Making a batch of Salumi Genoa

[harleykids]

Thanks Bob!

The only issue I see with adding the spices before grinding is that we go thru the trouble of weighing salt, cure#2, starter culture, and spices to the tenth of a gram.

In the case of the cure #2 and the culture, that means the tiny amount of 11g or cure #2 and only 1g on the culture, for 10 lbs of meat. Tiny amounts for such a big mass comparitively.

And then pouring that over the chunks of preground meat, I would think that the loss of these additives would be greater going thru the grinder, than being added after the grind to meat, when the meat has an exponentially bigger surface area after grinding. And spices seem to mix in much better after the grind.

I would think there would be some loss of the additives when ground, like stuck in the grinder as a by product of grinding, etc
By adding the additives after the grind, it makes sure that you get all the additives you measured out, into the meat.

Just a theory, does the above make sense?

Or am I being a bit to anal?

I will follow yours and Evans istructuons, as you both have much more experience than I do!

Just trying to understand the reasoning behind it. Seems backwards to me?

[harleykids]

Salumi PH update :

21 hours into fermentation and PH is now showing 5.23 @ 69 F.
Chamber shows 19C@81%RH

Target PH is 5.20, but I won't be home until early this afternoon, probably around the 29 hour mark.

So question...am I safe to stop fermentation stage at 5.2, or a bit lower, and move to curing chamber for drying?

Only took 21 hours to drop from 5.82 down to 5.23....is that normal?
And that was starting with almost frozen salumi after casing.

Do I need to wait until there is no longer any more drop in PH, say over the next 12 hours?

Or is it simply "hit your PH target" and remove and start drying phase and move on, not waiting to see if PH drop is finished/dextrose is 100% consumed?

Thx for the advice!
Jason

[Bob K]

Simple solution Jason.

Yes there is an amount of spices and liquid left in the lug. What I do is transfer the chunks to that steel bowl after mixing and grind back into the original lug. The mince then is easily mixed with what was left behind.

If you want to be anal you can take a handful of mince and wipe out the bowl

[Bob K]

So question...am I safe to stop fermentation stage at 5.2, or a bit lower, and move to curing chamber for drying?

Yes its safe, but to be honest its best not to cut it so close. Wait until this afternoon.

Or is it simply "hit your PH target" and remove and start drying phase and move on, not waiting to see if PH drop is finished/dextrose is 100% consumed?

When it reaches the target Ph, transfer to drying chamber. Any remaining sugar will still be consumed but at a much slower pace.

Only took 21 hours to drop from 5.82 down to 5.23....is that normal?

The P.acidilactici in that culture is very fast. If you want to slow it down drop the temp a degree or 2

[harleykids]

Hey guys, sorry to bother you again!

Salumi Update:

28 hours in - PH has dropped to 4.95 now @ 66F
Chamber is 18.6C @ 84%RH

I probed around the meat mix a bit, and got between 5.02 and 4.95 readings in different spots.

Should I go ahead and terminate fermentation and move them into the drying chamber now?

Being that this is Salumi Genoa, I don't want as strong a "tang" and, say, my sopressatta or chorizo.

So is 4.95 enough?

My target when I posted my recipe was 5.10, but everyone said leave them in, so I am below my target fermentation now....

What should I do?

thanks!
Jason

[Bob K]

You don't really want to go too far below 5.0. I would remove to chamber

[harleykids]

Thanks Bob! Will do!

Looking back, does the drop from 5.8x down to 5.0x over 28 hours seem in the normal range?
or faster, or slower than ideal?

Just trying to make sure I can control it on my next batch.

Jason

[Bob K]

Jason I have never used 007 but from Redzeds posts that seems normal.