dougal

Separation between firebox and smokehouse is clearly the way to go for small-scale cold smoking. The Aluminium ducting is cheap, but not very robust. Stainless steel chimney flue liner would be much better, but is *very* much more expensive! (Both of them are going to be themselves untroubled by rust.) The duct might be cooled (if needed) by evaporation, by wrapping it in some old cloth and wetting the cloth...

Nutshell upsum: Probably safe for bacon, but wrong, and not a good idea to do. Follow ALL curing recipes exactly, unless you really do know for certain that you DO know better. Detail: In "Charcuterie" MR refers to 'Cure No 1' as "pink salt". Cure No 1 is NitrIte, diluted with salt - so that there's 6.25% of NitrIte. The recipes call for adding more {normal} salt to the "pink salt" to make up the cure - ie to dilute it further. Morton Tender Quick is a pre-mixed complete cure with 0.5% NitrIte and 0.5% NitrAte and does not need mixing with additional salt or sugar before curing. Hence using the Morton complete cure in place of the "pink salt" would result in your process using slightly more sugar and less salt than the recipe, much less (like 1/13 th) NitrIte, and adding a little NitrAte (which will be a small part-compensation for the lack of NitrIte). Discussion: NitrAte and NitrIte firm up bacon, turn it pink, and make it taste like 'bacon' rather than salt pork. They also are powerful anti-botulism agents. Botulism isn't generally a problem with bacon - BUT - hot smoking bacon, as is the practice in North America, *could* potentially bring problems. (British bacon is either unsmoked, or cold smoked.) Hot smoking can activate C Botulinum spores and might not be hot enough to destroy the toxin. However, proper cooking to above 70C (160F) before eating should destroy any of the dangerous botulinum toxin that might be present. And bacon is generally pretty thoroughly cooked... There is a side-issue that the FDA doesn't like the use of NitrAte for bacon - although it is routinely used for bacon in Europe - the FDA want NitrIte, not NirAte for bacon and Tender Quick has both. (BTW the FDA wants some Ascorbate/Vitamin C in there too, which MR doesn't mention in "Charcuterie", and the rest of the world seems to think the FDA might be being over-cautious about a traditionally safe food.) Cure No 1 (MR's "pink salt") contains only salt and NitrIte, both of which are in Quick Cure - it would be equally true to say that Quick Cure could be dangerous if used improperly. And substituting it for the same quantity of "pink salt" is certainly an 'improper' usage. The addition of pink colouring is a safety precaution to demonstrate plainly that the product isn't ordinary salt, and No 1 only contains 6.25% NitrIte to limit the amount of NitrIte that you could possibly consume if you totally misunderstood things and made the more dangerous reverse substitution, *wrongly* substituting Cure No 1 when a recipe called for a ready-mixed cure, like Tender Quick... giving 13x too much nitrite - don't try it, please. Follow authoritative curing recipes. Closely. Please!

The spores will survive up to something like 121C (250F), which is why commercial canning heats foods to that level. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulism#Prevention The FDA says the toxin is destroyed by *10* minutes at 80C (176F) - which invites careful comparison with hot smoking temperatures. http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap2.html (I think the different strain Types have different temperature stabilities and this treatment deals with all of them.) The temperature stability of spores, bacteria and toxin depends upon (ie varies with) pH, salinity, fat content, water activity... http://www.foodprotect.org/doc/III-16b%20Cbotfactsheet.pdf (lots of research paper refs) C Botulinum bacteria multiply most rapidly at *cold* smoking temperatures, ie around 30C (86F) ...

