Homemade Sausage Making

I made some Chorizo, Salami Romana, and salami Cacciatore, C.W. recipe, Friday night 2/21. Temp. stayed between 68 - 70 with humidity @95-99%. After fermenting about 3 days, when I took it out this morning to move it to the drying room I noticed that it had some white hairy mold & a few had some spots of black mold. Is this normal or do I need to fine tune my fermenting chamber?? I scrubed them clean with salt water and sprayed some mold 600 on them & hung them in the drying room.





I sent my PH meter to get fixed so I am using these strips in the mean time. I must be color blind but I tried it 3 times & can't seem to find this coloor on the chart. It appears that the PH is still high or maybe its from all the paprika the chorizo recipe called for because it keeps coming up a redish color.

Al, you have been busy! Nice bunch of salumi! What recipe are using for the Romana?

You got those nasty molds right on time so you should be OK. I have also found that if I wash my salami in a warm solution after fermentation, let it dry for about an hour and then spray with the mould starter, I get a nice even covering of mould. And just wipe your curing chamber with a mild chlorine solution and let it dry out well. Not much else that can be done.

As far as the strips, yes, the colour does seem to indicate that the pH is still high. Was it the same as when you started?

Allhunter, my man! Is this the recipe you are referring to? http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=5809

Did you follow the instructions for using Bactoferm Mold™600? You should have white mold covering your house by now. What you have going on is a Rhizopus nigricans or an Aspergillus niger. They both produce spores that make toxins that just might possibly stop your clock!

So get rid of the colored mold and any affected meat beneath it. What you want growing is Penicillium Nalgiovense. That's the good stuff and it competes with the bad (colored) molds for nutrition and moisture and it turns out flaky and fluffy white. Use a culture pal!

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Hi Red, It's Len Poli's recipe that I have made before & was one of the fan favorites:
http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Sal ... ta%202.pdf

I was just wondering if maybe I needed to tweak my fermenting chamber a little to eliminate those molds. The same thing happened last batch but not as bad with the mold but still real slimey. In hindsight I should have waited an hour for them to dry before spraying them with the 600 before hanging because last time I didn't get an even coating.

As for the PH, its about the same as when I started but just the chorizo! The other two Salami Romana, and salami Cacciatore apear fine. The is the first attempt at the chorizo and the wife is still questing why i'm making a spanish chorizo when i'm Italian??

The strangest thing about the PH strips is that the color on the strip is no where near any of the colors on the reference chart.

Yes C.W., that is the recipe that I am reffering to. I did use a starter culture, I used the
T-SPX but I didn't realize that you sprayed them with the mold 600 before you put them in the fermenting chamber. I guess I should have read it a little closer. Is it better to put that mold 600 on as soon as you put it in the fermenting chamber because I know some guys put it on after fermentation.

As for removing the mold and affected meat? I washed them in a warm salt water solution and they look fine. Your not impling that the nasty mold could penetrate the casing & affect the meat, are you???

Yeah pal, the government recommends that you not only wash away the mold but cut away any affected area also. They are most insistent that you DO NOT sniff the stuff! If sausage is covered with colored mold, they will tell you to discard it. Put it into a small paper bag or wrap it in plastic and dispose in a covered trash can that children and animals can't get into. Then clean the refrigerator or pantry at the spot where it was stored. Check nearby areas and items the mold might have touched. Mold spreads quickly.
Now you can see how important it is to get the correct Pennicillium nalgiovense white mold growing right of the bat! It will "starve out" the colored mold with poisonous toxins. Oh yes, one more thing... there are several white molds that are dangerous. Lots of folks think they can "get away with just a little". Or maybe even a little "cream" - colored mold eh? Well, do you want to bet your life on it? Spore toxins are nothing to fool with and the money spent for the right mold starter, is the best money spent on that batch of sausage! Now you know why we use only Mold 600 containing P.Nalgiovense. Good luck with your project.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

C.W. you make a good point. I used to wait until after 3 days of fermenting before spraying the mold 600 but I think from now on I will spray the mold 600 on them as soon as I finish making them before putting them in the fermenting chamber.

What is your take on the Chorizo?? Why do you think it came back with that odd color on the strip??

Why do you think it came back with that odd color on the strip??

Anybodys guess! That's why I got myself a super accurate scale and weigh the moisture loss.

C.W. , Are you saying that as long as it has significant moisture loss (30%-35%) that the PH reading is irrelevant??

Oh, by the way, what did you mean by "use a culture pal". I used T-SPX culture for fermentation & the mold 600 culture 3 days later when I took them out of the fermentation chamber. Were you referring to using the mold 600 immediately, rather than waiting ??

Hi Alhunter,
Absolutely not! It`s always important to know (and track) the pH whenever possible. I`m simply reiterating the statement made by the USDA that, "A potentially hazardous food does not include a food with a water activity value of Aw 0.85 or less". This not only applies to bacteria, but to yeasts and molds as well. Adding sugar or salt "binds" a certain amount of "free water" inside the product and lowers the amount of available water to these microbes which inhibits their growth.
You asked:

Were you referring to using the mold 600 immediately, rather than waiting ??

Yes, some folks even mix it into a solution and actually dip the sausage in it.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

I just made some Cappocolla ( C.W. recipe; http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?p=16693#16693) , it was basically pretty easy to make. The hardest part was getting that stuff into the 100 mm synthetic casing. It looks & smells great & I can't wait to taste it!!





Now this has me baffled! Can any of you tell me why the mold 600 took so nice to my salami caciattore but not the chorizo or the salami romana??