jmolinari

I'm with Abra. Lets all rememebr this meat is uncooked, and stored for weeks at theoretically unsafe temperatures. Don't take any chances...be safe, and enjoy it longer:)

The lack of ever curing/drying could be due to the lack of, or insufficient acidification. Maybe that one link was further from the heat than the other, and didn't acidify as much, or maybe you need to leave them at 85 deg. for a little longer. jason

Mark, 40-50% loss for your lamb, means in my mind it is ready...if it feel firm, and tastes good, that is even more proof. Eat away! I keep my humidity at about 75%. If yours is lower it would explain the faster drying too. Rob: i would not mess with teh lamb. To me, getting really ill, and never wanting to eat cured meat again, is reason enough to start over, and waste a few weeks or a month. jason

Chris, why does the water look oily? Do you think the mold might be from the slurry spray, and not the cheesy water? Looks good though! jason

Mark, 2 weeks seems very fast...i thin mine was about 3-4..but i could be wrong. I also had mine in a collagen casing, so that probably slows down the loss. looking back, the one i posted about here was the one not in collagen.. jason

Abra.. wow. Whatn i saw the first picture i had forgotten you were doing blood sausage, and i thought you put your cat or your arm through the grinder by accident. Man...you are really rather devoted to blood sausage. Good job. Amazing. Chris...if you spray with good mold solution, then wipe with vinegar, you're killing any mold spores you put on there. Explains why nothing grew. jason

Melicob. Store cured meats in the fridge. I don't know why your salame turned brown. sorry

Mark, as i understand it, all the DC#2 prevents is botulism...which i guess is probably the worst of the bacteria...

pedrissimo...correct. Although as i understand it, the only thing the curing salts do is oxidize the meat, stopping botulism. jason

Actually, the acidifications kills any bacteria that isn't tollerant of high acid environments, not just botulism. Dextrose is used because it is a simple sugar (monosaccharaide) which can be broken down by the bacteria to acid. Regular sugar is a disaccharide, which the bacteria cannot use. Just like in beer making, the more sugar, the more acid (carbonation for beer) can be made. jason

bactoferm is the fermantation agent. It is bacteria that is added, rather than relying on natural flora in your basement...as they do in cellars in Italy.

MArk, i didn't know you cna use the M-EK as an internal bacteria..it may be fine though jason

Optimal grown for the F-RM-52 is 85 deg. For the LHP it was higher, 95 deg. I see what Elie is talking about...in the LHP paperwork, http://butcher-packer.com/newsarticle.asp?id=36 , it says the optimal drying conditions are 79deg. I don't know why it says taht. That is very very high. The F-RM instructions say optimal conditions are 55deg. jason

mark, i have used LHP and F-RM. I prefer the F-RM. The LHP seems to have a distinct sharp tang, and to my tastes an "off " flavor i couldn't quite place. I'll stick to the F-RM. The M-EK isn't for internal use, i think it is just for getting mold on the casing. Did you have nice heavy mold development when you used it?

Rubashov, the KA and #8 are ALMOST the same. The diameter of the plates is very very close. What sucks is the retention method is different. In regular plates they have notches, the KA has tabs. It is very very annoying that KA didn't just use standard plates. I have some #8 plates i'm going to modify to work.

I'm with Chris. Trying to stuff with the KA is a waste of time. It smears the meat and is SUPER tough to do.

Chris, they look good. Also, you are VERY lucky. It looks like you have an older model KA grinder, which has a coarser coarse plate. Wish i had that too, my coarse plate is 3/8"..looks like yuors is about 1/2". They no longer make that size for the KA. jason

Thanks Nathan. I'll ahve to give it a try and find out if the chicken is still edible after being in the bath for 12 hours. Just wanted to double check i would be safe. jason

edsel, you've found the chicken gets dry even if it is cooked at 140? I thought it could be kept near indefinitely without runing the texture since it'll never overcook? thanks! jason

Quick question. As i understand sous vide, leaving the meat in the bag and bath at the final temp for long times (10-15 hours) is safe. Does this mean that i can bag my chicken breast in the morning before leaving for work, put it in the bath at 140, and come home to a ready dinner? I've read through the thread regarding sterilization times, and all that, so it seems like this method should be perfectly fine, correct? thanks jason

Pedrissimo, i agree, press and seal should work. I would maybe wrap it in foil around the press and seal.

ronnie the 1st time i ordered culture it came with a freezer pack..it was melted by the time i got it, but at least an attempt was made...the 2nd time it was just boxed...and both cultures seem to work equally well. I think it has a shelf life of some period at room temp...and much longer period if held cold.

Elie, yes, high 70 is definitely too hot to cure/age meats. I have kept the bactoferm in my regular household freezer for at least 4-6 months before moving to my colder chest freezer, and the last batch i made was fine. I would just use a little more to make sure you get some "live" bacteria. I think BP is trying to stay on the safe side, which i sprobably a good idea since we are eating uncooked meat. As i said upthread, i had a pH meter to check acidification...you can probably use paper strips, just get hte ones that are made to test acids to they are a tighter range, instead of 3-14, they are like 4-6pH, so the resolution is better. With this stuff, just like green guanciale, better safe than sorry. pH strips are cheap...mailorder. jason

On my last batch of salame, i took the moldy skin of a good commercial one (i've kept that skin in the fridge in a ziplock back for about 8 months now!), put it in a spray bottle with distilled water, and a pinch of dextrose...shook it hard, and sprayed that moldy water on the salami as they were in the warm maturation chamber. Did this twice over 12 hours, and thats all. I learned the hard way, that if you keep doing it, you'll actually KILL anything you've put on there to begin with since after about 36 hours the solution becomes very acidic and vinegary from the mold fermenting. This time i only sprayed twice, and i have some pretyt nice white mold on my salami, not very even..but not bad. I may try the butcherpacker stuff next time. jason

Rubashov, i was going to order some next time i place an order at butcher packer, to see if it makes a nice white mold.