it varies on the temp they cook it to, but generally speaking, it's cooked, just like a hot dog. ← North American bacon seems to be generally cooked with smoke that some regard as "cold" at perhaps as low as 140F. HOWEVER *British* bacon may be either smoked or totally unsmoked (which is sometimes called "green"). If smoked it would be "cold" smoked (like the salmon above) with smoke at less than 30C (that's 85F) - so smoked or not it is NOT cooked! Supermarket shelfspace would indicate something like 50/50 smoked or not, at least in this region. Its prominently labelled whether its smoked or not. Not yet being a cold smoker, I have a pack of smoked "streaky" (belly) in the fridge. The ingredient declaration reveals that this smoked product contains both nitrite and (mentioned first and hence preponderant) nitrate as "preservatives". While the smoke's agressive chemicals do work against most spoilage organisms (which is one reason smoking preserves meat), the low oxygen conditions promote C. Botulinum - which doesn't actually "spoil" the meat, so you'd never know it was there, until ... On the subject of Nitrite (in Michael's "pink salt"), I'm a bit surprised that the book's only mention of Vitamin C (or Ascorbates) in conjunction with Nitrite, talks about "growing evidence" supporting its use - when it seems to have been *required* by US Federal legislation in commercial products for some years: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISDi...ives/7620-3.pdf Please note that the Meat Inspectors' calculations in that handbook interpret arithmetic slightly strangely. The formulae all talk about "percentages" (pumped, picked up, etc) and yet (as demonstrated by the worked examples) the figure required is the *proportion* not the percentage - take care else you will be in error by a factor of 100 times !!! And naturally it uses *US* gallons and US pints throughout when speaking of "gallons" or "pints" - another gotcha for those that might be expecting the larger Imperial versions! As far as 'health' concerns go, smoking (meat, etc - never mind tobacco) is probably much more concerning than nitrate/nitrite curing salts used at the commercially authorised levels. If you do a "bacon cure" and just leave out the curing salt, you end up with grey Salt Pork - tasting much more simply 'meaty' than the general expectation for bacon. The fad for "nitrite-free" bacon not having reached these parts, I wonder what specific additives these manufacturers are substituting to produce the 'bacon' taste and appearance (and texture)? Or do they claim that it arises "naturally" from impurities in their salt and water?

Yes, definitely. Was talking to a chef about it last night who told me that her restaurant had done it that way for years, very successfully. But, you'll need to either pipe in the smoke from a separate source (to maintain a properly low temp) or spend some time figuring out how to get the indoor smoker to do exactly what you want it to. ← Ummmmm. I think the simple answer is NO. The long version is that actually, it possibly could, *but* it would *need* be heavily modified to do the job - and if you're doing that much metalwork, there's no great reason to start the construction around a stovetop smoker. "Stovetop smokers" are intrinsically *hot* smokers, cooking while smoking. They try and seal in the smoke - and thus, in a small container unavoidably, the heat. The very essence of **cold** smoking is to avoid cooking while smoking. That is frankly more than a bit tricky to do on a tiny (let alone a stovetop) scale. As Ron says above, it is NOT possible to do *cold* smoking in an *unmodified* stovetop smoker. If anyone has properly cracked micro (or indoor) *cold* smoking, I'd really, really love to know just how its done... (and I bet I'm not the only one ) The likeliest route I've seen is to use Japanese smoke sticks. However the cost of trans-atlantic shipping from those folk is simply absurd, hence I've not tried the product. I'd love to know of an alternate source (in the UK or prepared to ship here economically) - and ideally the same sort of thing in Oak rather than only sweet fruit woods. All that said, *hot* smoked salmon is delicious. (But it really is a different experience entirely from cold-smoked salmon... )

Its not as simple as "1 oz is used to cure 25 lbs of meat". There are different levels permitted for different cures and products. The 625ppm that I quoted is the highest Nitrite level permitted, however that maximum limit is specified for the most analogous process - dry curing of meat. Its just 200ppm for injection or immersion cured meat... Now, as to whether it needs to be anywhere near the maximum permitted level - well, that's another question entirely...

