Dry Cured Hot Salami

[Mr Walleye]

I finally had some time to get my first batch in the new dry cure chamber. I made a 25 lb batch of Len Poli's Hot Salami on March 26. The only deviation I made from the recipe was using 50% beef & 50% pork and for starter culture I used 5 grams of Mondostart SP. I also used the Mondostart surface mold mixed at 1 gram in a litre of distilled water.

Here's picture of them hanging in my big smoker which I used as my fermentation chamber. I was concerned about the humidity level but it held steady at 85% with the vents pretty much closed. Starting PH was about 5.7




This is after 48 hours in the fermentation chamber and I have just moved them to the dry cure chamber. I had checked the PH after 24 hours which is how long Len Poli suggests but it was still at 5.4 so I let it go another 24 hours. After the 48 hours the PH was approximately 4.9. On the PH strips it was very close to the color of 4.8 but not quite, It was certainly lower than the next on the scale which is 5.1




This is just a picture of the controller doing it's thing. I have been tweeking some of the settings on it and it is doing pretty good. With a load in the cabinet in the initial stage it spends more time venting the cabinet to bring the humidity down.




I just took this today. you can see the surface mold is coming along nicely.




Mike

[beefmann]

looking good

[devo]

Mike if you got that much mold growing just after a few days your one lucky dude. Your really off to a good start. One thing you might want to consider a a higher R/H to start and after a week start to bring it back down in the 76ish range. Just a thought, you don't want case hardening  :o

[Mr Walleye]

Mike if you got that much mold growing just after a few days your one lucky dude. Your really off to a good start. One thing you might want to consider a a higher R/H to start and after a week start to bring it back down in the 76ish range. Just a thought, you don't want case hardening  :o

Thanks Devo

That's what I thought as well but I was following Len Poli's recipe which says 70%. My thought was more like 80 then lowering down to 75 after a few weeks. Whats you thoughts?

Mike

[Habanero Smoker]

I've been waiting to see how your dry cure cabinet will handle the temperature and the humidity. You have a great setup. That salami looks good, and it an ambitious sausage to start out with. And the recipe looks like the finished product will be delicious.

[devo]

Mike if you got that much mold growing just after a few days your one lucky dude. Your really off to a good start. One thing you might want to consider a a higher R/H to start and after a week start to bring it back down in the 76ish range. Just a thought, you don't want case hardening  :o

Thanks Devo

That's what I thought as well but I was following Len Poli's recipe which says 70%. My thought was more like 80 then lowering down to 75 after a few weeks. Whats you thoughts?

Mike

80-82 for a week and than I find 76 is a good R/H that seems to work just fine for my setup which is almost your twin  ;D

[carnie1]

Thats looks good, I'm gonna have to get a schematic and parts list for that controller as I'm not happy with the Johnson controls one for the fridge, something for next winter project cause I'm outta time now, heading north in a day.

[Mr Walleye]

Just a quick update...

After the first week my test chub is at 1085 grams. It started at 1331 grams green weight before fermentation.

Here's a picture...



So far so good!

Mike

[Keymaster]

Looking really good Mike, just wondering if you sprayed or dipped the salamis in the Mondostart SM ? Not a trick question just wondering which works best :)

[OU812]

Niiiiiice,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,very nice!!

[Mr Walleye]

Keymaster

I sprayed them before I started the fermentation process and again after fermentation. The Mondostart Surface Mold starter says it will make 5 liters. It's in a 5 gram pouch so I mixed 1 gram into a spray bottle that holds a little less than a litre. I only used about half the mixture with both sprays so next time I may try mixing a smaller batch.

Mike

[Keymaster]

Keymaster

I sprayed them before I started the fermentation process and again after fermentation. The Mondostart Surface Mold starter says it will make 5 liters. It's in a 5 gram pouch so I mixed 1 gram into a spray bottle that holds a little less than a litre. I only used about half the mixture with both sprays so next time I may try mixing a smaller batch.

Mike

Thanks Mike, That outer mold grew fast which does help in preventing case hardening :) Good luck and keep us posted.

[Mr Walleye]

I weighed my test chub again today. 1001 grams so it is begining to slow down for sure but it's still coming along. I didn't take a picture this time as it pretty much looks the same as last time. So far there is no sign of any nasty mold as well.

To reach 35% loss I'm shooting for 865 grams...

Mike

[KyNola]

Amazing work Mike.  Congratulations.  You've really got that dialed in.

[Mr Walleye]

Just another quick update. My test chub is now at 935 grams so it's almost at a 30% reduction, I'm shooting for 35%. It has really slowed down, in the last 2 days it lost 34 grams.

Mike