Hey Kevin, glad to have you visit us. The Bactoferm retailer I mentioned in the above post is Testek Instruments in Quebec. They currently carry Bactoferm cultures as in this link: https://testek.ca/en/categorie-produit/default-category-en/meat-processing-en/bactoferm-cultures-en/ Thanks for the ref...

Looks like I am replying a little late, but my Apera will be 3 years old in December. No problems to date and I have been quite happy with it. Three years is quite good run for pH electrodes. I bought the Apera before the Mini Hanna came on the market. The first generation had a accuracy rate of 0.2...

Yeah, butter is kind of odd in a sausage. But then it is a French sausage and butter is an integral part of their cuisine.

https://i.imgur.com/kkFYGxC.jpg?1 Saucisson aux chanterelles This has been a fantastic season for chanterelle mushrooms in my neck of the woods. It’s been a while since I made a mushroom sausage, so why not? On this occasion I crafted the sausage based on a recipe in a book titled Charcuterie Speci...

Probably not P. nalgiovense, but another variant of penicillium mould. Leave it on unless its very powdery and coming off at the slightest touch. I see that your chamber is getting full. make sure that the items do not touch each other.

Hi Antony, Looks like I aready answered your question regarding the cures on another group page. As to the collagen question, no one can answer that because collagen casings are not all the same. Many have discovered that some collagen casings are not suitable for fermented dried sausages since they...

Looks good!Looking forward to seeing the results.

We live in Canada. Chr. Hansen cultures are available here but very expensive and only one retailer that I am aware of peddles them. We do, however have other options. The Bactoferm line is only one of many out there and because several publications specify them in recipes, many incorrectly assume t...

How much are you making at one time? What cuts of meat are you using? What is the percentage of fat in the "pork"? What type of fat are you using? What type of smoker do you have? Electric, gas, wood?What amount of salt are you using? And what type of casings are you using?

Yes, I received the PM. Am currently occupied with mushroom collecting. Will reply tomorrow.

As long as you tightly tie the boned out ham, a culatello is nearly foolproof. And a picnic (spalla Cruda) is also worth a shot. It's smaller, will cure faster and it's cheaper. Go for it!

So-called summer sweating is only used in American country hams. The high temps accelerate enzymatic activity and evaporation. One reason that these hams are stable by the time summer rolls around is that they are heavily salted and have already been curing/drying for several months. I don't think t...

Yeah, it looks like the amount of nitrite can also differ in looking at what you are using. I also noticed that another Cure #2 sold on Amazon (Hoosiers)contains 5.67% sodium nitrite and 3.63% sodium nitrate. So you have read the ingredients and know what you are buying.

I use KNO3 in its pure form, so it's 100%. North American Cure #2 formulations all contain 6.25% sodium nitrite and anywhere from 1% to 6% sodium nitrate. Most people add 2.5g of Cure #2 to their products. That means that if you are using the product from the Sausagemaker, that is only 25ppm, if fro...

Good question. There is a long held belief by many who make traditional charcuterie that products made with potassium nitrate (saltpetre), taste better than those made with nitrite. It's apparently attributed to the nitrate reductase enzymes. I'm not quite sure whether that is actually true, and nor...