Hi there!
Just came across this forum as I was reading about pancetta and saw a lot of interesting subjects here. I'm CharredBacon, 35 and from Belgium and I'm a cook, professional (nothing fancy) and as a hobby. In a happy relationship for ten years now. Having food as a mutual hobby sure helps here
. We also love to travel and we're blessed to be able to make one big trip for 3-4 weeks every year. In a few months Thailand awaits.
Two years ago I decided on buying a kamado bbq which I did not regret. I love the low and slow style of bbq'ing. It's not nearly as popular in my country as it is in the USA so cuts are sometimes harder to find or more expensive. As my first attempt ever I actually made a US beef brisket point which turned out excellent. Pretty sure a decent amount of luck was involved there as well haha.
About a year ago I also picked up making sausages and now I've added making dry sausages and charcuterie to the package as well. I made my own drying chamber out of a fridge, pictures on that later if you want. It works pretty good and I just finished my first try at dry sausage. More on that in a bit because the reason for registering here is actually because I have a question about that I can't seem to find a proper answer on.
Currently there's a small flat pancetta drying in the chamber but it's almost finished and then I will make another attempt at dry sausages. I still have two startercultures to test. I'm also planning on trying to make more types of charcuterie in the future.
I hope to learn a lot from you guys and I'm sure that the know-how on smoking, grilling etc. is quite a bit bigger amongst you Americans than in other parts of the world. And who knows maybe I can be of some value as well in the future. Sorry for the rambling haha. If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask.
Now about the dry sausages I mentioned earlier. When I was fermenting them I measured the pH and it was 5.18. At that point I decided to reduce the temperature and humidity to start the drying proces. I measured the pH of a smaller "test sausage". After the drying was finished I vacumated the sausaged for another week. Then I checked the pH again out of curiosity and it was 5.48 . Is this normal for it to rise again like that? I'm now reluctant to try the sausage. It looks and smells well though. Could it be that the smaller test sausage I used to measure it after fermenting had a lower pH than the bigger ones? They just differ in lengh, not in diameter. If anyone could help my out here that would be very much appreciated.
Food is life and I wish you all a good one.
CharredBacon
Just came across this forum as I was reading about pancetta and saw a lot of interesting subjects here. I'm CharredBacon, 35 and from Belgium and I'm a cook, professional (nothing fancy) and as a hobby. In a happy relationship for ten years now. Having food as a mutual hobby sure helps here
. We also love to travel and we're blessed to be able to make one big trip for 3-4 weeks every year. In a few months Thailand awaits.Two years ago I decided on buying a kamado bbq which I did not regret. I love the low and slow style of bbq'ing. It's not nearly as popular in my country as it is in the USA so cuts are sometimes harder to find or more expensive. As my first attempt ever I actually made a US beef brisket point which turned out excellent. Pretty sure a decent amount of luck was involved there as well haha.
About a year ago I also picked up making sausages and now I've added making dry sausages and charcuterie to the package as well. I made my own drying chamber out of a fridge, pictures on that later if you want. It works pretty good and I just finished my first try at dry sausage. More on that in a bit because the reason for registering here is actually because I have a question about that I can't seem to find a proper answer on.
Currently there's a small flat pancetta drying in the chamber but it's almost finished and then I will make another attempt at dry sausages. I still have two startercultures to test. I'm also planning on trying to make more types of charcuterie in the future.
I hope to learn a lot from you guys and I'm sure that the know-how on smoking, grilling etc. is quite a bit bigger amongst you Americans than in other parts of the world. And who knows maybe I can be of some value as well in the future. Sorry for the rambling haha. If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask.
Now about the dry sausages I mentioned earlier. When I was fermenting them I measured the pH and it was 5.18. At that point I decided to reduce the temperature and humidity to start the drying proces. I measured the pH of a smaller "test sausage". After the drying was finished I vacumated the sausaged for another week. Then I checked the pH again out of curiosity and it was 5.48 . Is this normal for it to rise again like that? I'm now reluctant to try the sausage. It looks and smells well though. Could it be that the smaller test sausage I used to measure it after fermenting had a lower pH than the bigger ones? They just differ in lengh, not in diameter. If anyone could help my out here that would be very much appreciated.
Food is life and I wish you all a good one.
CharredBacon
