Boy does it look good what you are turning out from that private delicatessen workshop of yours
I am SO much on par with your preference of home grinding over ready grinded meat from the supermarket and I hope that all of you out there remember that grinding leaves a wast surface for wild bacteria to romp around -and they multiply with lightning speed! Especially at summertime (...where is the puke-emoticon when I need it the most )
A comment:
Yes - with the grotesque overpricing of starter cultures for private customers I understand you very well. And if I dared to mention the average b-to-b prices I´d probably become an accomplice to murder when you run out to lynch the guys who charge you THAT much.Cabonaia wrote: I can't see using a quarter packet for one recipe - it's far too expensive for that when you are making 5 or 10 lb batches...
Personally I think it is like punishing the little guy who strives to make his own healthy fermented meat products free of those unnecessary chemical additives that are used unsparingly by the industrial molochs. (Oops... now I start sounding like Aschenbrand or Michael Moore I promise to cut (out) the baloney from now on )
Jokes apart, I´ll not the one to promote "micro-dosage" by merely scaling down the 25 gr. intended for 222 lb. so that you will a.e. use only 1,25 gr. culture for 11 lb. of meat.
For me it is a matter of product safety: If making small amounts (22 lb and less) I recommend overdosing by at least 50 - 100% to be sure that carrier don´t dominate over bacteria UNLESS you count yourself among those who really keep high hygienic standards in both choice and handling of raw material and during the process.
If you keep such pristine standards there will also be a lower count of indigenous bacteria for the starter culture to overtake and dominate. In that case even a low dosage of starter culture will suffice.
Rick - If you like tang with a vengance you could use a starter culture with a somewhat more agressive acidity profile instead of the milder acidifying T-SPX.
It could be Bactoferm F-RM-52 providing that you increase the dextrose/dry glycose amount to at least 5 gr pr 2,2 lb. The ´52 doesn´t ferment sugar (sucrose) and the Lebanon Bologna recipe calls for only 3 gr. dextrose which is enough to activate the culture but might be insufficient for producing enough acidity with real tang.
Otherwise try to look up a distributor of the italian SACCO starter cultures (feel free to accuse me of feathering my own nest ) and ask for Lyocarni SHI-24 or Lyocarni VBL-97.
I don´t know about their pricing policy on the US market - but please don´t lynch their distributor if they turn out to be just as expensive as the CH´stuff