The USA deprecates the use of Nitrates (saltpetre) in items (like bacon) to be cooked at high temperature (like frying). The use of Nitrite (and ascorbate accelerator) has been found to reduce the formation of nitrosamines on such high heating. Hence I'm sure the US practice would be to use Nitrite, not Nitrate, for Pancetta. However, Nitrate use is permissable in Europe, where the whole nitrosamine (carcinogenicity) question is seen as being imperfectly understood. Saltpetre has been used for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years - and at much higher levels than currently - without obvious epidemiological effect. And nitrosamines, IIRC, are formed in the gut on the digestion of "health food" spinach... The general point about using nitrate/saltpetre is to remember that it can't start "curing" until it has been first broken down by bacteria - into nitrite. That first step is achieved only by bacteria - accelerators work *with* nitrite, but they don't help you get the first step, *to* nitrite. Because of relying on bacterial action, saltpetre curing is seen as 'unreliable' or as the book says "inconsistent" in this age of refrigeration. Personally, I do a little room temperature "incubation" before curing with saltpetre. Michael - For Charcuterie v1.1, could the bit about Cure No2 on pages 38 and 177 be tweaked to make clear that No2 *contains* some (4%) Nitrate (as well as 6.25% Nitrite) - its not ideally clear to say that Nitrate is "sold as" Cure No 2... or "sold under the brand names {of No 2}". Saltpetre and Cure No2 are to be used in very different proportions, as I'm sure you well know, they are definitely not interchangeable. Hey, minimally you might just change the "as" to "in"...

I have not used the curing salt and the mosture seems fine. I have found that whenever I make the gravelox - a couple of days in the fridge - esp in a food saver package - helps the texture immensely - frankly seems to get better after a week or two. The dry edge and the more wet middle seem to have a little osmosis going on... ← While I understand and appreciate the wish of the book to emphasise the association between cured gravadlax and cured & smoked salmon, the recipe on pages 96/97 (in proposing 36 hours dry salt curing, 4/24 hours drying and 6 hours of cold smoke), is giving an unusually heavy cure and a somewhat light smoke. In the UK (at the very least) the practice is a very much lighter cure and rather more smoke. And the smoke would be Oak, not fruit. (Though maybe old Oak from Whisky barrels.) More typical of the British product would be an overnight dry cure and then rinse, or just 3 hours (maybe as little as 1 hour) in an 80% of saturated brine, followed by 24 hours of *hanging* to drip dry to a good pellicle for smoke adhesion, followed by 12 hours or more (up to 4 days!) of cold smoke - and then importantly allowing rest time (24 hours minimum) after smoking to allow the smoke flavour to permeate the fish. Of course the cold smoking doesn't have to be continuous, and the fish may be rested (helping the deep permeation of the flavour) when smoking isn't convenient. While I do appreciate that it is very much a matter of taste, the most prestigious smokers, Forman & Field, use their "London Cure" of 12 hours on salt and (I think) 12 hours of thin smoke to produce the product sold in Fortnums and exported to the USA. Keith Erlandson (Home Smoking and Curing - an established classic) prefers brining and reduces the brine time from 3 hours for poorer quality (lower fat) fish. However we also have to deal with the fact that Pacific "salmon' are actually somewhat different fish, especially as compared to the Atlantic Salmon. Its not just wild vs farmed, its actually a matter of zoologically different fish species. Kate Walker of Innes Walker, a manufacturer of commercial smokehouses, writes in her Practical Food Smoking (at page 17) that because of botulism fears, the sale of cold-smoked Oncorhynchus Pacific salmon ("sockeye, coho,, chinook, chum, humpbach") is "prevented" in the USA. It seems that these fish are more susceptible than the Atlantic salmon - I don't believe its only a risk of it picking it up by cross-contamination. It seems that with the Pacific fish, there is a risk that they actually contain Botulinum. Hence it would seem that nitrite or nitrate is especially important for *Pacific* salmon. Both Walker and Erlandson use a touch of saltpetre in their pre-smoking cures. I have to say that Cure No 1 (using Nitrite) should be even better than saltpetre, not requiring bacterial activation. Saltpetre is the traditional curing salt, Nitrite a relatively modern variation - its used in even tinier quantities and is more dangerous (hence its available only diluted into mixed cures). However, Nitrite does have a shorter shelf life, oxidising to nitrate (saltpetre) and hence losing its potency. However, I do wonder if the quantity of Nitrite being used in the book isn't maybe a little high. 6 g of pink salt at 6.25% Nitrite means 0.375g of Nitrite total. As compared to 450g of Salmon that is 833ppm. For dry cured ham, the US FSIS limit is 625ppm... 4g would give 555ppm.

