
I used Mondostart 2M (very close to Bactoferm F-RM-52) to ferment at 20-22C, 90% RH. My starting pH was 5.73, after 24 hours 5.26 and 4.85 after 40 hours. I did not want to take it below 5 because now it will most likely have a bit of tang. On the other hand, since this is more of an American salami, the the tang should be acceptable.
I stuffed 2 chubs into the 50mm Umai tubes and 41/2 into beef middles. All six were fermented together, and now the Umai are hanging in my fridge at 4C and the rest in my curing chamber at 12C and around 80% RH. The latter were also treated with a mould surface starter. The photo below shows the salame after the fermentation stage.
Over the next couple of weeks I will make two or three more types of salami and will use both the Umai and curing chamber method on each. When they all will have matured, I will invite friends (who know nothing about the preparation process), to taste and judge which salami they prefer. The Umai experiment has begun!
Salame Genoa
