Case Hardening Fix?

Justin1982 · Post by **Justin1982** » Mon Oct 05, 2015 04:55

Complete newbie here. My first attempt at dryer sausage was soppressata. I used a recipie that used T-SPX, I fermented at 68 degrees for 72 hours, high humidity (I sprayed the sausages to be safe). I moved them to my drying chamber, white chalky mold appeared and I had the humidity between 65-85 and temperature between 55-59. They look good but I suspect some case hardening occurred as the outside feels hard and very mushy on the inside. They have been drying since September 18... I'll work on getting some pics but if the case has hardened is there anyway to fix it?

Post by **redzed** » Mon Oct 05, 2015 06:24

Hi Justin, hard to say at this point, it's not even three weeks hanging time. At this stage you could lower the temp to 50, with 55 being the max, and try to keep the humidity at around 80%. Also make sure you don't have any fans blowing directly at the salami. Some case hardening is usually inevitable, and that can be fixed with a few weeks under vacuum in the fridge, after the drying phase.

What type and size of casing did you use and can you describe, or better yet, show us some pics of your curing chamber?

Justin1982 · Post by **Justin1982** » Mon Oct 05, 2015 20:47

redzed wrote:Hi Justin, hard to say at this point, it's not even three weeks hanging time. At this stage you could lower the temp to 50, with 55 being the max, and try to keep the humidity at around 80%. Also make sure you don't have any fans blowing directly at the salami. Some case hardening is usually inevitable, and that can be fixed with a few weeks under vacuum in the fridge, after the drying phase.

What type and size of casing did you use and can you describe, or better yet, show us some pics of your curing chamber?

I used 45mm collagen casing and I am drying in a wine refrigerator with a small bowl of water for humidity and a small computer fan for air movement. When I get home I will take pictures

Justin1982 · Post by **Justin1982** » Tue Oct 06, 2015 21:38

This is my curing chamber

As you can see I have 6 saucisson hanging that I just started and the soppresata is in the right and my first attempt at pepperoni which I think is a failure

Post by **Bob K** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 13:14

Ok Justin here my 2 cents-

With smaller diameter thinner collagen casings in a relatively small curing chamber you can either stop using the computer fan or have it on a timer to run several times a day. I use a low speed computer fan and in comes on for 1/2 hour 4 times a day in a full size freezer.

Keep the humidity above 80% for at least the first 45 days. Mine stays at 85%

Make sure you hygrometer is calibrated correctly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2MmCRZ4cD0
Hint: less chance of spilling if you use a plastic container instead of a plastic bag.

If yours is not adjustable just note the offset.

For you next try I would consider Beef middles or fibrous casings as they are thicker and won't dry as quickly...less chance of case hardening. A good coating of mold 6oo also slows down dry rim.

Be patient dry cured sausage takes time 60+ days is not unusual.

My stuff usually takes 60-80 days in 60-65mm Beef middles, even longer in 3" (76mm) fibrous casings.

If you dry your sausages slowly there should be very little if any dry rim.

Sausage will always feel like it has a mushy center as it dries. I pull mine when it feels firm. But that just takes the experience of a few batches.

If you really feel they are case hardened you could try raising the humidity for a week or so.

Your pic is kind of blurry so hard to see any details.

Pepperoni - 75 days