Slow drying copa bad?

[jbo_c]

Have a copa I started drying on 2/20 using the Ruhlman recipe(but whole muscle) with cure #2. It’s only gone from 971gm to 930gm. Is that slow a weight loss a safety concern? It does have a full coating of mold 600.

I don’t have a curing chamber, so it’s in a beer fridge at around 40F, so I hung it in a box with holes perforating it to help slow moisture loss. Apparently I need more perforations to allow more moisture exchange with the fridge.

But the food safety question remains. Safe? I’m thinking yes, but since this is new to me, thought I’d ask.

Thanks.

Jbo

 

[SmokinEdge]

What has been the average humidity while the Copa has been hanging? Dry ring is a bad thing. Do a tooth pick test by pushing one into the center of the copa and sniff it.

 

[jbo_c]

No idea on the humidity. No hygrometer. I don’t think it’s dry ring, but I’ll try the toothpick test. Do I need to sanitize it or something before sticking?

For the record, smells great from the outside.

Jbo

 

[SmokinEdge]

No idea on the humidity. No hygrometer. I don’t think it’s dry ring, but I’ll try the toothpick test. Do I need to sanitize it or something before sticking?

For the record, smells great from the outside.

Jbo

What did you use for a casing on the copa?

 

[daveomak]

(ii) Capocollo (capicola, capacola). Boneless pork butts for capocollo shall be cured in a dry-curing mixture containing not less than 4½ pounds of salt per hundredweight of meat for a period of not less than 25 days at a temperature not lower than 36 °F. If the curing materials are applied to the butts by the process known as churning, a small quantity of pickle may be added. During the curing period the butts may be overhauled according to any of the usual processes of overhauling, including the addition of pickle or dry salt if desired. The butts shall not be subjected during or after curing to any treatment designed to remove salt from the meat, except that superficial washing may be allowed. After being stuffed, the product shall be smoked for a period of not less than 30 hours at a temperature not lower than 80 °F., and shall finally be held in a drying room not less than 20 days at a temperature not lower than 45 °F.

Marianski, Stanley. Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages (Kindle Locations 17679-17686). Bookmagic LLC. Kindle Edition.

(iii) Coppa. Boneless pork butts for coppa shall be cured in a dry-curing mixture containing not less than 4½ pounds of salt per hundredweight of meat for a period of not less than 18 days at a temperature not lower than 36 °F. If the curing mixture is applied to the butts by the process known as churning, a small quantity of pickle may be added. During the curing period the butts may be overhauled according to any of the usual processes of overhauling, including the addition of pickle or dry salt if desired. The butts shall not be subjected during or after curing to any treatment designed to remove salt from the meat, except that superficial washing may be allowed. After being stuffed, the product shall be held in a drying room not less than 35 days at a temperature not lower than 45 °F.

Marianski, Stanley. Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages (Kindle Locations 17687-17692). Bookmagic LLC. Kindle Edition.

 

[jbo_c]

Meat is wrapped in a collagen sheet.

Jbo

 

[Mmmm Meat]

Daveomak's references state not lower than 45 degrees, so that sounds like a potential problem.

You've only got 4% weight loss after more than a month, so yes I'd say you're way slow. I don't believe case hardening would be an issue for you. To my knowledge, that occurs with too rapid moisture loss. That ain't you.

If it is still relatively cool where you live, you might be able to search around your living area for a dark spot that maintains 75% - 80% Relative Humidity and 55 degrees. When you're working outside those parameters (as you are now) you should probably expect less than perfect results.

With a little ingenuity and some luck finding items on Craig's list, you may be able to create a workable curing chamber for $200 or less. If you're thinking about curing meats on a regular basis, then I'd recommend that you do some more research on the curing chamber topic and determine if that might be the way you want to go.

 

[jbo_c]

Yeah. I may one day build a chamber. Was hoping just to dip my toe in for right now.

I would think from a good safety standpoint, a lower temp would not cause problems, but the continued high moisture level could.

Since I’m using collagen sheets and not even Umai, I figured too fast moisture loss would be my problem.

I’ll increase the air flow and see what happens. I have an eye of round for bresaola that I want to try too. I’ll get better circulation before I put it to rest.

Jbo

 

[Mmmm Meat]

It doesn't need much airflow. Loosing something like 3 - 5 percent weight per week is in the ballpark from what I know (which may not be entirely correct). From what I've read and what I'm seeing on my own Coppa, two months or more is standard for achieving the desired weight loss. I'm not entirely sure why there is a low temperature limit at 45 degrees.

Perhaps you can raise the temp of your kegerator.