Is it ruined?

robduca · Post by **robduca** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 07:40

Found an old mincer and thought I would have a go at making a salami to test the curing fridge out with.
Went and got some pork shoulder and back fat. Minced up was 3kg shoulder and 1kg back fat.
Added salt, curing salt, pepper, fennel seeds, paprika and starter culture.
Mixed it all together and then went to swap the mincer to sausage stuffer but have realised that the mincing plate needs to be in with it.
So now instead of having some nice chunky pork/fat, it is a fine mince now.
Is it still going to turn out ok? Of am I wasting my time fermenting it?

Thanks guys

Rob

robduca · Post by **robduca** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 09:21

Not much is going right.
The humidity sensor isn't working. It is reading a constant 35% with the humidifier on flat out. Take it out and it drops to 34. Worked fine when we set it up and tested it, but not now.
Would putting the humidifier on the liwest setting and running constantly be ok?

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 13:01

G'day Rob, sorry - can't help help you much as only made a dry cure once and no
experience with humidifiers.

Have a B/I/L at Australind, good to see the fire situation has improved.

One of the knowledgable folks will wander by soon

robduca · Post by **robduca** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 14:15

Yea the fires have messed with me a bit. The last couple have seen my parents and the property my greyhounds are at evacuated both times. Was a bit scary.

Post by **redzed** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 17:47

Sorry to hear about your problems Rob. Always disconcerting when you put in the time, effort and expense and things don't go like they are supposed to. When you make dry cured products your fat should be totally frozen and mixed into very cold meat right after mincing. Unfortunately it does not work out that way all the time as the fat warms and it is difficult to mix it with the ground meat and have that nice definition. Worse yet, you are likely to develop fat smearing, thus coating the meat cells and the walls of the casing which will prevent drying.

As far as the humidity, get a another hygrometer, they are not expensive and adjust the humidifier manually, or maybe use a timer. High humidity is OK, even preferable during the first week or so, but then you should lower it to around 80%.

Don't give up yet, it just might work out!

Post by **Bob K** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 18:11

Like Redzed said it really sucks when things go wrong ! If you were using a controller for the humidity and it malfunctioned , you can get an inexpensive hygrometer and adjust the humidity manually. Its also always a good idea to use a controller and a hygrometer as you have a backup.

A few recommendations:
It is difficult at best to use a mincer to stuff casings with without fat smearing and fat smearing can cause problems especially with dry cured items. Get a sausage stuffer when you can it makes stuffing a lot easier, there are also kidney or spacer plates available for your mincer...but you are still grinding twice.....

Mix the frozen fat with the semi frozen meat prior to grinding and grind together, unless you over mix it eliminates a lot of fat smearing problems.