Dried Italian Sausage

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redzed
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Post by redzed » Wed Jun 29, 2016 15:51

10% is only a guideline, since most bacteria will not survive in that level of salinity. But adding half that will probably serve the purpose also. Or you can do what Brican suggests, but the salt is there as insurance.

And if you can actually get the mould off just by brushing, that would be better.
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Wed Jun 29, 2016 18:54

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This was with a brushing first, but the white mould was still on the moist side. I diluted some salt in water and wiped them down, then dried off the moisture. This was the outcome. I will let them sit for a couple of hours before I vacuum seal them.
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Post by redzed » Wed Jun 29, 2016 19:48

They look great!
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Wed Jun 29, 2016 20:19

They taste great. Thanks for the suggestions.
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Sun Oct 23, 2016 15:53

The next batch is hanging for fermentation right now. I used 38-42mm casings. PH is at 5.6 right now. If I am using 007, does it matter if the chamber I am using is slightly cooler? It's at 66 degrees F.

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Post by MatterOne » Sun Oct 23, 2016 16:12

I don't know, but when your shelf is bowing from having so much sausage, life is good!
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Post by redzed » Mon Oct 24, 2016 03:30

A couple of degrees too low, but it should work, albeit a little slower. And in the end it might even be better since I have found 007 to be a relatively fast acidifier. Slower fermentation will give you a smoother, more milder flavour. Check your pH every 12 hours and make sure to keep the humidity high during fermentation so that the casings stay very moist.
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Fri Oct 28, 2016 10:40

There were a couple of changes in the recipe and I have some questions. The cure #2 I normally use was pink and fairly coarse. The last cure #2 I purchased is white. I also used a conventional Morton salt instead of sea salt. Am I still good to go? The reason I ask is by now, the meat usually has a more red color to it than it does. The fermentation was 36 hours to reach 5.0, then it was transferred to the new chamber at 53F and it's holding 88% humidity.
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Post by Bob K » Fri Oct 28, 2016 13:06

The cure #2 from B&P is white and a fine powder I have used it for the last 4 or 5 years now , no problems.
As long as the salt is non-iodised it wont make a difference, as long as you measured by weight.

A the not so red color can be caused by a higher fat content or fat smearing
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Fri Oct 28, 2016 13:10

I trimmed a lot more fat than usual as I wanted it leaner. The salt "Does not supply iodide"
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Post by redzed » Fri Oct 28, 2016 17:29

Tough to say Lou. Could be a number of things that impact the colour. The first of course is the meat, lighter coloured meats have less myoglobin and will cure to a lighter colour. Using cuts that are darker to begin with, that is cuts from muscles that are used more by the animal and require more oxygen, will have more myoglobin and will react better with nitrite to produce a more pronounced pink/red colour. The micrococci (in 007 you have Staphylococcus carnosus and Staphylococcus xylosus) convert the nitrate to nitrite when you use Cure #2 and in the process change the colour of the sausage. But the micrococci like a bit of time to do the job during the fermentation stage and don't work well when the the level of acid is high. They work best when when the pH is above 5.

Whether your Cure #2 is pink or white should not matter. But check the difference in the amount of nitrate in the blend as they vary between the manufacturers. Might be that the one you were using before had more nitrate and that might have resulted in the difference in colour.

Something else that you might want to try in future products is an adding sodium erythorbate to your formulation. S. erythorbate is a form of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and helps in converting the nitrite to nitric oxide and acts as an anti oxidant which improves and retains the colour of the sausage.
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Sun Oct 30, 2016 14:39

This is the first time using the new refrigerator chamber. It's been stable at 53F for months and I had nothing in it. The humidity was 55% with nothing in it. After 5 days with the meat being in the chamber, I did notice that I am getting a tacky coating on the outside of the casings. Some white growth and some green. I've never had green before. I checked the humidity and it is fairly high, like way too high, almost in the mid 90's. I had a small dehumidifier plugged into a controller originally in the old unit. When I plugged it in this time, it won't power up, so I went to Home depot and bought a 30 pint unit, which was the smallest unit they had. The chamber is large enough where I placed it directly in the chamber and set it for continuous with a low fan speed. It's really not continuous because I have it wired thru an outboard controller. This morning the chamber is down to 82% and I have the controller set for 80%. The dehumidifier removed at least 1 quart of water. I don't think I can get rid of the tacky on the casing, so I'm hoping it will dry a little and become powder coated. WHAT ABOUT THE GREEN? This is a first and the unit is new and solid stainless interior, so the question is where the heck did this come from? I dod not use any Mold 600. I have to also check the B&P cure #2 to make sure the proper proportion is still .25%
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Post by redzed » Sun Oct 30, 2016 15:00

Green mould is probably OK, that is if it does not bother you. We have gone over this numerous times in previous posts. Personally, I prefer a nice white powdery coat, and have learned that less is better. But if I get some green/turquoise occasionally, I leave it alone. When starting a new chamber it is a good idea to use 600 on the sausages and also spray a bit of it inside the chamber. That way you will colonize it with Penicillium nalgiovense which will not only grow on your salami, but overtake other moulds. It's a pretty aggressive strain.
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Post by Bob K » Sun Oct 30, 2016 18:46

LOUSANTELLO wrote: WHAT ABOUT THE GREEN? This is a first and the unit is new and solid stainless interior, so the question is where the heck did this come from? I dod not use any Mold 600. I have to also check the B&P cure #2 to make sure the proper proportion is still .25%
The green mold comes from the same place , the air, gets there the same way it grows on bread. Mold and yeast are present almost everywhere.
BP cure #2 contains a bit less nitrite, by about .6% but no problems using the same amounts.

http://www.wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=7282
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Post by LOUSANTELLO » Sun Oct 30, 2016 19:13

OK. I just hit them with m-600.
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