sbrenneman

j, chris - extremely helpful. thanks so much. i will let them dry longer and try the distilled water spray. the cases don't seem too hard, but then, i don't really know what too hard is. i think that perhaps the fermentation was not even - next time i'll put them in a covered glass dish in the oven with the light on or something to maintain a low, overall, even temp without losing moisture. part of my inspiration for trying this dry curing is my recent (honeymoon) trip to italy where we had no end of fine dry cured goods and saw prosciutto hanging in basements... slow food was actually having their big showcase event at the time we were there, and we constantly met americans who were in italy for that. one of them told me of this book. i've found your blog quite valuable, j. thanks again... shawn

Hello all - I'm new to the forum and have spent many valuable hours poring the archives... thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences, especially the photos! I've had some smashing successes in my Charcuterie journey: venison sausage, lamb sausage, and pancetta. But my first venture into dry curing doesn't seem exactly right. I tried the spanish chorizo - followed the recipe quite well, except: - I'm unsure what temperature I fermented at: I put the sausages under a light, in our 68 degree kitchen. Possibly got too hot? They were there about 12 hours before I hung them in my basement. - The first few days of the curing process were possibly too cool: low 50s with humidity at about 70%. After that, I was able to regulate the temperature in the upper 50s to 61 degrees or so, with 60-70% humidity. Anyway, after 20 days, the sausages have lost 30% of their weight, but, they seem too soft. The color is good throughout - deep, rich reddish brown, but, to me, they seem squishier than they should be in the middle. (They are squishier than say, a stick of pepperoni I could buy at the grocery store.) Flavor is pretty good though. No mold or anything grew on them. For the most part, the casings (hog casings) seem good - but, a couple of them seemed a little dry in places. I threw one sausage out that was softer than the others. Seemed like it's casing was too dry and it was softer and pinker in the middle than the others. (I did prick the casings with a needle when I made the sausages.) (I'm unsure of the pH right now - I currently have pH paper that measures 5.5 and up, and the sausage does not register on that.... so I know it's under 5.5 but that is probably not very helpful.) The pork I started with is really good pork - local pastured Tamworth pigs - had been frozen before I made the sausages. Questions: Is my sausage bad? Can I eat the stuff? (If not, what might have I exposed myself to since I already did?) Can I cook it? I bet it would be good in beans or soups. What might have gone wrong? I'm guessing somehow the bactoferm didn't grow. How firm should it be? How can the sausages have lost 30% of their weight and still not be firm enough? What role does the bactoferm have in the texture of the result? Should I just let them dry more? It's amazing how the whole process seems clear until you try it yourself! I've gained an even deeper respect for those who do this right! Thanks for any insights, Shawn the new sausagemaker