Eurika! My 'Culatello Cover Cave'.....(Long post)

[checkdude]

Absolutely mind blowing! Way way beyond my ability. I was going to say mabey in time but it's getting shorter and shorter.

 

[indaswamp]

Absolutely mind blowing! Way way beyond my ability. I was going to say mabey in time but it's getting shorter and shorter.

I have been wanting to do advanced Charcuterie for over 20 years...I just felt intimidated by the process and did not know about starter cultures for salami. With the plug and play units available nowadays, and all the good sources of information available on how to proceed properly and safely, it is much easier to get into it today as compared to 20 years ago.
This project-drying a large diameter whole cut- is the pennacle of my adventure into salumi....and I want it to taste exceptional. Thus the deep dives I have been doing into the production. If you watch any of Massimo Spigaroli's youtube videos, the culatello hanging in his cellar are very close together. This is to keep the relative humidity high during the drier summers. The average summertime RH% there in Polesine, Italy is 72%. The cellar is probably 5-10% higher. In the winter, with the fog, it is 82-95%....just like my cover.

 

[indaswamp]

Checked the Culatello and weighed it. right on track with another 0.11% weight loss, down to 19.01% as of today. And the pungent smell of ammonia along with the sweet smell of Culatello is emanating from the Cover.....YES! The fatless meat side is even more supple and pliable, and the piece is firmer deeper to the center. It is working!!!! The surface culture I applied created some lactic acid on the surface of the meat using the sugars in the wine and the minute amount of dextrose I added. This culture has bioprotective qualities as well as flavor forming bacteria. The mold is eating some of the lactic acid and using it to create the enzymes (and the ammonia as a waste product).....I can not lie-I was a little down today, but now I'm excited! I can not wait to taste this one but it has a long way to go yet!

 

[indaswamp]

For what I could understand was definitely interesting. Could see how much better his product got after he figured out his chamber. Seems simple enough to build. I'm sure you can make it as complicated as you want. Just pulled the trigger on marianskis fermented sausage and meat smoking and smoke house books

The thing about home made maturing chambers is that they are not perfect. It is a balancing act between airflow, temp. and RH% in such a small space to make it work. Frost Free home made chambers tend towards too much airflow and case hardening can be an issue especially on large whole muscle pieces. I posted this thread as a work around dealing with the known issues.

 

[indaswamp]

So, it has been 1 month since I started using this Culatello cover and it is working great! I needed to increase the RH% around the piece, and decrease the airflow-this cover does both. I have been fine tuning it. I have covered up 4 of the vent holes near the top in the inverted bucket. This has slowed airflow through the cover even more. I think I have it pretty well balanced now as the piece is losing about 5 grams a day yet the casing is staying hydrated. 5 grams does not sound like much, but it is 0.6% per week at that rate; 2.08% in one month. I'm looking at hopefully achieving 30% or more drying by June/July....and if that happens. the drying will be right on schedule.

 

[mike243]

Sams sells a fridge with no fans in it, thermostat is all, $230 or less, if I was wanting to make a chamber that is what I would buy , pretty simple to buy the controls and not have to fight the airflow of the unit, add fans and whatnot lol . fun watching stuff mold over knowing 1 day you can eat it.

 

[indaswamp]

Sams sells a fridge with no fans in it, thermostat is all, $230 or less, if I was wanting to make a chamber that is what I would buy , pretty simple to buy the controls and not have to fight the airflow of the unit, add fans and whatnot lol . fun watching stuff mold over knowing 1 day you can eat it.

How big is it? How many cubic feet? No fan = not frost free. Non frost free units are ok for the intensive drying phase, but have a very wide range in RH%, and hard to control for a maturing chamber. Hard to pull the humidity down in them with a full chamber.
The issue with the Culatello is I have other stuff in my chamber so if I adjust the settings to fit the Culatello I affect the drying of all the other stuff in my chamber. Optimum for the Culatello at this point is around 88-90%RH, and 0.02m/s airflow..which is about 3/4" inch per second. Which if you tried to adjust a chamber to those conditions, you risk bad mold in the chamber...see cajuneric's youtube video on this:


Not to mention-if I tried to dry my salamis in those conditions, they would end up just like the one Eric shows in the video....because RH% is too high...and airflow too slow.

The cover is a way to contain the high RH% and slow airflow around where it is needed-the Culatello- without sacrificing the other products in my chamber or running the risk of a bad mold bloom in my chamber. I check the Culatello and the cover daily for bad mold. If it happens, I will address it. But so far, nothing but noble white mold and beneficial yeast....which is good....

 

[indaswamp]

This is how I calibrate my controllers:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/calibrating-humidity-controller-the-easy-way.313764/

 

[indaswamp]

So an update on the Culatello since I started using the cover...

I added the cover on 08/02/22 and the weight loss was at 18.08%. Today, the Culatello is at 21.90% weight loss; so almost 4% in about 1.5 months. The piece is firmer deeper into the meat than the first Culatello I did. It is drying very evenly. Slightly softer under the fat, but that is to be expected. But nowhere near as soft as the first one I started drying. The piece initial weight was 5,845g and it is losing 5-6g. per day. I am happy with the way this is working. Mold coverage is good. And I have finocchiona hanging to dry; I used a starter culture with D. Hanesnii yeast. I have it growing on the Culatello now too. Awesome! Still have a LONG ways to go though!! Hope to hit 30-35% by July...it will be right on schedule.