Homemade Sausage Making

OK, it`s been a while and I`m making soppressata again. I just want to confirm percentages.
Dextrose?
Cure#2
Salt?
007?

I thought I had it somewhere, but I can`t seem to find it.

Thanks
Lou

LOUSANTELLO wrote:OK, it`s been a while and I`m making soppressata again. I just want to confirm percentages.
Dextrose? .3% - more it you want more tang
Cure#2 .25%
Salt? 2.5%
007? Per Craft Panty .022%

What, no spreadsheet?

I made 24 Kilos yesterday. Is it typical for PH to read 5.8-5.9? I'm questioning my meter although I did calibrate it.

5.7-5.9 is the range you want your post rigor meat to be in. If it is above 6 there will be issues. Best is to check the pH of the ground meat before adding adding any of the ingredients.

I did not check the ph before I started, although it was in the high fives after I mixed everything. I had some doubts on the tester, so I calibrated it last night. This morning the PH was 5.8. Usually this 007 lowers faster, but I may also be running it cooler at 68-69 degrees. I will check it again later tonight

Ok guys, this is what I found out so far. I had my old refrigerator that took a dump, so that`s the old unit I decided to keep for fermenting. It`s been sitting in a room unplugged, so I assumed the internal temp would`ve been the same temp as the room. When I checked the internal temp last night, it was only 64 degrees. I started thinking that this was the reason why the ph was not lowering as quickly as it always had in the past. I added a controller and placed the small heater in the unit and kicked it up to 69 degrees. The PH this morning is 5.3. We are on our way to success. I assume within the next 12 hours, I will transfer them to the chamber. I have a question regarding netting. I have not net them yet. When should I net them? When netting, do you tie off the bottom of the netting and take a string to the top of the netting for hanging WITHOUT the casing? I assume doing it this way will continue to pull the netting while the meat is shrinking? What`s the technique? Thanks

If I recall correctly 007 will ferment at 64° f.
Netting I usually do after stuffing, before fermenting, It really does not matter if you ferment first. Tie top and bottom with twine, just form a loop ( with the twine) and hang. The netting is elastic and will shrink if the loop is tied to the casing knot or just the netting.

Bob, Im at 54 hours and the PH is 5.34 at 69 degrees. Suggestions?

You are good. Move the sausage into the curing chamber. pH will probably drop a bit more before at 12-13C. Lots of good stuff has been going on in the slower fermentation process. The Staphyllococcus bacteria have been active, as well as the nitrate reductase bacteria. Tis will be reflected in the colour, aroma and texture of the salami in the end.

OK cool, I was getting concerned. The only thing I can think of is the 007 had a "Best by Sept 2017" date on it. Maybe I'm wrong in that last time I used TSPX. Thanks guy.

Just for future reference, there is nothing wrong with fermenting for 72+ hours. As Chris pointed out low and slow has benefits. When you get beyond the best by date just use more culture so you are more likely to have a viable amount,,,you need to use it up anyways

I probably should`ve used more culture. Even at 60 hours, I only hit 5.3. I`ve never left it at such a high temp for this long, so I was getting paranoid. I weighed them all out and transferred them to 54 degrees in the chamber. Usually, my sample batch is firm and rubbery by now, and it`s not as rubbery. I can`t find my old recipe and I wonder if I used more dextrose last time and whether that would matter. At any case, it is what it is. I think they should be good. This large refrigerator is awesome. I`m debating whether I should cure some Italian sausage at the same time. There`s plenty of room. Once these are all cured, I`m moving onto 4 prosciutto and maybe a couple of coppa`s

3g/kg dextrose is usually enough to lower the pH to 5.2and even lower from a starting 5.8. If the meat was 5.9 or 6 then that might the reason. Or maybe you inadvertently made an error in the amount of dextrose you added.

I had 27 kilos of meat in 2 bins minus 1.5 kilos for the bin. 24 kilos of meat divided by 2 ( 12 kilos each). 300 grams salt, 30 grams cure, 36 grams dextrose and 3 grams 007