And that does mean saturated! I used a locally available block salt which comes in pyramid shapes about three inches tall, I have found that once the salt is saturated the blocks become water logged and actually help in transferring the moisture to the atmosphere in the refrigerator as they stick up above the water about two inches. Saves having to use a container which has a large suface area of water! ← As Tristar implies, people should be saying "wet salt" rather than "saturated brine". You should have solid salt above the liquid surface. (Specifically, you might need it for bringing the humidity *down* to 75%.) If your problem is just raising the humidity towards 70%, then its not nearly so critical. The chiller element in the fridge knocks out moisture as condensation (potentially frost). So it is dehumidifying, whenever the fridge is actively cooling. A nice large surface area dish of water or brine (and a little air movement) will compensate for the condensation loss and raise the humidity back up again. However - if (when) the temperature outside the fridge is 15C/60F or less, (as in cold seasons in an outhouse, garage or maybe cellar) then the fridge won't need to cool things, so the motor won't run, so there won't be any moisture being knocked out as condensation. Then the damp salami (or whatever) will bring the humidity up and up, to somewhere likely in the 90's% RH. This is where the salt can most obvoiusly be needed to act as a de-humidifier. If you have just saturated brine, and it takes in more water, it won't be saturated any more, and so will equilibrate at an RH higher than 75%. What makes it worse is that the unsaturated brine forms a dilute surface layer, floating on the denser saturated brine, so that the RH control point shoots up very quickly. Excess salt, at the surface, will dissolve in the 'new' water and keep the brine saturated, even as it controls a damp atmosphere down to 75%. It is worth noting that even a saturated Sodium Chloride solution will control towards a 75% RH, (at the temperatures in question), and that is slightly higher than that recommended. However that is the lowest control point that salt can give you. Other chemical compounds give other possibilities, but there's nothing as convenient and cheap and close to the 60-70% ideal as plain salt. Tristar's point, about the solid salt increasing the surface area in contact with the air, and hence the 'power' of the control, is an important bonus. So, the take-home message is that "wet salt" will exert a controlling influence towards 75% RH from both sides, whereas "brine" (even saturated brine) will humidify quite well, but plain brine is no good at de-humidifying. I think that the book's single sentence on this topic (on Page 175), could usefully be amplified in the Second Edition.

You might be interested to see this table of the maximum temperatures that various different oils/fats can stand before they start to break down unpleasantly and smoke. http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article...of+Various+Fats Although its of clearest relevance to thermostat controlled deep frying, its still important for pan frying.

Since one shouldn't be seeing a lot of *frost* as such at 15C, I think the requirement would be that one had a condensate drain, or other means of removing it (air change or even a sponge). If only it were 'frost', that would lock up the excess moisture. I can recognise that a humidity controlled, moderate temperature enclosure would be of great interest both to home charcuriers and home cheesemakers, but I'm not sure that even the combined market at the likely price, (I'm pessimistic), could justify the costs of productionising a special enclosure. The higher the price, the more an already small market is restricted and the higher still the price must be set to recover the development and fixed costs. I do however wonder whether or not a 'control pack' might be a more viable product. Such a pack could then be applied to whatever fridge was available. By leaving out the enclosure, the whole compressor/evaporator mechanism, and having a smaller product to stock and ship, it should be much more affordable - and hence have a larger market. I'd like to see - everything inside the fridge being low voltage. Thats humidifier, fan and controls. - a "mains power switching" box outside the fridge. (And do me a favour, allow it to work on 240v at 50 Hz, please!) - And please can I have an LED panel on a ribbon cable to come past the door seal and magnetically stick to the outside of the door or chest freezer to show me cooling, humidifying, and fan activity? (And a flashing low water level warning for the humidifier.) A readout (with max and min stored) of temperature and humidity would be very good to have on that panel too. Would it be a good idea to make the pack fit into the fridge door? That would minimise the useful space taken up, and might make for easy attachment to removable (potentially replaceable) plastic shelves. Oh, and by allowing it to control a heater (rather than a fridge) it could possibly be sold to reptile keepers as well. I've got a feeling that if the exterior temperature gets too low, (like in a garage), then the cooler isn't going to be called on, and hence the cooler isn't going to function as a dehumidifier. And with the same actual moisture content in the air, allowing it to get "too cold" is going to also increase the relative humidity undesireably. Probably the way round this involves a heater, perhaps a repurposing of the fridge's existing interior lamp - although the simpler, if counter-intuitive, answer would be to keep the curing fridge in a room that was always above 15C... ! (Though clearly this wouldn't be a problem in Tristar's location... )

