U.S.S. Prosciutto, Maiden Voyage

[mneeley490]

Been gone for a couple weeks. Checked the chamber today, and everything seemed to be going okay. No off odors, water tray was still full, fan still blowing for 5 minutes at a time. The skin is dry, and starting to feel a little rough, but not over-dry, so I don't think there is any case hardening going on. Otherwise, it looks the same.

 

[daveomak]

 

[noble captain]

Cool , still keeping up. Sounds good

 

[mneeley490]

Had a bit of a scare yesterday. The humidity inside the chamber goes up and down, but over the past 2 weeks it has been over 80% for some reason. I thought it might settle down, but yesterday I noticed some green mold spots growing on the outside skin. Nothing seemed to be growing on the lard. 

When I inspected it, the skin was soft and clammy. So I scrubbed off the mold and wiped the skin down with white vinegar. Also took out the water tray, and reprogrammed the fan for 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off.

Today, the humidity is at 65%, and the skin is dry and not so soft as yesterday. I'm hoping this is just a minor setback.

 

[daveomak]

Is your "chamber" allowing for fresh air in at some point ??  Just to get rid of the "used" air....

 

[mneeley490]

 
Is your "chamber" allowing for fresh air in at some point ??  Just to get rid of the "used" air....

I open the door to check on things every few days. Might have missed a few lately. Even thought the front is glass, it was a wine cooler and so kind of dark inside, so I check on it with a flashlight.

 

[daveomak]

I've been trying to find "something" that notes air changes in a chamber but can't find anything definitive...  Just seems logical to me..    If you can hang meat in a cellar for a few months, air changes would be the norm...  nothing you could do about it...  Sooooo, that's where I'm thinking air changes would be at least OK....  if not mandatory...   I'll keep looking....  

 

[daveomak]

Here we go......

http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/...to-crudo-cured-ham-in-parma-drying-and-sugna/
[h1]Making Italian Prosciutto Crudo, Cured Ham in Parma: Drying and Sugna[/h1]
September 21, 2009 by Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy 6 Comments

Part 2 in a series about how Prosciutto di Parma is made when I visited a prosciuttificio (prosciutto factory) during the Festival del Prosciutto in the province of Parma.

• Part 1: Making Prosciutto di Parma: the Salting
• Part 2: Making Prosciutto di Parma: the Drying and Sugna
• Part 3: Making Prosciutto di Parma: the Maturing

After the salting process, the prosciutto have been washed and now they are hung to dry – usually in climate-controlled rooms so that the temperature is an average and most importantly, dry temperature. If there is too much moisture in the air, the meat will spoil instead of curing. The air is also changed frequently. The legs are hung with rope and though many of the racks are now metal, more traditional racks would be made of wood.

 

[mneeley490]

I'd love to be able to hang it somewhere in my house like in the photographs, but I just don't have anywhere appropriate to do it. My wine cellar would be perfect, but over the years I've trapped a half dozen rats that somehow get in there on their own. Add hanging, aromatic meat to the equation? Yikes. And drilling holes in the wine cooler/curing chamber would probably be counter productive to its use, also. So, I don't know. I guess I'll just have to open the door more often.

 

[daveomak]

RATS !!!!!   When I lived on the coast, when the boat harbor froze over, the rats would come up the creek into my yard...   BIG Norway rats...   I trapped then all the time in the really cold winters...  

 

[mneeley490]

Yep. These are some big ones, and I really don't want to attract more.

 

[noble captain]

Wow that blog awesome, I'm looking for an appropriate thing to hang my prosciutto when I do it. I'm desperate to try it. Lol you all are so awesome with sharing info. Thanks

 

[mneeley490]

After removing the water tray, the humidity was still around 80%, so I slid in a tray with dry rice, hoping that would bring it down some. Tonight, it was 75%, so it looks like we're heading in the right direction. I can only surmise that the moisture is coming from the leg itself, and will still be opening the door every day or two for a few minutes.

 

[daveomak]

Add a tray of distilled water saturated salt...   Use the salt that will give you the desired humidity....  It's a physics thing...   The salt solution wants to be in equilibrium..  If the air, in the chamber, gets too high, the solution sucks moisture out of the air...   too low, it will give up water...  The chamber temp is an important part of the equation... 

Sodium chloride, regular salt, in a coarse grade like for sidewalks works very well...   will give you around 65%    75% RH....

Humidity Chart 1 001.jpg

• daveomak
• May 19, 2017

TYPO......    65% should be 75%.....

 

[mneeley490]

 
Add a tray of distilled water saturated salt...   Use the salt that will give you the desired humidity....  It's a physics thing...   The salt solution wants to be in equilibrium..  If the air, in the chamber, gets too high, the solution sucks moisture out of the air...   too low, it will give up water...  The chamber temp is an important part of the equation... 

Sodium chloride, regular salt, in a coarse grade like for sidewalks works very well...   will give you around 65% RH....

Humidity Chart 1 001.jpg

• daveomak
• May 19, 2017

Dave, that is what I had in there.

 

[daveomak]

Well, I don't know now....  Somehow, you have deceived the laws of physics... 

  ....

 

[actech]

How accurate is your hygrometer? shouldnt be a +- 5% i wouldnt think but you never know

 

[mneeley490]

I suppose it's possible that it could be off, but I'd have to buy another hygrometer to test it. With the rice inside instead of the thick saline, it shows the humidity between 60-65%.

 

[mneeley490]

Well seven months into it, and I don't have much to report, but I guess that's a good thing. Still going good; no bad molds, but I think the skin picked up a little of the good, white mold from previous projects; still firm flesh; no off odors. Still have the saltwater in the chamber; in fact, the salt has encrusted the dish. But now the humidity seems to have leveled off, so again, that seems good. I wonder at what point do the Italian prosciutto inspectors start sticking in that horse bone to smell for bad odors? I could probably use a wood skewer for that.