you can suture the opening later

Well, all the best with the op. Nowadays it has very good outcomes, so just be patient and go easy during rehab. And move your toes!
Soon you'll be dancing again!
We'll keep a tab on the bactoferm...
Jan

Great hints, I can't wait to try #1 and #9. :smile:

Hi Steve,
Starting to stabilise the humidity/temps. I'm not actually using the fridge compresor at the moment, as the ambient temp is lower than I want. The single light globe seems to be enough to keep the temperature in the desired range, and the humidifier works a treat when the humidity is low....

I have often marveled at watching a farm dog drink from a hoof print full of water in the barn yard.

Is it too late to catch up on this thread...? Because I need to make a statement
I believe a lot of people are OVER adding cultures. I have see some ridiculous amounts quoted to be used both in print recipes and in online forums
Some of the way I agree with you Joe: More is NOT better - but the...

Hi Diced,
Moving from fresh and cooked-cured sausage to air dried sausage separates the men from the boys. It requires much practice and patience, but even more knowledge of how bacteria work. May I suggest reading the entire forum called Project A ? There is a terrific amount of information in...

Thanks a lot.

And I have an additional doubt. For example, if a recipe tells me to use T-SPX and ferment at 20c (68f) for 72 hours at 90-85% humidity and drying for 2-3 months, how do I convert it to using F-LC? I do exactly the same?

Hi Igor,

I am most appreciative of your excellent reply. I spent yesterday trying to learn all I could about GdL on the internet but did not learn much, especially no real advice regarding dosage.

I will try your recommendation of T-SPX with 0.4% GdL and see how it goes. I like my Landjagers...

Without going into full detail, allow me to point out that the addition of wine in any meat mixture all at once, may be compared to the addition of oil to eggs while crafting mayonnaise? If the oil is added too quickly, it will of course, break the emulsion and the texture will suffer. The same...

but perhaps you could start with a brine of known strength and after a few days check the strength of the brine and gain a measure of the salt that has been absorbed by the meat.
_________________ We/I have tried this and it is rather tricky because you need to be able to limit the volume of the...

I am going to try it and see if there is any difference.

Aware or not. It could also be because the distributor or whoever advised Princi to use the F-1 have their funny ways. Not to say that it´s the same all over the world but in Poland I have more than once experienced faulty recommandations on which culture to use for which purpose.

F-1 is good for...

Thanks for the replies. I read somewhere that freezing pork will alter the texture of ham and therefore it is preferable not to do it. I understand about the pros of freezing, cost, trich: but all things being equal it would yield a better final product if the pork had not been frozen.

I just...

No added nitrate labeling is a legal requirement .

Can bacon be made without the use of nitrite?
Bacon can be manufactured without the use of nitrite, but must be labeled Uncured Bacon, No Nitrates or Nitrites added and bear the statement Not Preserved, Keep Refrigerated Below 40 °F At All Times...

That recipe calls for way more than the recommended safe level of nitrite.
Please refer to the Processing Inspector's Calculations Handbook for the recommended amount of nitrite for your project.
Please don't make the mistake that most people make , make sure you read the handbook closely and...

Hi Workingpoor,
Instead of using propane as a heat source, use a small electric hotplate on the lowest setting with a cast iron pot it acting as a heatbank to stop temperatures fluctuating to much.
A bit of trial and error required with notes taken for future use.
You should be able to raise the...

bump.

Yes, but the amount of salt required would make your salami extremely salty!

Sooo do you guys freeze your pork to kill any possible trichinae before making salami or just take a chance and not worry about it?

Trichina cysts are very salt resistant, there isn't a level of salt that's proven...

Thank you . You are a true scholar!

Chuckwagon,

Thank you for your elaborate reply. I did not think it would be a substitute for real lactic acid bacteria starter cultures, but I thought I would ask.

Doing a google search showed numerous sausage makers who use GDL in their products but they also list LAB starter cultures in their...

Thanks for the encouragement guys! I don't mean to spam up this great thread with my narcissism so I will just say that your support is very appreciated. It helped get me through our first Sunday.

I am fairly confident that C. Botulinum contamination comes primarily from garlic in oil/garlic oil that is left at room temperature. When stored in the refrigerator, the growth of those spores into toxins is far less likely and the shelf life is dramatically extended.

The FDA has drafted...

Thank you CW. I think that I understood most of that on the first reading. I am sometimes a bear of very little brain and have to read such several times before it sinks in.

Two more cents here if you don't mind. Wally is spot on as usual and he really explains it well. Would you mind if I added just one more little thing to accentuate one of Wally's statements? Uwanna wrote:
keep the humidity on the upper level to prevent case hardening during the incubation process...

Well it's good to hear that those differences in aw and pH are nominal enough not to obsess over. And here I was thinking that I had to learn how to select pigs and meat for .1 or .2 differences in measurement! Now I just need to find a new obscure thing to obsess over.

vagreys,...Non-fat milk powder is usually used at about 4% by weight in the emulsifed sausage formulas. That should eliminate the need to turn instantized powder to a fine powder in a food processor.

~Martin
Thank you, Martin! We'll see how it goes!

Chuckwagon, It is for those same reasons that bakers prefer to use commercially produced yeast cultures for bread making. Some places can make very good sourdough bread. They are granted the righjt atmospheric and biological conditions for a favorable mix of wild yeast and bacteria. In other places...

Here is the response I received from Seminole on the matter. It looks like heat is the determining factor for products that contain sufficient amounts of sugar.

Charring would be a type of Mallard reaction, which is reaction between sugar and amino acids and proteins. This leads to a color...