Sorry, Edsel, divided by a common language, and all that. I had believed that my implication was clear, that there was unlikely to be a single contributor, and not many non-posting readers, who would have any hestitation in accepting such an invitation. I seem to have been wrong in thinking that I had made myself clear, but I doubt I'm as far wrong on the other part... Oh, and for the avoidance of doubt, personally, of course I'd love to try and help.

Michael, I'm sorry but that really is a pretty daft question...

If they are the solid, but individual, rings than expect them to be broadly similar to the exposed elements, but noticeably slower to heat and cool. By the same token, they should simmer more steadily. As per lots of other threads, if it must be electric and yet you seek the responsiveness of gas, then it has to be induction...

As an 'ordinary' (two handed) pepper mill, my Ikea one seems to do the job very well. It grinds pepper consistently. I set the adjustment to my liking years ago and haven't touched it since. The adjustment simply doesn't wander. Its easy enough to fill, (without messing up the setting) and holds a fair handful of peppercorns. It doesn't look at all special. (Unless you like bowling pins.) Its been dropped at least a couple of times and survived totally unscathed. It was pretty cheap and has been working well for me for years - six maybe. I'm not sure I see any advantage in changing. Which makes me wonder why (apart from aesthetics or scale) people would choose anything different. A couple of others upthread seem similarly impressed. Are we missing something important? It uses a ceramic mechanism visibly labelled "Crushgrind". Has anyone compared this mechanism (in whatever styled mounting) to the Magnum so lauded in this thread? And I mean for enthusiastic home use, not 'production'.

Woooaaaaaa! Edsel, confusion will be created if people take things out of context. Read that Virginia page carefully. The instructions are So for a big 15+ pound ham - we are talking almost a month BELOW 40ºF in cure. So if you are hoping to cure under ambient conditions, start in mid-winter, and make sure your ham isn't too big, so it can be cured before the temperature exceeds 40ºF... Then for a bit more preservation they smoke it... 3 DAYS in *dense* smoke below 90ºF. That *is* smoked.And *only* then So that is - *cure* it for *weeks* *below* 40ºF - then heavily *smoke* it in dense cool smoke for 3 days - and then *AGE* it at Virginia *summer* ambient temps It is extremely misleading to leave the suggestion that Virginia Tech are proposing dry-curing at 75-95ºF. They are not. I don't think any authority has ever suggested that dry-curing can be successful at above perhaps 60ºF. Virginia Tech are specifying below 40ºF. As far as bugs and biochemistry are concerned, what matters is the actual temperature, not whether that happens to be indoors, outdoors, in a kitchen or a barn. Although it might seem unbelieveable to modern americans, 60ºF might have been a typical winter "kitchen" temperature for a peasant farmer in a mountainous area of Europe, perhaps even up to the present day. The one difference between a specified temperature and humidity in different locations is going to be the amount of air movement (which can have a great influence on evaporation/drying rates at the same temperature and humidity). Some air movement is a good thing, to even out the humidity and prevent any 'pockets' being in the higher humidity ranges that favour mould growth. There are good reasons that the tradition of dry-curing under ambient conditions only exists in some geographical locations, and during particular climatic seasons. The fortunate thing for us, in the modern age, is that "climate control" is a technological possibility for an enclosed space, and it's use can allow activities like dry-curing, and cheese-making, to be practiced year-round all over the world.

Mike, to each his own! Have you had a go at making crepes better than you can buy? Had a go at indoor smoking? Played with the Sodium Alginate? That's just three of the threads on the top page of "Cooking"... The strange thing is that its actually possible to make stuff like bacon and gravadlax that is more to your *own* taste than what you can buy. Without special kit or even much experience. And that tends to start you thinking... There shouldn't be any issues with food safety in gravadlax and bacon either. I say "shouldn't" because I have my suspicions that any inadequacies in butchery are more likely to show up in curing than in cooking. I'm thinking not just about obvious hygene, but also of speed of chilling and detail thoroughness of bleeding. However, with diligence, prudence, and paranoia it should be possible to play safely. But it would be nice to know more about just how dilligent, prudent and paranoid one has to be...

