp was probably a little more variable too around 70 during the day and maybe 67 or so at night. I misted pretty regularly around and on the cacciacitorini. Probably more than required as I was afraid of them drying out too fast and case hardening becoming an issue.
I then moved them to a better location near a rad and I can get the RH around 65-75%. Due to these somewhat variable conditions I'm still misting around them to keep the RH up, but must less directly on them.
Here are my questions:
Is it OK to mist them this much? Could I be encouraging any bad molds inadvertently?
I'm not using any mold inoculation during spraying (or as a starter culture just wine) and it's on the 6th day and there is no mold production whatsoever. I did use a cure salt with nitrite. Is this OK?
I've read it is but I wanted to get other input. They do have a nice color and subtle pleasant odor. I'd say they've lost quite a bit of their weight maybe 20-30%. I did give them a little squeeze to see how even the firmness was and if the outside was just hardening up. They felt OK and now they feel pretty firm throughout and firm enough to slice. Even though it's only been a bit over a week, they look ready dryness-wise. To finish/store, I was thinking of putting them in the fridge covered in some cheesecloth maybe with a small tupperware with a damp sponge in it to keep the humidity up. Is it OK to eat these little bad boys now at day 6? Is it OK to eat them raw? I know the Italian hunters they derive their name from did! Is there a minimum ferment/cure time for safety?
I have an old cacciatore salami I found in the back of my fridge. It's been there a while and the meat looks darker than ideal and I don't think I want to eat it, however I did find a bit of white chalky mold near the back, and some fuzzier white spots too. Can I use this mold now, at day 6, to spray my cacciatorini? Or is that pointless now?
Thanks for your time, and sorry for the length, I wanted to provide as much context as possible. I'm new to this art and I'm real excited. They look so awesome hanging. I can't stop looking at them! And my gf is always laughing at me.
Cheers,
meathands