Questions about pH drop safety Hurdle

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Indaswamp
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Questions about pH drop safety Hurdle

Post by Indaswamp » Tue Jan 12, 2021 17:08

So, I realize that under pH 5.3 is the target. But I saw where on the back of TSPX they say that pH will drop to just above 5.3 and now I am confused. Is pH drop below 5.3 a hard rule and must occur for a salami to be safe?

Reason I ask is that I recently made a salami and pulled from fermentation prematurely thinking it was ready to go into the chamber because the sample test mince had achieved 5.19. The salmis being 65mm casings had a longer lag time (lower temp in center to warm up, slower fermentation) and had not finished fermenting yet when I moved them to the chamber. Total rookie mistake. Currently, the pH is 5.45. Is it safe? Since I only have 31 hours @69*F, the degree hours is very low...should I move them back to ferment more at higher temp of 69-70*F or leave them in the chamber?

12.5% weight loss as of today...How will that affect continued fermentation?

Am I totally screwed on this batch? Should I toss them now and start over? Or will the pH slowly continue to drop if left alone in the chamber?
I used 3g/kg. dextrose and 3g/kg. raw sugar so there is enough sugar to support further acid production.
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Albertaed
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Re: Questions about pH drop safety Hurdle

Post by Albertaed » Tue Jan 12, 2021 17:57

Good question Indaswamp. I say keep it drying and see what the end result is. It’ll give you new info for next time one way or another. My newbie brain says they never had ph testers or start cultures back in the day. 5.45 is high but fermentation continues. 🤷‍♂️
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Re: Questions about pH drop safety Hurdle

Post by StefanS » Wed Jan 13, 2021 15:13

IMO - you are ok to finish process in curing chamber. From my experience T-SPX is slow fermenting but most of cultures are unstopped when they start even in lower temp. Also your measurements showed pH 5.19 in sample so it looks ok too. (BTW samples not always showing same results as batons). After LAB use most of their food (sugars) during enzymatic process pH will rise towards less acidity level. (again IMO - your measurements in sample (pH 5.45 )are not adequate with batons). Most of south Europe style salamis are fermented to pH 5.3-5.2 level. As you can read in many posts around here - weight loss is also hurdle against unwanted microbes and your 12.5% looks good for diameter, time and environmental inside you chamber.
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Re: Questions about pH drop safety Hurdle

Post by Indaswamp » Thu Jan 14, 2021 01:00

Thank you StefanS. I will let it ride an see how they do. Though I did use flora Italia culture, but has some of the same Lacto strains as T-SPX.

and from now on, I will ensure sample piece is same dia. as batons for a truer pH reading inside the salamis.
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Re: Questions about pH drop safety Hurdle

Post by Indaswamp » Thu Jan 14, 2021 01:21

So, I have another question... would the amount of sugars (dextrose. sucrose, etc..) be adjusted down for recipes that use a higher percentage of fat in the recipe? For example, Nduja which has 60-70% fat and say a basic sopressa recipe with 20-25% fat? I'm looking for the big picture here....learning as a go down the rabbit hole....
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Re: Questions about pH drop safety Hurdle

Post by Indaswamp » Thu Jan 14, 2021 08:18

I would like to report that after calibrating my Milwaukee pH meter with new 7.01 and 4.01 solutions, I tested the salami and the pH is now down to 5.33 ans they have firmed up nicely. Thank you members of this forum for taking the time to address my many questions and concerns. As someone new to making salami, there are not many resources online to help new people and this site is a blessing! Thank you all!!
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Re: Questions about pH drop safety Hurdle

Post by redzed » Fri Jan 15, 2021 08:21

An addition of 3g glucose and 3g sucrose should have lowered your pH to around 4.8 in 36 to 48 hours at 22C. So I am quite baffled at your results. If your PH is 5.3 after 13 days it's not going to drop any further. At this point enzymatic activity is neutralizing the acids and the pH is rising. By the end of the drying period it should be about the same as it was when you started. If your starting pH is 5.7 -5.8, 3g of sugars is more than enough to lower the pH to 5.1 -5.2. If it has a high pH of 5.9 -6, then 4g would be enough.

As to your question about carbohydrate additions to high fat products, yes, you certainly don't need to add sugars in the same amounts as regular salami because lactic bacteria metabolizes proteins and not fats.
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Re: Questions about pH drop safety Hurdle

Post by Indaswamp » Sat Jan 16, 2021 08:26

Redzed, Looking back over my notes, seems I only added 1.25g of Flavor of Italy starter culture for the 5kg. batch. I normally add 1 gram for the first kg. then 0.25 grams for each additional kilo of meat up to 5kg. So I should have added 2 grams. Also, I may have mixed the culture in too soon and it came into contact with the salt. At any rate, Thanks you for the reply.
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Re: Questions about pH drop safety Hurdle

Post by redzed » Sat Jan 16, 2021 08:42

1.25g should have been enough, as long as it was well distributed in the farce. The bacteria in that formulation can tolerate high salt concentrations. I always pre-cure my meat and salt before grinding. That way the grinder does a lot of the work in extracting the myosins, the meat is firmer, lowering the possibility of fat smearing and the culture and the rest of the spices are added and mixed with the meat immediately after grinding.
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