SAUSAGE CURING CABINET BUILD - JC in GB PART TWO

[JC in GB]

I now have my curing/fermenting cabinet up and running.

I made a batch of Salami Milano and some lonzo.

pH was measured at 4.9 @ 47 hours 68 F 87% RH and then put into maturation.

Sausages are maturing at 57 F 85% RH for first week.

Mold looks like it is just starting to form on the rear salamis.

The air purge valve I put on the cabinet is perfect for regulating humidity. Ambient RH is 35% so cool dry air entering the cabinet dries it very well.

Control system

Salami and lonzo beginning maturation.

Lonzo on left is Thyme, Rosemary, pepper

Lonzo on the right is Herbs de Province and black pepper

Salami at end of fermentation stage

pH test sample in sandwich bag.

 

[boykjo]

Very nice JC. Looking forward to your results.............

boykjo

 

[smokerjim]

looks like some great eats in the future.

 

[JC in GB]

Very nice JC. Looking forward to your results.............

boykjo

looks like some great eats in the future.

Thanks. This is my first time with fermented sausages so I hope the time and effort are worth it.

JC

 

[indaswamp]

Looking good JC! Few tips- it is best not to have the humidifier blowing directly on the salamis. Mold will go crazy on meat where the extreme humidity is right around the flow of the fog.
Best to rotate the salami around every week or so....and to check each salame for problems like yeast, bad mold,etc.... The bottom of the casing where it is tied should be flexible, not hard or very soft. This indicates optimum drying. After the first 2 weeks, drying slows and you should target 0.5-0.7% weight loss.

Good plan to keep humidity high first week....

I look forward to your results! Have fun maturing the meats.....the waiting sucks! LOL!

 

[indaswamp]

If the ends of the casings do get hard, then you can hang in front of the fog for a day and it will soften back up. This will help keep the ends drying evenly with the midsection of the salami.

 

[JC in GB]

Looking good JC! Few tips- it is best not to have the humidifier blowing directly on the salamis. Mold will go crazy on meat where the extreme humidity is right around the flow of the fog.
Best to rotate the salami around every week or so....and to check each salame for problems like yeast, bad mold,etc.... The bottom of the casing where it is tied should be flexible, not hard or very soft. This indicates optimum drying. After the first 2 weeks, drying slows and you should target 0.5-0.7% weight loss.

Good plan to keep humidity high first week....

I look forward to your results! Have fun maturing the meats.....the waiting sucks! LOL!

Thanks for these valuable tips. Before I joined this forum, I never imagined that I would be making fermented meats at home. Here I am a couple years later building my own cabinet and having salami curing.

I will be sure to implement your suggestions.

The forum members here are nothing short of inspirational.

 

[JC in GB]

If the ends of the casings do get hard, then you can hang in front of the fog for a day and it will soften back up. This will help keep the ends drying evenly with the midsection of the salami.

You mentioned before that you are having issues sometimes getting the RH low enough sometimes. I am not sure if this will work but when I was doing environmental testing on electronics units, when we needed to reduce humidity quickly, we ran the heater and cooler at the same time. Pulled water out of the air really fast.

 

[indaswamp]

Evan Brady, owner of Craft Butcher's Pantry, targets 80-85%RH...high at the start and walks it down over the drying period. Never let the RH% drop below 80%...prevents formation of uneven drying....

 

[indaswamp]

You mentioned before that you are having issues sometimes getting the RH low enough sometimes. I am not sure if this will work but when I was doing environmental testing on electronics units, when we needed to reduce humidity quickly, we ran the heater and cooler at the same time. Pulled water out of the air really fast.

I can see that working.
My issue stems from the coolant leak and not enough coolant running through the evap coil to condense moisture on the cooling cycle, thus I got a humidity spike.
I have not done any trouble shooting yet on the chamber. I'm waiting until the new unit arrives, then after transfer, I can tinker with it to see If I can fix it. If not, I may convert to your thermoelectric set up. Anxious to see how well it performs. How much all in did it cost you for the components?

