Fermented sausage smell of ammonia

[chefunk]

I have several batchs of fermented sausages going. Everything seemed fine, all covered with pennicilin mold, losing weight on schedule. Over the last few days I have noticed a strong odor of ammonia when I open my curing cabinet. What's up with that?

Edited January 31, 2009 by chefunk (log)

[slkinsey]

From The Microbiological Safety and Quality of Food By Barbara M. Lund, Tony C. Baird-Parker, Grahame Warwick Gould:

During air drying of sausages, molds growing on the surface also hydrolyze proteins and catabolize amino acids.  This is easily recognized by the ammonia smell of ripening rooms and the resulting products.  The intensity of flavor of such sausages was found to be proportional to the degree of proteolysis.

[chefunk]

From The Microbiological Safety and Quality of Food By Barbara M. Lund, Tony C. Baird-Parker, Grahame Warwick Gould:

During air drying of sausages, molds growing on the surface also hydrolyze proteins and catabolize amino acids.  This is easily recognized by the ammonia smell of ripening rooms and the resulting products.  The intensity of flavor of such sausages was found to be proportional to the degree of proteolysis.

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thanks so much for your reply! soundslike I'm on the right track! Very good news!