Yes this site is antiquated. But remains the top site for exchanging useful information. Personally I do not miss all the "see my bacon" pictures that are on many other sites. Please keep up the good work here.

Thank you StefanS
I will probably have to raise my temperature range to match yours for best color. Usually I smoke hams etc. at lower temperatures. I was afraid that holding meat at 140 F for maybe 4 hours could create problems.

Too nice!!!
Do you have an idea of how much saw dust (liter) you use per hour. Temperature and size of smoker? I seem to have problems of creating that beautiful color of your products with out using some heat.
TIA

Hi Redzed
Thank you for your response. Are you staying for Oktoberfest? I was there in ´69 and plan on returning next year. Have a nice stay stay and remember to have a weisswurst.

Tried a little test to see how the pH changed by adding red wine to tap water. PH water 8,9 Yes, really. I checked with the authorities. Red wine 3,4 0,75 liter water which I added 1 % red wine at a time. (7,5 gr) I did the test twice and the numbers are rounded. 1 % 7,5 pH 2 % 6,8 3 % 6,2 4 % 5,5 5...

Hello Redzed Meat contains naturally occuring lactic bacteria, and that is what reduces the pH from neutral 7 immediately after slaughter to around 5.8. I actually thought that the first drop in pH was because of glycolysis which did not include LAB. If time permits I will be doing some very unscien...

I have been working on fermenting salami without starter cultures. Understand the temperature should be less than 15° C for maybe 5 days. High humidity. Add little or no sugars.
If I add 5 % dry red wine is there any way I can know how much the pH would drop? Say the pH of the red wine is at 3,5.

Have you given any thought to making your own cure mix with salt and salt peter and curing the meat old school and let the nitrate break down? This takes longer but it gives the little bugs time to do more work and some say this leads to a better product. I have actually. But I can not get hold of ...

I am trying to get a grip on natural fermentation. No starters or GdL as to me many of my products seem to come out with the same underlying "sourness/tang" using them. Even if the pH only drops to 5,2. Mr. Marianski writes that "natural" fermentation should take place from 12 up to 16 C (<15,6 C) a...

One of the reasons I asked is because I have had so many problems with BLC 007. Simply can not control the acidity. In my latest batch I used 2 gr/kg dextrose and monitored the drop in pH carefully. 20 dgr C and about 92% RH. The pH dropped from 5,7 to 5,2 in exactly 24 hrs! My thinking is that Mari...

Butterbean I have always used Marianskis advice on sugar; "About 1 g (0.1%) of dextrose per 1 kg of meat lowers pH of meat by 0.1 pH. This means that 10 g of dextrose added to meat with initial pH value of 5.9 will lower pH by one full unit to 4.9. Sugar levels of 0.5% - 0.7% are usually added for r...

Will do
Thanks both

Did not want to hi jack your thread on pH meters.
How and with what do you "wash" the glass spear after use. The manual says -be extremely carefull - Not even allowed to wipe it with tissue.
TIA

I would have to also agree with Stefan that T-SPX is a better choice. That seems to be my conclusion also. Do not want to sit on a ticking bomb and just wait for the right hour to stop fermentation. How much should I cut the dextrose, how low should my temperature be, how many hours lag phase befor...

This is based on taste. Earlier on I took pH on every salami but now I usually can see/smell and feel if there has been fermentation. I could cut back on dextrose but wonder if anybody has experience with 007 and dextrose.