jmolinari

Ronnie, i'm pretty sure bactoferm is not shelf stable at ambient temp. It is stable at freezer temps. One way for you to check it is to put some in some distilled water with some dextrose, and measure the pH with some paper strips after a couple hours, and see if it acidified. But that doesn't tell you anything other than SOME of the bacteria is alive. I would toss it, and store your next one as cold as possible. Foodman, no idea about storing...i would put it in a tupperware, or something that is as airtight as possible..a ziplock and then tupperware. Sorry, i'm not much help. You could call butcher-packer and ask how to store it. You can also buy single containers that have a little hand pump on them to pull a vacuum, they are used in labs, check ww.vwr.com for a "vacuum saver" container..they have a small one that is 600ml that would work well for $19...i think that is what i have sitting on my desk at work: http://www.vwrsp.com/catalog/product/index...ght=WLS62344-26 OR, i see VacuVin has a canister as well..this is the first page i found in searching... http://baldmountaincoffee.com/page/BMCC/PR...rage/VV_2872450 then all you need is the vacuvin pump..so for about $20 you can get a vacuum canister, which in my mind SHOULD prolong the life of the bactoferm when stored in the freezer. Here at the bottom is the comple set with pump for $20 http://www.wineaccessory.com/vacu-vin.htm jason

RossyW, store the leftover salame with some plastic wrap over the cut part, and put it in aziplock bag in the fridge. jason

You cna actually get a $50 temperature controller, wire in a thermocouple, and it acts as an on/off switch for the crock pot. Buy one of these: http://www.dwyer-inst.com/htdocs/temperatu...iesTCSPrice.cfm and all you need is a thermocouple probe, and you should be accurate to 1% of the temperature. jason

Peter, i just cut the package that it comes in (just cut the top), scoop out a 1/2 tsp or so, then put the package in a foodsaver bag, and seal. It makes it flat, and i can see all the air is gone. To measure pH you mash/mince/grind/mush 50g of meat with 50g of distilled water, and take hte pH of the slurry. It makes a mess, and is a pain...i didn't do it for my last batch, as i'm confident that it acidified based on past experience. You'll have to make a little "sausage" wrapped in plastic wrap, sized in diameter like the ones you are really making, and place it in the warm area with the other...simulating a sausage, but giving you access to meat paste to test the pH of. jason

Peter, yes, i've used as little as 0.57g per 5lbs. I have a scale at home ( a pretty crappy one) that does 1/100 of a gram, so i have weighed out 0.6g or so..(usually with a little extra in case the scale isn't accurate, since more doesn't hurt, normally about a gram). I would divide the bag into 1g "shots"...but i don't know how long they survive in air (in a test tube). I store mine in a vac. bag in my chest freezer. That is just my personal experience. If you try, and your salame doesn't acidify, and you have no way of checking it (i have a pH meter), and get sick, don't blame me! jason

Dave, Ronnie, Chris, i thought we had a conversation way way back in the topic. When i first read the book i was very thrown off by the 1/4 cup requirement, and if i remember Michael acknowledged it was too much. I've always used exactly what is needed (based on the whole packet making 220lbs of meat), plus a tiny bit more, and have never had a problem with acidification. jason

I'm not sure how you guys are going through the bactoferm so fast. Each package makes 200lbs of meat!! You only need to add a 1/4 tsp or so to 5 lbs of salame.

Michael, i've read that good mold acutally consumes some of the lactic acid in the paste, making it a little less tangy, whcih is why it is desireable. Is this just an "old wives tale" ? j

Abra, i usually don't wear gloves...i was seeing if i could cut down the hand washing if i did.

Dave, i use 100mm collagen casings i bought from butcher packer. glad i could help with pics

Well, last weekend i finally put up in cure 2 more coppe, and took the opportunity to take pictures of the butchery. I figured people would be interested in how to "harvest" the coppa from the shoulder. This is a boneless shoulder from costco. You can see the bone was removed on the left of the picture. The coppa is circled in blue on the right. Notice the characteristic fat striations. This is the part that is at the top of the shoulder, right above/behind the head on the back. This picture has the shoulder flipped over, and the coppa is in my hand. It is just the backside of hte piece in the above picture in my left hand. This is the coppa removed. How you remove it and how much meat you leave around it and shape it is not super critical..it is pretty hard to see exactly where it begins and where it ends. This is the coppa again, just showing the fat striations. They are very evident and quite large in the middle of hte coppa. Another picture of the coppa If you can make bresaola, you can make coppa, it is MUCH easier than salame, as there is no acidification needed. Just salt cure, then put in casing, then hang. good luck! jason

Pedrissimo...i'm not sure about using vinegar...problem with that is that it is going to make the whole chamber smell, and it may permeate your cured meats.

