Salumi curing question: Temperature/humidity.

[Anders Greibe Nielsen]

Hello everyone.

I want to try and make my own salumi, namely Prosciutto, Pancetta and Capicola.

The plan is to let it dry in my parents garage (it's insulated). But it's winter here in Denmark so the temperature will stay around 39.2F-60F for the next 2-3 months.

And now for the questions:

Is it too cold to start now?

I think (but I will have to measure) the humidity is around 55-65%. Is that too high when combined with the low temp?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

I could also use an "approval" of my meat curring techniques!

I plan on using this approach for Capicola http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5eN4Lq4DIc and this one for Prosciutto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXnZgz-WXNQ .

- but I would like my meat to hang and dry in the garage wrapped in cheesecloth (like this guy does with his pancetta http://www.drybagsteak.com/shop-umai-charcuterie.php ) instead of vacuum packing it like they do in the two videos (last step in the two first videos).

Would this be a safe/sane approach?

Again, any help is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards Anders Greibe Nielsen.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Anders Greibe Nielsen (log)

[takadi]

Humidity is actually a little low, it should be at least 65% and up to 80%...it'll take a while to dry if it's higher but if it's too low, the outside will dry out before the center does and will form a barrier that will impede osmosis and keep the inside of the meat from drying out. Too high though and the outside will mold. For pancetta which doesn't require much drying time you'll be fine but I'm not sure how proscuitto will fare

By the same token, as long as the temperatures aren't freezing, it's always better to have it lower, so the fats won't oxidize and become rancid. 50-60 F is ideal...especially if you want to hang your meats longer for more flavor development. So 2-3 months of the temps you listed are perfect.

The videos you posted are using the Umai dry bag, which keeps everything in but lets water evaporate out. I've never used it before so I don't know how it compares to air drying...for things like pancetta it probably doesn't make a difference.

There's a user on egullet named Jason Molinari who has extensive knowledge about cured meats and I've learned a ton from reading his posts and his blog. He might chime in here also. Here's a link to his blog.

http://curedmeats.blogspot.com/

Edited January 4, 2014 by takadi (log)