It's just that we carry out our innoculation at elevated temperatures for an extended period of time, I would have assumed that as our ph decreased and our cured sausages dry they would become more resistant to bacterial growth rather than less. Michael himself says in the book that humidity control is more important than temperature control I believe. I was just curious about how important temperature control is, as I said in my original post the locally dried meats are dried in the sun, and in South Africa Biltong is dried without the benefits of refrigeration! ← Richard, I think you are over-interpreting the single sentence in Michael Ruhlman's Charcuterie book (P 175) "Humidity is the critical factor and the one most difficult to control." It is critical, but I understand that is even more important that the temperature be "cool", certainly much cooler than your 30C (86F) ambient. Just how cool isn't terribly critical (as long as it is cool). Exactly how humid *is* critical. My understanding is cheerfully simplistic. Things aren't 'cured' (preserved) until the curing is finished. I think your understanding of the different functions of the curing components may be a little off. The acidification (from the incubated culture) and the Prague Powder (Nitrate and Nitrite) is about (taste and colour considerations apart) protecting primarily against Botulism. Not *all* the other possible nasty wee beasties that can 'spoil' the meat. Most of the others can be dealt with by raising the concentration of salt in the meat. Much of the raising of the salt concentration is done by water removal, drying. *After* enough water has been removed, what remains is too salty for the majority of moulds and bacteria. So the meat is preserved. Yet it remains somewhat soft and very slightly moist. But *until* enough water has gone, during the days, weeks or months of curing (pepperoni, salami or whole hams) - you need to look after it. Not least by keeping it cool. The brief excursion to "warm" temperatures for culture incubation is a necessary evil of that process (although there are other ways of acidifying salami). Warmth encourages all sorts of stuff to flourish - which is why you wouldn't eat it until its dried enough, to be salty enough to kill them off. I think the comparison with Biltong is plain false. That ends up as a *very* dry product. Brittle. Would you want salami that dry? Biltong is a *dried* as opposed to an *air-cured* product. Different process. Different result. Its best not to divert this particular thread by discussing the 'how' of practical climate control!

Darren, experimentation leads to learning! So give whatever you fancy a go, and report back. But conventional hot smoking, (not even US-style "BBQ" smoke roasting, just hot smoking), would use a brine rather than a dry cure. (Because you don't want to dry out the salmon before *hot* smoking.) And it'd be probably too quick to get much flavour in - I've brined for an hour or less in an egg-floating (so maybe 40% of the way to saturated) 50/50 salt/sugar brine, dried for a pellicle and then hot smoked (just a kettle barbecue, charcoal and oak sawdust) for maybe an hour. Fabulous cold the following day, after a night in the fridge to let the flavours meld. Compare the Smoked Salmon recipe with the one that follows it for Scallops. (But you want the salmon to cook just a little, to 'set' it.) Take care to keep flies off it, for the hour or so, while you are letting the pellicle form. That's the hardest bit. They appear from nowhere!

Hold on, there's some confusion here! -- the "absurdly salty" water in the curing chamber is to act as a humidity control. If you have enough surface area of a *saturated* salt solution (ie excess undissolved salt), then that will control the humidity in the sealed chamber to about 75% relative humidity. (Less salt will give higher RH, 100% RH at zero salt, naturally.) This gets upset whenever the chamber door is opened, and it gets upset by lumps of meat contributing moisture to the atmosphere (drying). And the bowl of salty water is pretty sluggish in responding to humidity change, but it will exert a control influence tending towards its eqilibrium (at 75%RH for a saturated solution). You can increase the 'power' of the control (so it tries harder to get to equilibrium faster) by increasing the surface area of the solution and by keeping the air moving over the solution. -- now, the bugs and salt. Essentially, salt doesn't evaporate. The chamber atmosphere simply cannot be salty (unless you go spraying salt solution around). Salt is bad for most bugs. So salt *in* the meat helps to preserve the meat. Salt in the *water dish* will stop the water (dish) going mouldy. But salt in the water in the dish won't have anything to do with bugs in/on the meat, or the walls of the chamber, other than by moderating the humidity. And the cheese in the water dish is probably in the least effective place to contribute its bugs to the process. Hanging it up amongst the meat would seem a much better idea. On a related theme - spraying with a solution containing traces of appropriate cheese rind - this is probably best done outside the chamber, unless you are hoping that the chamber will develop its own resident flora...

