Bombdog

Abra I'll just sort of second most of Chris' thoughts. I've never had any problems threading the casing, and rarely had an rupture occur. I think Ron mentioned waaaaay up thread about soaking the casing longer by accident. Since that time I almost always soak mine overnight in the refrigerator. Like Chris, I keep something handy to poke a hole in any air pockets I see. Also like Chris, my first thought when I looked at your pictures of the cooked sausages was that they looked a bit over stuffed. I've never used the small die in the KA, have always used the larger one. Chris, Fingers crossed for you peperone

Chris, I've noticed that for about 24 hours, or so, after I put a new project in the chamber that the humidity is pretty much higher than normal. I think you'll notice it come down soon. As far as too high, I'd rather have it too high than too low, causing the exterior to dry too quickly.

Thank you....

Pallee, that looks FANTASTIC! I'm all over that for my next bacon cure....Thanks for posting. Chris, I'm so sorry for you loss...(sounds like you lost a loved one), but I think I'd do the same. Just hang it and see what happens. In the future, I wouldn't worry about trying to blast it with a last bit of heat. Like I said earlier, I had a good inoculation without ever getting to a high heat. I realize that we need to be conscious of all kinds of health concerns. But let's don't forget that this is an ancient craft and was done for centuries without the aid of thermometers or controlled elements.

I'd say that the easy answer to that, since it's a dry cured sausage, is no. You need the live culture to release the lactic acid and prevent bacterial growth.

Thanks much. I'm not sure it's as much knack as it is luck...but I'll take either one. As far as where it's all going.....I've asked myself that recently. I guess I give away more to my son and my neighbor that I realize.

I'll admit to being a bit weirded about the entire process when I did my first batch of Tuscan salame. Speaking of which: I just removed my second batch from the curing chamber. Yummy!

That sounds awesome! How did you do it? Actually, confession time. The first Tuscan salame I made (before someone mentioned the idea of the oven with the light on) I just covered the sheet pan with a towel and placed it in my laundry room (with my dogs, nothing is safe on a counter) for a few hours. I'm certain the temp never got above 70F, and that project turned out just fine. I think you are okay Chris.

I normally put my stuff in the oven with the light on and leave it overnight, or about 12 hours. I laid an instant read thermometer ontop of the sheet pan once and it read 78. I think your 13 hours is fine. I have never left anything in for much longer so I really can't say if it would cause you any problems.

Great job Chris! Those look fantastic. Keep us up on how they cure (and taste of course) I don't think you'll be disappointed. I think I'll go slice some right now for breakfast.

Chris, relax. You're on the way. The only worry you will have in a few weeks is a bigger chamber to cure in. You'll get that one filled up and realize you're hooked and need MORE. I said it up thread, and I'll say it again. "Help, I'm curing and I can't stop!"

Pork sausage, made with smoked fat back, roasted poblano and chipotle peppers, cilantro and sun dried tomatoes. Grilled and served with Rancho Gordo posole verde. Lamb sausage, made with lamb, fat back, chopped fresh rosemary, garlic and feta cheese. Grilled and served with grilled eggplant and a salad of cucumber, red onion, feta and kalamata olives. But my favorite, a charcuterie plate of duck proscuito, bresaola, peperone, tuscan, and venison salames.

That's a good idea Susan. I'm not sure that the opening in a pop bottle is much bigger than the snout on the KA filler though. As we have discussed up thread, I am certainly going to get a different stuffer before I attempt this again. I thought that the pieces would fit through the KA fill tube when I started. What I didn't think of is that little piece that holds the worm drive in place. It really constricted the opening and it only took a few minutes to find out it wasn't going to work. At that point I was pretty much frantic, as I had 10 lbs of bind that needed to be filled into something NOW. Lucky me, I had a brand new piece of PVC that fit the bill. I think it took about 2 hours once I got the PVC cut and cleaned enough to use it. No big deal now. It'll just make the salame taste all that much better in the end.

Abra, I used a piece of pvc pipe just a bit smaller diameter than the casings and about 12 inches long. I would fill the pipe and then push it down with my KA wooden plunger, then start all over again. When I got approximately the size I wanted I would then squeeze the filling to tighten the casing, twist and start all over again. What a pain in the butt! Hopefully it pays off in a few weeks. Here are some pictures of my jowls that I took out of the cure today. The green here is from the fresh herbs in the cure. Here they are, rinsed and ready to be tied up for hanging in the curing chamber. Abra, how long have you let yours cure? Are you going by weight loss or time?

Well, onto the next project. I was wanting to do another salame, but something larger. I sort of (until I tackled it) liked the idea of larger grind, actually diced. Using the sopressata recipe in the book I started with 8 lbs of fatty butt and 2 lbs of fat back. You can probably imagine what a job it was to dice this. Well, then imagine what it was like to stuff this by hand. This is what 10 lbs of sopressata looks like after inoculating the bactoferm. Into the curing chamber this morning. I'll post back in a few weeks with results.

I don't think it matters. I have had them curing separately, side by side, and on top of each other, depending on the space available at the time. I haven't noticed any differences either way.

I don't know Ron....beats me. They don't look anything like mine

Great looking stuff McDuff....thanks for posting the pictures!

Well, that sent me running out to check on mine. They went into the cure on Wednesday and even with the fresh herbs in the cure, I didn't notice anything "green" that didn't look like it was supposed to be there. Can you post some pictures of it? I have noticed a very slight greenish tint to some bacon once...I wonder if that is the same. It had not seemed to affect the flavor, or safety (I'm still here) But then again, I ate Navy food for nearly 10 years

I think you'd be okay with those numbers. If you look up thread a short bit, my numbers are not ideal, as far as the book recommends, and I've done okay so far. I'd say go for it and see what happens. At the cost of belly, you really don't have much to lose, compared with the results of your OWN cured pancetta. Just keep an eye on things. Others have posted that they rubbed a project with olive oil if they felt it was drying prematurely. The only caveat I have here, is that this is rather additive. I think you'll be looking for a more permanent chamber, rather than one you can put away when not in use.

Thanks! Yes, that is a pretty good representation of the color. The taste is hard to compare to. It has a hint of that tangy fermented taste, and perhaps similar to the peperone, but not as spicy. There is a difference between the beef and the venison (DOH), but it's not near as gamy as you would expect. I don't know if that's due to the fat back (which the peperone doesn't have). Overall, I'm really happy with it, and a bit sad, as I only have 2 lbs of venison left to play with.

Finally got to remove the venison salame from the curing box today. What a treat!

I'm not sure if the fan is necessary either in an operating refrigerator I've posted up thread that I use an old refrigerator in my garage, turned to the warmest setting. It stays around 49-55 degrees, and by leaving in plugged in I am getting some circulation when it cycles. So far that has been working okay for me. My humidity is probably a bit lower than ideal, but I keep the pan of salted water in the bottom and I've not had any problems so far with premature drying on the exterior of the projects. Chris, I'm not sure what to suggest. Ala Alton Brown, I think you could just use a large box with some method of hanging, if you have a room that is sufficiently cool. The computer fan idea that Jason spoke of has been used in other chambers I've read about.

Pictures, McDuff...Pictures...let's see these projects!

An X Files moment. Mine arrived Wednesday. More bactoferm and beef middles this time. I'm going to go for some large salame My jowls are curing nicely as we speak...