slightly technical question

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johnyd

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Mar 20, 2011
100
14
New Zealand
OK today i weighed my salami's ( see my other post "fermented  sausage " )

My question is after only 14 days they have nearly lost their 30% weight for example my 975 grm salami now weighs 720 grms

( read 2.lb 3 oz down to 1lb 10 oz )

Mathematically 975 divided  by 3 multiplied by 2 should give the 2/3rds weight ( get it ) = 650 grms  I have 720 grms so in theory I only have 70 grms to lose ( or just under 3 oz) 

So is the 30 % reduction scale just BS and I should just leave it for 20 days and have a taste.

Or does it take a lot longer to lose the remaining few grms / ozs

And in the crevices at the folds I have ............white mold
banana_smiley.gif
 
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Some of our dry curing experts have been fermenting a little themselves, they should be along soon!
 
Use the weight loss as a guideline but also involve your other senses. How does it feel? Is it soft or firm? Cut one open once it has lost the right amount of weight and taste it. How is the texture? Does it smell right? etc.
 
I'm by no means an expert Pops is referring to, but here is how I see it.

With dry curing we trying to preserve meat by removing water from meat thus denying harmful bacteria the essential ingredient to grow in. But the drying has to be done in environment with relatively high humidity, which may seem counterproductive, but it serves the purpose of preventing the surface to dry out and trap the water in the middle part. Water has nowhere to go and meat may get spoiled.

I think that 30% loss in weight is a guide only and means that enough water was lost to consider the product to be dry enough. Given proper temps and RH was maintained, the cross section should by consistently dry i.e the water from inside migrated to the outside and was removed.

It may work in most cases but sometimes it is just necessary to go by feeling the firmness or cutting out the sample a have good look and sniff. If if doesn't look or taste dry enough, give it extra couple of weeks of hang time and don't worry about the weight.

The 30% weight loss rule may not work consistently because it depends how much water is actually in the product before drying. If for example a salami receipe call to add bactoferm disolved in water it sure would have more water than a lean muscle cut. So if lets say the muscle has 30% of water in weigth when it drops weight by 30%, that means it is completely dry. If salami had 40% of water in total weight, by dropping to 30% weight the 10% of water is still there.

[/end of rant]
 
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Thanks for the replies guys,

Just a little unsure is all as this is my first full on fermenting job. I understand the need to test by other means ( sight, smell, touch and taste ) 

SO it is just as I thought really, the 30 % loss is only an indication that things are moving in the right direction, the rest is down to experience.
 
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