Huh? Its not exactly ideal for a quickly cooked snack. But braise it in something interesting, low and slow, for *many* hours until its falling apart. Then - as Swisskaese indicates - - Use the meat in the soup, don't discard it! Don't hope to get the best out of this bit of meat by poaching for just 90 minutes in plain water and then straining off all the solids. Oxtail *can* give you the very richest, deepest stews and soups - but please respect its particular qualities, and demands, *before* dismissing it!

That's exactly my presumption as to what is going on. My belief is that in an "emulsified sausage" there is simply much more emulsion, as a result of the meat being more finely divided and so having a much greater surface area for protein interaction, with whatever residual meat particles being so fine as to become effectively lost in a sea of emulsion. Can anyone confirm or correct this? I have Ruhlman, but not (yet) McGee... PS Tristar, when you say "K beater", I'm thinking that implies the Kenwood equivalent of the Kitchenaid "Paddle', rather than any "food processor", doesn't it?

Like knocking the bottom of loaf of bread to determine whether its fully baked, you have to know what the endpoint should be to recognise it. So, to begin with, its a good idea to start by following the recipe timings exactly, and knocking the bread or poking the bacon - purely to learn what the signals are. Then test the product and make the association with the signal. And adjust the timing the next attempt based on your first result, again trying to learn what the signals actually are, rather than trying to use them for real at this early stage. I'd guess your bacon might be a bit salty by now - but don't despair! Rinse it. Slice a little bit off and fry it. (If your bacon is an inch thick, then slice off half an inch, so that you can find out what the middle (as distinct from the end) is going to be like.) Taste it. If its at all too salty (smoking it would tend to dry it, intensifying the saltiness), you need to soak it under plain cold water, in the fridge, to get some of the salt out. Test another slice after 12 hours or so. If you are going to soak it longer, change the water. My feeling is that a day of soaking in fresh water might take out 2 days-worth of excess curing saltiness. Once its not excessively salty, hang it to dry in the fridge (and notice how much more it firms up), and then continue with your recipe. Unless it smells 'off' or looks too dangerous don't give up!

Abra, thank you for the wonderful posts. I trust the husband hasn't noticed the blood on the ceiling... I mean, people have at least seen him, since you took up "sausage-making", haven't they? "Out of town", eh? Hmmm. Sadly I've no relevant experience to help you. Maybe if you fried slices from frozen, you might achieve enough of a crust, quickly enough to hold the stuff together. I hope it 'comes together' for you. And, hey, if it tastes good, that has to be the main thing!

Hmmm. Would it be a worthwhile thing to vac-pack the non-uniformly dried sausage, and keep it thus, in the fridge for a week or two? I'd expect that sealing it in would be the best way to even out the moisture distribution. You should be well protected against big bad botulism, the worry would be whether any other moulds or other nasties are going to take advantage of the conditions... hence keeping it really cool, while it evens itself out. ← I would be concerned about sealing up salami before the curing is completed: my understanding is that botulinum likes anaerobic conditions, which is what you'd be giving it if you sealed it. ... ← Yes indeedy, its anaerobic conditions in which c. botulinum would thrive. Like the *inside* of a dried sausage. Even without the accident. Which is why its already loaded with curing salts, and its had a high temperature incubation, so that fermentation has already acidified it. Which in turn is why I was thinking that it should already be well-protected against botulism, and my worry would have been any other organisms getting ensconsed. My understanding is that its those other organisms that are discouraged by by the simple salting and the drying, (which latter part was incomplete). I'm confident that the subject of this experiment will be able to log on after eating it!