 

[JC in GB]

I can see that working.
My issue stems from the coolant leak and not enough coolant running through the evap coil to condense moisture on the cooling cycle, thus I got a humidity spike.
I have not done any trouble shooting yet on the chamber. I'm waiting unit the new unit arrives, then after transfer, I can tinker with it to see If I can fix it. If not, I may convert to your thermoelectric set up. Anxious to see how well it performs. How much all in did it cost you for the components?

My total cost was around $600.

 

[JC in GB]

Evan Brady, owner of Craft Butcher's Pantry, targets 80-85%RH...high at the start and walks it down over the drying period. Never let the RH% drop below 80%...prevents formation of uneven drying....

I started my RH at 85% and plan on walking it down by 2% after week one then 3% after week two staying at 80%...

 

[indaswamp]

My total cost was around $600.

Hmm....No real cost savings then compared to using conventional refrigeration with a compressor.

 

[indaswamp]

The most recent run of salami...I started at 88%RH and dropped it 0.2~0.3% every day. That was working great, as the bottom ends were maintaining flexibility. Then when the coolant started leaking, the fan was running too long, at that point is when I had too much airflow and drying issues.

I'm now running @82.3%RH...salamis are @ 26-27% weight loss...

 

[indaswamp]

One more note:
Staphylococcus aureus is unable to produce toxin below Aw of 0.93, which corresponds to about 10-12% weight loss in the salami. So after the first week or so, it is a non issue to worry about.

 

[JC in GB]

One more note:
Staphylococcus aureus is unable to produce toxin below Aw of 0.93, which corresponds to about 10-12% weight loss in the salami. So after the first week or so, it is a non issue to worry about.

I knew that the Aw would inhibit certain bacterial growth. Week one will be Saturday so I will weigh them and see where I am on the curve.

 

[JC in GB]

The most recent run of salami...I started at 88%RH and dropped it 0.2~0.3% every day. That was working great, as the bottom ends were maintaining flexibility. Then when the coolant started leaking, the fan was running too long, at that point is when I had too much airflow and drying issues.

I'm now running @82.3%RH...salamis are @ 26-27% weight loss...

My cooling system only drops temp at the heat exchanger by a few degrees. This makes sure that temp changes slowly and there are no blasts of cold dry air from the cooler.

I tried putting a PWM on the radiator fan but for some reason it didn't work. I am not sure why at this point. PWM is good, power supply is good, fan is good. Maybe this fan type is not compatible with my PWM. The air circulation pretty much follows the cabinet contours. I am not sure if I have too much right now so I am still working out putting a speed control on the radiator fan.

I have a small circulator fan about 1/3 up the wall on the opposite side of the radiator. That runs full all the time. So far, circulation has seemed adequate. If I find that air flow is too high, I will put speed controls on both fans.

JC

 

[indaswamp]

Ideally, the air speed should fall the more the salamis dry...2-3 weeks in, at around 15-20%, air speed should be 4 inches per second, or about 15 air changes per minute....

But it is very hard to achieve 'ideal' in a home system. With higher airflow, I have found it necessary to run the RH% a little higher to compensate. I was going to install the speed control on the freezer fan, but will wait to see how new unit works out first.

 

[JC in GB]

Ideally, the air speed should fall the more the salamis dry...2-3 weeks in, at around 15-20%, air speed should be 4 inches per second, or about 15 air changes per minute....

But it is very hard to achieve 'ideal' in a home system. With higher airflow, I have found it necessary to run the RH% a little higher to compensate. I was going to install the speed control on the freezer fan, but will wait to see how new unit works out first.

Thus far, I am happy with the flow. I will have to see what the casings have to say about it.

 

[JC in GB]

At the end of one week, My first batch of salami is looking promising.

Looks like the penicillium mold is taking hold nicely.

I repositioned the outlet of the humidifier as indaswamp suggested. I am glad I did. Not only did it get the output off one of the salamis but it also had the added benefit of giving me tighter regulation.