pedrissimo, thost conditions are very good, and should work really really well. One bit of advice i can give you is that while those cool mist humidifiers will work well, the moisture wicks (the pad) will start to mildew and mold rather quickly. I was having to change the pad every 3-4 weeks. At about $8 a pad it was getting expensive. I use an ultrasonic humidifier...nothing to change. Just clean the thing off every cuopld of refills. For some reason though, very few ultrasonic humidifiers come with a hygrostat, and definitely none of the cheap ($30-$50) ones i've seen. I happened to find a good deal on ebay on a hygrostat for a greenhouse. I put that in the fridge, and the humidifier plugs into that. Works well. It if made by Greenair products, and costs about $120 retail. It is this one: http://www.greenair.com/humidistat.htm

In my last batch of salame i boiled the wine for about 5 minutes, reducing from 1 1/4 cups to 3/4 cups...getting rid of the alcohol. You could try the same thing with the calvados?

Michael, i used hte recipe froma guy i got in Italy, he told me you can use a 25-35% brine. I figured for my 1st time i would follow his instructions, next time i may try a 20% brine. 50 grams seems very little to cure something that needs to keep near indefinitely, without using any pink salt, doesn't it? j

HKDave, how long can the sanitizing solution stay in the diluted formin a spray bottle and remain effective? jason

Dave, i don' t think leaf lard can be used for lardo. Also, the lardo is done purely in the fridge, i should have mentioned that!

Thanks everyone for the compliments. To clarify, i am NOT one of the Molinari who currently sell salame and other stuff in the US...not even remotely related. I wouldn't say i have a knack for this stuff, i can just follow direction, take good notes, and i'm sure my engineering background made making the curing chamber easier to make. The lardo is actually very easy. In Colonnata (where they use marble vats to cure the lardo in, taken from their quarrys), lardo is never dried like pancetta. It is covered in salt and spices for a short while, then water is added to that to basically make a very concentrated brine, and left like that for months and months...then sliced thin and eaten. This is the recipe i used for mine: 1 liter water 300g salt 9g rosmary needles 2 cloves garlic 3 small bay leaves (i used fresh) 7 juniper berries 7 leaves of sage 1000g hunk of fatback that is as thick as you can find Make a brine and bring to a boil, add the herbs and let it sit as if you were making a tea (i let it sit covered until it was cool) Put lard in a tightfitting tupperware or non reactive vessle that you don't need for 3 months pour brine with all the herbs over the lard. The lard is going to want to float, so you need to so something to keep it down. I used a clean meatl chain to weigh it down, and then put a weight on top of the tupperware lid. Put in the the fridge Flip ever 30 days Leave minimum 3 months. Take it out, rinse and dry very well. NOW, the one i made is a touch salty. IT would be GREAT on unsalted crackers like Carr's or an unsalted Tuscan bread (hmm surprise, given that one of its birthplaces is Tuscany!). Yesterday i soaked it in a bath of water for 30 mins, to see if i can desalt it a little bit. I'll try it today to see how it is. jason

Swiss_chef, i believe i've shared by preparation i the charuterie thread currently going on, http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...0entry1202639 I know it is really long, but you can search within the thread. I did use nitrates...i'm too worried about getting sick not to:) jason

Lardo 300 g salt 1 l water 2 cloves of garlic 9 g fresh rosemary 7 sage leaves 3 bay leaves (i used fresh) 7 juniper berries 1000 g hunk of backfat (as thick as you can find) Make a brine and bring to a boil, add the herbs and let it sit as if you were making a tea (i let it sit covered until it was cool) Put lard in a tightfitting tupperware or non reactive vessle that you don't need for 3 months pour brine with all the herbs over the lard. The lard is going to want to float, so you need to so something to keep it down. I used a clean meatl chain to weigh it down, and then put a weight on top of the tupperware lid. Put in the fridge Flip ever 30 days Leave minimum 3 months. Take it out, rinse and dry very well. Keywords: Appetizer, Hors d'oeuvre, Italian ( RG1728 )

Thanks ronnie...it is really very good.

After 3 months in a brine with spices and herbs, i finally tried my lardo tonight. Sliced super thin on my slicer and cracked some black pepper on it. It is fantastical. The fat is super soft, herby, and a bit salty (i'm attempting to soak it for an hour or 2 in water to remove some salt). The fatback was purchased from a farmer who raises his pigs on acorns. For a first try it is amazing.

bottom half of the plate, coppa made by me. Given my name is Molinari, i guess it is coppa Molinari

Of all things i cook at home, meat curing is the most "dangerous", and personally i would NOT mess around with GREEN meat or fat to save some money or time. My $0.02.

Kent, nope. Unrelated.