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Controlling air movement in curing chamber
I bought a LEM Big Bite #8. That should be plenty for me. Thanks for the great input. Where should I shop for additional grinder knives and different size grinder plates? BTW - I think I got a really good price on the grinder for anybody else that might be shopping for one... -
Controlling air movement in curing chamber
Great video. I believe that my beat up old plates and grinder knife are a very likely source of my problem. I cannot get replacement parts for my grinder, so I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and buy a new grinder. Any suggestions?? I have a Kitchenaid stand mixer but the grinder... -
Controlling air movement in curing chamber
That makes perfect sense. -
Controlling air movement in curing chamber
I think you are probably right. As you and SmokinEdge pointed out, there's not a very obvious dry ring around the circumference. The problem likely lies outside the airflow across/around the chubs. I have never sharpened the grinder plate and blade. They've sat in storage for at least 12... -
Controlling air movement in curing chamber
Good video choice. That is one of the R&R vids I hadn't watched. Surprising that smear can happen when the fat is too cold. Counterintuitive for sure and I still don't understand why that situation could occur. It seems like the fat would retain the characteristics we desire during the... -
Controlling air movement in curing chamber
All good information. I reviewed the Marianski book today while I was waiting for my kids to get out of school. I see and understand the fat smear issue that could potentially be a problem. I cannot say for certain that fat smear was not an issue with the first batch of Cacciatore, but with... -
Controlling air movement in curing chamber
Didn't take the temp, but I separate fat and lean in separate bags and put them in the freezer for an hour or more. The fat is usually feeling frozen when I pull it out and grind it. -
Controlling air movement in curing chamber
I agree with that. Trying to think of some kind of hard plastic sheet or similar... -
Controlling air movement in curing chamber
The photo is of the curry mix that was done along with the Fuet Spanish Salami, (40% curry/60% Fuet) from a single grind with T-SPX then spices for the two different recipes mixed in after). Today is day 16 - the salami are an inch diameter at best (stuffed into 29 - 32mm hog casings). pH at... -
Controlling air movement in curing chamber
Additional note: The manner in which I linked the Cacciatore meant that I hung them from the casing link between the two salami so they hung in contact with each other in sort of an inverted V, which kept a small portion of each link in contact with the other. I felt like any reduction in... -
Controlling air movement in curing chamber
I diced the smaller salami into 1.5 inch chunks and put them all back in for a few more days to see how much of the interior moisture would disappear. The dogs will love it even if I'm not willing to eat them after that. I like that idea with the Cacciatore (uncasing them) - I'll try that... -
Controlling air movement in curing chamber
Good idea with the bump in humidity. My temp point have been set a bit low since I was getting just a hint of ammonia smell a week - ten days ago or so ago. I reduced the temp to 50 degrees for two days and then gradually worked it back up to 54 for the past three days. It cycles +/- two... -
Controlling air movement in curing chamber
Not surprisingly to me, my first two batches of salami appear to be failures. They were both at or above 35% weight loss when my family and I took off for the weekend on Friday. I expected that the smaller salami ( my second batch - Fuet and Curry) would be about done when I returned home... -
First Batch in new curing chamber.
That is convenient! Kid in a candy store! -
First Batch in new curing chamber.
That is a great first effort. You learned a lot from this first run, and in my mind, that is more important that a perfect cure on the Lonza. It still looks delicioso. I used 29 - 32mm hog casings for my second batch, They are easy to work with but I'd advise deciding on how you want to... -
The Great Fermentation Trials 2021
That's an impressive piece of work. A great idea that yielded very usable results. Very nice! -
Salccicia Napolitana Dolce (Sweet Naples Salami)
No, I had too many wheels in motion early on. My focus was on keeping things cold and keeping my ducks in a row working through the basic processes. I finally bought a cold smoke generator (hexagonal tube style) last week and put 4 hours smoke on my slow cured Pepperoni as well as a Coppa... -
Some Salamis are finishing...
Thanks. I'll think about the acid drop relationship to drying time for awhile. Cogitation is good for my old brain. -
The Great Fermentation Trials 2021
That's a good question - I got an ingredients list from some website like this: https://www.recipetips.com/glossary-term/t--35488/cacciatorini-salami.asp I also morphed that one a bit with a similar recipe from Youtube that only uses salt, pepper, wine, and garlic (I love this guy. He uses no... -
The Great Fermentation Trials 2021
I like your thinking and processes. Way beyond what I imagine any home gamer would consider. Hopefully you can come up with some constants that can be used your recipes in to calculate your use of those ingredients into your mixes in the future. The only other variable that I can see is...
