This should hold me for a while

LOUSANTELLO · Post by **LOUSANTELLO** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 12:48

LOUSANTELLO · Post by **LOUSANTELLO** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 13:30

I always hate the idea of inviting people to split portions. It never fails that every time I do that, I think I made enough and half of it is gone,,,,,but I think I'm all set for a while. LOL

Post by **Bob K** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 15:36

Yea well your soon gonna need another side by side fridge to store all that stuff.

Post by **redzed** » Mon Feb 12, 2018 17:44

Beautiful! I like it when guys don't fool around when it comes to making sausage! And the beauty of making a big batch, vacuuming it and throwing into the fridge, is that it keeps forever and you can whip up a plate of charcuterie whenever the need arises.

cajuneric · Post by **cajuneric** » Sat Mar 03, 2018 03:29

LOUSANTELLO, WOW. Congratulations. That's incredible. How much weight is that in finished product?

Obviously you really enjoy that recipe. What flavor did you go with, might I ask?

Also, Great Chamber!! Full size dehumidifier and stainless..... Everything. Is that a commercial unit or a walk in fridge? Looks great.

I'm working on my first batch now. 9 days into it and the salami has lost 18%. I'm sure that the speed of drying slows down a bit after the first 2 weeks. How long did you go for?

LOUSANTELLO · Post by **LOUSANTELLO** » Sat Mar 03, 2018 04:02

As far as finished goods, there`s close to 30 pounds of prosciutto, 15 pounds of soppressata, 30 pounds of cured Italian sausage, 40 pounds of soppressata and I have another 60 wet pounds of hotter soppressata in the chamber right now.

As far as the Chamber, it`s made by turbo air . The unit is 40 inches wide exterior by 84" high. The interior is all stainless with 6 adjustable stainless wire racks. The interior dimensions are 35" wide by 5 feet high by almost 27" deep. I won`t drill it, so all the wiring runs through the door gaskets. It`s cheaper to replace a gasket if I ever need to. The unit is close to 30 cubic feet of refrigeration. I`ve had as much as 60 pounds of soppressata and 72 pounds of prosciutto in there at the same time.

I have been trimming the meat a lot leaner lately, so shrinkage is definitely faster. As they firm up a little, I pull them from the chamber and squeeze them flatter so they are oval. If it`s done too early, they wont hold shape. I put them back in the chamber. The squeezing is normally done at about 7-10 days into the curing time. When I check them, I will continue to give them a squeeze with my hand. I normally lose about 1.5-2% per day for the first 2 weeks (30%). It will take another 2-3 weeks for them to get closer to 47-49%. That`s when I pull them.

I rinse them and pull the casings, then vacuum pack them. For some reason I did not like the outcome of keeping the casings on especially if the vacuum packer doesn`t bond it complete and leave little air pockets. This especially happens since I`ve been using netting because the meat is not flat. The batch I have in the chamber now, I`m going to take a couple of pieces and brush them off and rub a corn oil on them before vacuum packing them,,,and leaving the casings on. I brought a couple pieces to my butcher and he asked why I`m removing the casings. I asked him if he had any better suggestions. He brushes them off and rubs a corn oil on them before he vacuum packs them. My parents knew this guys dad for years. This is where they always got their meat and they all came from the same region of Italy with similar recipes,,,so I really trust this family. I`m going to try it.

Let me know if you have any other questions..

Post by **Bob K** » Sat Mar 03, 2018 13:23

cajuneric wrote:Obviously you really enjoy that recipe. What flavor did you go with, might I ask?

The smaller chubs are dried Italian, the recipe is on page 3
http://www.wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=7901

The chubs in the chamber are Sopressata http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=8366