To be honest I have never heard of anyone vac sealing and then drying again. If there was any mold the casings will get slimy, as the mold will die.
I stuff my beef middles quite hard and have never had one blow out unless there was weak areas.I assume you rinsed and rehydrated them.
Humidity & Case harding
Good point about the mold. I didn't see any visible signs of mold and felt no tackiness when I vacuum packed them today but I can see where you're going with that point.
I read it on a few other threads about the idea of sealing them for a week or two to even out the case hardening so maybe I panicked a bit prematurely.
With regards to the beef middles I had washed and soaked them overnight to soften them up.
I read it on a few other threads about the idea of sealing them for a week or two to even out the case hardening so maybe I panicked a bit prematurely.
With regards to the beef middles I had washed and soaked them overnight to soften them up.
Thank you so much for getting these pics up for me. I couldn't figure out how to.
After a sleepless night of worrying about these Salami I decided this morning to just hang them back up in my cellar and raise the humidity to 80%. Thinking I may go get some Bactoferm to spray on them to hopefully start the white mold which should help to slow the case hardening from worsening. I have cut my fan to run half hour per day only now.
Sidenote: is it normal for the salami netting to practically fall off at this point just 3 weeks in? I figured I'd do the nets instead of putting them under weight and it was the netting suggested to me by the same market that sold me the Beef middle casings so I assume they were the right size. I would have thought they were going to stay snug the whole process.
After a sleepless night of worrying about these Salami I decided this morning to just hang them back up in my cellar and raise the humidity to 80%. Thinking I may go get some Bactoferm to spray on them to hopefully start the white mold which should help to slow the case hardening from worsening. I have cut my fan to run half hour per day only now.
Sidenote: is it normal for the salami netting to practically fall off at this point just 3 weeks in? I figured I'd do the nets instead of putting them under weight and it was the netting suggested to me by the same market that sold me the Beef middle casings so I assume they were the right size. I would have thought they were going to stay snug the whole process.
The netting is elastic and should be a smaller diameter than the chub so it shrinks with the sausage. Its very difficult to use without some sort of horn. I use PVC, but several commercial ones available.steve wrote:Sidenote: is it normal for the salami netting to practically fall off at this point just 3 weeks in? I figured I'd do the nets instead of putting them under weight and it was the netting suggested to me by the same market that sold me the Beef middle casings so I assume they were the right size. I would have thought they were going to stay snug the whole process.
Hi Steve, sorry about your salami. Happens to the best of us! 
Tough to say exactly what the problem is, and it could be more that one issue. But he first thing I would do is get rid of the fan if you have a frost free fridge that cuts in on a regular basis. You get enough air movement from fan in the unit. The case hardening and soft centre could also have been a cause of fat smearing which is one one of the most common reasons. Other causes could have been failed fermentation, bad meat, or containing antibiotics. I don't think spraying it with mould will help at this stage. And maybe not all is lost. A couple of years ago I had some venison salami that had some serious crevices in them. But after vac sealing them and a few weeks in the fridge, the cracks all but disappeared.
Tough to say exactly what the problem is, and it could be more that one issue. But he first thing I would do is get rid of the fan if you have a frost free fridge that cuts in on a regular basis. You get enough air movement from fan in the unit. The case hardening and soft centre could also have been a cause of fat smearing which is one one of the most common reasons. Other causes could have been failed fermentation, bad meat, or containing antibiotics. I don't think spraying it with mould will help at this stage. And maybe not all is lost. A couple of years ago I had some venison salami that had some serious crevices in them. But after vac sealing them and a few weeks in the fridge, the cracks all but disappeared.