Homemade Sausage Making

Hi,

So I now have a large drying room (about 3m x 3m) which I keep at about 75% rh, 13c and have several batches of chorizo in drying simultaneously.

For fermentation I have a seperate smaller chamber (converted commercial fridge) which each batch lives in until its ready for the drying room. Originally I was planning for each batch to live in the smaller chamber for a couple of weeks - in which case they need plenty of space and airflow in there so the mold can form and initial drying can start.

However for my last batch I made a lot more than normal - and the fermentation chamber was packed full with the chorizo touching each other and not much airflow. After about 30hrs the ph had dropped to 5.25 and I moved them straight to the drying room and upped its conditions a bit for a few days to 80% rh and 15c. This seems to have worked out fine - the mold is forming nicely on the latest batch and it doesn't seem to have been hurt by being packed in during the fermentation period. The older batches in the drying room had slightly elevated humidity and temp for a few days - but they seem to still be drying ok.

Do you see any problems with this approach? It will be great if I can run things this way as it means I'm much less limited in terms of batch size I can do - since the size of the fermentation chamber is the limiting factor for me. It also means I can do a batch every week if I want to.

- reddal

I don't see where it would be a problem.

Hi,

This method of packing the fermentation chamber full with little airflow has been working out well for me. However the size of the fermentation chamber is my limiting factor in terms of batch size.

So last time I tried taking the idea to the extreme - I didn't use the fermentation chamber at all - I simply packed the sausages into sealed food-safe plastic boxes and stacked those in a room with a thermostat on the heating during fermentation. Once the pH had dropped I transferred them to the drying room as usual.

Of course - there was absolutely zero airflow in the boxes - but that wasn't much different to my previous setup. The sausages were still quite wet when they came out of the boxes - whereas they would have dripped a bit if hanging in the fermentation chamber - but this doesn't seem to have caused any problems?

The temperature in the room the boxes were stored in was just controlled by the house heating system - but it seemed to do the job - i.e. within a few hours the sausages were at the same temperature as the room - and stayed very stable throughout.

Can anyone see any problems with this method? It really simplifies things so I'm looking for a catch! With this method the only constraint on batch size is the ultimate capacity of the drying room.

If you only need a chamber for drying - its easier because the temperature constraints are more modest and less critical. Any wine cellar with temperature control can be also used as a drying room with very simple humidity and airflow control.

Let me know if you see a problem with this idea.

thanks - reddal

My parents used to take all the soppressata and put them in a cloth lined bushel basket for one day before they hung them in the cellar. They used to cover them with cloth also. They may have even lined each row with cloth. They probably didnt know wht other than getting the juices out of them

Technically you don't need much air flow during fermentation. The issue you might have when sealed up is the stunted growth of outside mold like Bac 600 but I don't think that you mentioned adding that. In an experiment I sous vide some salami at 70F for a day and a half for the fermentation stage ( I read that someone had tried this before). So the bag was completely vacuumed sealed and submerged in water that was 70f. They fermented fine but my mold 600 didn't grow. Needed to have fresh oxygen to multiply.

It was an interesting was to ferment but a bit fussy.. Not sure I'll do it like that again

I dont use any mold growth and the chamber makes them a chalky white. I never get any unusual colors of other growth whatsoever

cajuneric wrote: So the bag was completely vacuumed sealed and submerged in water that was 70f. They fermented fine but my mold 600 didn't grow. Needed to have fresh oxygen to multiply

Simply spray them after fermentation

cajuneric wrote:Technically you don't need much air flow during fermentation. The issue you might have when sealed up is the stunted growth of outside mold like Bac 600 but I don't think that you mentioned adding that.

I do soak the casings in Mold 600 before stuffing. The batch I fermented without any airflow has been in the drying chamber for 5 days now - and the mold is starting to form - though this does seem a little slower than usual. I will spray them to make sure.

- reddal