Realize this is a late post to an old thread, but maybe some of you are still following it. I have been successfully making Spanish-style chorizo, saucissons secs, and the like for years, using a method that I got from Michael Ruhlman that uses an anaerobic fermentation process without needing Bactoferm (you basically leave the "naked" meat mixture out at room temp overnight, then put it in an airless environment in a black bag in a fridge for a month before mixing it with the spices etc and stuffing it the sausage and hanging it). I recently tried to make salami for the first time, using the same method but a few new elements--the casings were much larger collagen-type salami casings, and for the first time I am using a repurposed refrigerator with a temperature and humidity controller that ostensibly keeps the interior at between 15-18C and a humidity of 70%, and a fan in there to keep the air moving. The salamis have been hanging for about a month, maybe a bit less, and have just got to the point where they have lost 30% of their weight. But they are not quite as firm as I would have thought they'd be, and when I cut one as a test it is not truly solid. It smells fine, looks fine, and from the tiny little taste I took it seems to taste fine. Is it safe to eat, and would it benefit at all from being vacuum-sealed to help compress the stuff?