Lonza first attempt

[tadmaz]

I have been following the lonza recipe from "Dry-Curing Pork: Make Your Own Salami, Pancetta, Coppa, Prosciutto, and More" By Hector Kent. I used a jewelers scale to measure cure #2, everything was done "by the book." I had it in a ziplock for 2 weeks in a 38F fridge, rinsed, and hung the lonza in a 55F temperature controlled fridge. I haven't checked the humidity. How critical is humidity? It's been darn near 2 months of drying, I've had to wipe some mold off with vinegar 3 times. It's only lost 10% of its weight. The lonza is slimy. Do I just keep waiting? Did I mess up somewhere?

Update: Humidity appears to be 85% in the fridge. I've read that 80%+ may be bad. I may try running a dehumidifier next to the fridge. Target humidity should be 70% I believe? I may also lower the fridge to 50F.

Update: Lowering the fridge to 50 or 51F the humidity is staying around 70%. Hoping for the best.

Update: Sliminess is gone. I think it's drying!

 

[tadmaz]

I'm at 62% weight, so it should be plenty done. Outside has hardened, not slimy anymore. Inside is slightly moist to the touch, not really slimy. Is that normal? I took a bite, didn't seem quite right but honestly I guess I don't know what the consistency should be like. I guess a pepperoni or salami is slightly moist just like the lonza. Does it look ok?

 

[pushok2018]

Looks good to me from here... 38% weight loss in two month sounds right to me... Humidity is very important while dry curing meats and sausages but you should not exceed 75%.... Personally, I set humidity at 70% - works for me. There will be some hardening - especially when you dry cure your meats without casing... What color was that mold which you was wiping down during the curing?

 

[tadmaz]

Mold was black/gray, I wiped with vinegar I think pretty soon after it formed. After 2 months at 80-85% humidity, it lost 10% weight. The final 3rd month at 60-70% humidity it went down to 62%. It tastes a little funky to me. I'm going to let it sit overnight at room temp.

 

[tadmaz]

I ended up tossing it, it smelled too funny. I've tried again, 3 weeks in the fridge and no smell whatsoever and now it's hung. Will check on it daily, checking for mold, smell, and humidity.

 

[tadmaz]

Didn't check on it for a while, down to 60% weight. It's hardened pretty good. Tastes/smells pretty much fine! I only did salt this time, to reduce any chances of any spices imposing any smell.

So the problem was my basement temperature was about the same as 55F so the fridge was never running and there was too much humidity. Dropping the fridge temp to 51-53F kept the fridge running often enough to reduce humidity.