Curing Process Observations & Questions

Post Reply
dae
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2021 13:09

Curing Process Observations & Questions

Post by dae » Wed Feb 24, 2021 13:44

My name is Doug.

My family has been SUCCESSFULLY making Italian (Calabrese) Sopresatta for 20 years.

However.... The last 5 years the 90 year old Italian gentlmen who managed our entire *CURING* process in his little shed is a wee bit not in the greatest condition to continue this great tradition.

So I have done a ton of research on this and set-up my own temperature and humdity controlled station in my basement.

My setup:

1. Auber Instruments - TH220W (Temp/Dehumidifier)
2. Auber Instruments - TH220W (Humdifier)
3. Commercial Refridgerator
4. Dehumidifier
5. Humidifier
6. Sensor Push A: Middle of Fridge
7. Sensor Push B: Middle of Fridge

I am a Software Engineer so I collect the temp/hudmity and can plot it in a graph to see how everything looks (I love data, hehe).

So here goes my problem and I'd value your input:

- What is the ideal temperature? I've set mine to 52F.
- What is the ideal hudmity? I've set mine to 60%.
- How do you prevent against case hardening?

First Batch Background: The first batch failed. It was 3 weeks. Things were great. Then I noticed small specks of white mold. I sprayed them with a little vinegar and then wiped them down. I had my humidity set at 80% and temp at 60%. I sliced one open and the outside of it was starting to become a nice red and the inside was still raw. I then told a friend of mine (veteran old italian man) about the specks and he said you need to keep the temp and humdity lower (50F and 60% humidity). I then changed my setup in the first batch to that and a week later all of my Sopresatta spoiled (I could smell them), I cut it open and the inside was dark grey. I think the sudden swing of temp and humdity caused that but curious if you've seen that before too?

There's so much content online and different ways of setting the temp / humdity that it's real hard to find a standard way of doing this as it so appears.

I'm about 6 days into this new second batch and so far I've kept the temp/hudmity at the defined rates above, but noticed that the outside of the cases are a bit hard, so should I spray them with water?

Any comments you can provide would be much appreciated.

You may view the images of my setup here (I can post more happily): https://photos.app.goo.gl/sX6yUrLnJuPGUHXy8

Thanks
Indaswamp
Passionate
Passionate
Posts: 207
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2020 05:46

Re: Curing Process Observations & Questions

Post by Indaswamp » Wed Feb 24, 2021 22:38

Welcome to the forum. I too love data- I come from a family of engineers.
Ideal temperature is 53-59*F.
For controlled drying humidity should lag sausage Aw by 0.2 - 0.5, 0.3 being average.

When you add 2.5% salt to the meat, the Aw drops to about 0.97... this is the starting Aw. When the salami reaches 30% weight loss, the Aw is around 0.88~0.89.
Example- sausage Aw 0.95, humidity 92%; sausage Aw 0.92. humidity 89%; sausage Aw 0.89, humidity 0.86 etc..

For the home hobbyist, between 85-80% RH is good, just don't let it get below 80% for any length of time or case hardening will become an issue.
Indaswamp
Passionate
Passionate
Posts: 207
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2020 05:46

Re: Curing Process Observations & Questions

Post by Indaswamp » Wed Feb 24, 2021 22:43

Colder temps. will slow drying and slow mold growth. 60% RH is too low for most salami-especially large diameter salamis. If your calabrese sopressata is pressed to 1 1/8-1 3/8" thick, then lower RH will not be as big an issue, but you will still get a darker ring around the outside which would indicate case hardening. The way to prevent case hardening is to slow drying by raising RH, slowing airflow, and/or lowering temp. But I would not go below 50*F.....
Indaswamp
Passionate
Passionate
Posts: 207
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2020 05:46

Re: Curing Process Observations & Questions

Post by Indaswamp » Wed Feb 24, 2021 22:48

***
Just looked at your pictures. Is that a commercial unit with a fan that runs continuously? If so, the fan speed is too fast and will need to be replaced by a smaller fan. That is why you have case hardening.

See this video by Cajuneric:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRi1QPsYAgc
User avatar
StefanS
Passionate
Passionate
Posts: 436
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2015 00:12
Location: Mass

Re: Curing Process Observations & Questions

Post by StefanS » Thu Feb 25, 2021 22:28

Indaswamp wrote:
Wed Feb 24, 2021 22:38
Welcome to the forum. I too love data- I come from a family of engineers.
Ideal temperature is 53-59*F.
For controlled drying humidity should lag sausage Aw by 0.2 - 0.5, 0.3 being average.

When you add 2.5% salt to the meat, the Aw drops to about 0.97... this is the starting Aw. When the salami reaches 30% weight loss, the Aw is around 0.88~0.89.
Example- sausage Aw 0.95, humidity 92%; sausage Aw 0.92. humidity 89%; sausage Aw 0.89, humidity 0.86 etc..

For the home hobbyist, between 85-80% RH is good, just don't let it get below 80% for any length of time or case hardening will become an issue.
Theoretically -yes, practically in home hobbyist maturing chamber - not. There are so many factors that should be taken under consideration that it is not that simple. Just my 5 cents.
don't let it get below 80% for any length of time or case hardening will become an issue.
in late stage of maturing it isn't that big issue(even some dry ring on final product is required by some customers). :wink:
Post Reply