I'm mostly familiar with whole muscle cut curing, i.e. pancetta, lonzino, coppa, etc... but I plan on trying more sausage, like soppressata amongst others.

I know it's recommended to use starter cultures for these, but I have a question on which ones to use and if substitution would effect the product.

What's the difference between F-RM-52, T-SPX, T-RM-53, S-SX, or F-LC? Are they able to be substituted for another? Would it change the taste?

I was told that F-RM-52 would work for pretty much anything, but is that true?

Hello guys!

I'm a beginner on charcuterie world, and it's my third or fourth attempt and I use my wine cellar to it, When I did pork (filet Mignon / pork tenderloin, I don't know the best term to translate the pork part I used) it worked... I faced some molds, but everything worked relatively ok, but when I tried using beef to do BRESAOLA (with fenugreek, paprika, black pepper and some other) it doesn't worked as expected, and although I ate it, I needed to discard almost everything as it started to show some weird mold and also was smelling bed.

So I decided to buy the device to measure some variables, and it's the first time I'm measuring the humidity and temperature levels;

I have positioned the device in the top and in the bottom of the wine and the temperature is always varying... Sometimes it's in 12.5 ~ 13, and today it was 15 in the top and 17 when I put the device on the bottom;

To try to deal with the humidity problem, I have added a pot with water, but it's not reaching the ideal of 80%. As I did note that in the top the temperature was lower I thought in a way to hold the meal in the top part as you can see in one of the images.

What I would like to know:

Can I go ahead with these values, or should I try increasing the humidity and decreasing the temperature?

There's a more effective way to increase the humidity inside the chamber?

The idea of holding the pieces sidewise, as you can see in one of the pictures?

PS: I have added pictures of my first piece that was curated in the same chamber around a 7 ~ 8 months ago

2 pieces with Total 1176g

The ideal I had

bottom temperature

https://preview.redd.it/qpu9epja642e1.jpg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=613b168f74402734edb98f4c6a95ca93414e57ce

https://preview.redd.it/n9aw1k9b642e1.jpg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c9bdd5e8af9bb010539b252a10fcfdf2f79b412

https://preview.redd.it/py0omk3c642e1.jpg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b89a5f2d6eed8715fd2d28d1bd233baf6a822cd7

Used the umai dry kit to make 5lbs (with added pork fat) of venison soppressata. Fermented it for the appropriate time and sat it on a wire rack in the fridge for 30 days as per umai dry instructions. Weighed them out today and they lost 35%+ of their initial weight. PH tested them and they were all between 5.12-5.15PH. My question is the middle is soft, is this normal when you first cut it open. First time doing this after reading extensively. I’m just nervous lol

I used the 2 Guys & A Cooler recipe. Couldn’t fit this in a casing so I zip tied, wrapped in a few layers of cheese cloth, hung next to the furnace, and tightened the zip ties intermittently. Needless to say I’m very happy with the result.

This is my second attempt - 6 lbs. And with a little more juniper berries and a little less rosemary this time.

First attempt was pretty good though.

I'm making my first attempt at a cured meat with EQ duck breast prosciutto. My question is regarding whether or not I need to add curing salt #2. Most of what I've read said it's not necessary for a whole muscle cure, however I wanted to roll it slightly to create a nicer presentation (like in this video https://youtu.be/2rnIErv04X4?si=AsPSjMstcyZ6P7al)

If I want to roll it would that require the curing salt since there is flesh touching itself slightly? Or can I proceed with just salt? Thanks!

Hello! I've been dabbling with charcuterie for the past few months and ended up the classic duck prosciutto as a starter (Salt and pepper, no nitrates, 35% weight loss). My batch turned out decent, but I vacuum sealed a whole breast for later, and to also try out letting it equalize to understand how it works for bigger cuts.

Before putting it in the bag, I wiped off the penicillium as best as I could with a red wine bath/cloth, let it hang to dry for another hour (give or take), then sealed it up/dated it. It's now been about a month and a small amount of liquid has formed (looks to be oil since its yellowish?). I plan on opening soon for a sniff and such, but wanted to get the community's thoughts before making any final decisions, as well as general thoughts on vacuum sealing non-nitirified meat.

Removed the backbone from a 14lb turkey, then carefully removed the skin in one piece with the breasts still attached. I pounded the breasts flat and hit them with salt and pepper. I ground the wings, legs and thighs with sage, 2% salt, 0.5% dark brown sugar, fenugreek seed, pine nuts, bread/cream panade, black pepper, thyme and rosemary. After paddling the mixture for a few minutes, I spread it inside of the pounded breasts, rolled and trussed the roulade, let rest in the fridge overnight, then roasted to an internal temp of 155°F.

What I would change for next time: the forcemeat filling needs an element of acid. I'll add dried cranberries as an internal garnish, and maybe some lemon zest for brightness. The skin didn't crisp as much as I'd like, so next time I'll roll the ballotine a few days earlier and let it dry in the fridge on a wire rack. I've also heard spreading a salt and baking soda mix on the skin helps drain the moisture and crisp it better. Pine nuts were a last minute substitution. I originally planned to use pistachios, and while pine nuts were fine, I think pistachios would have been better. The herb flavors were also pretty heavy, so next time I'll swap the rosemary or thyme for fresh parsley.

Hello everyone! I loaded my fridge with some to-be guanciale and pancetta this friday. They were equilibrium cured beforehand for about 1,5 weeks with about 2,75% salt (some of which had nitrite added).

Unfortunately at saturday night my esp32 controller failed(I wasn't home but it is supposed to send data to google drive, which it stopped doing at this time), so the fridge was off from 23:00 on saturday until monday 12:00 when I noticed that no data had been sent and remotely turned on the fridge again. Also the small humidifier module I have in there have been active the same time, making the humidity about 90%.

So, can I save the meats? I took one one, smelled it and it doesn't smell bad at all. The outside was pretty moist due to the high humidity, but no surface mold visible. I also cut it open and it didn't seem bad on the inside. What do you guys think?

TLDR: Controller failed and my cured (not dried) pork belly and pork jowl hang for about 32 hours in room temperature, with about 90% humidity present. Doesn't smell bad or have mold. Can I save it?

I’m planning to make some chicken liver pate to bring to a thanksgiving I’m attending and have been looking at a few different recipes. I have an older pate & terrine book from the 70s (before most people had food processors in their home, i think) and most of the recipes direct you to marinate the livers ahead of time, then grind and finally cook the mixture in a water bath. My more modern books have recipes that instruct you to first sear the raw livers on the stovetop, then blend up your mixture and put it into a mold.

So what are the pros/cons to each way? I’ve made terrine de campagne before a few times - grinding everything and then cooking via sous vide. I’d be happy to sous vide this pate as well.

I saw this recipe, which sounds delicious but not sure I want to do this much straining: https://imbibemagazine.com/recipe/bestias-chicken-liver-pate-recipe/

Would love some other suggestions of recipes you’ve tried and liked - I also want to make a port jelly to go on top of the pate. Do you do the marinade in advance? Grind up raw and then cook? Sear the raw livers on the stovetop??

Thanks

We made 5 pounds of Calabrese salami and 5 pounds of lemon pistachio salami. We used 2 guys and a cooler recipe. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

So a while back I had a good prosciutto that had a cherry flavor and it was delicious. I just got ahold of some duck breasts and I think the pairing is perfect and want to make them xmas gifts this year. Does anyone has a recipe or a method to get a good cherry infused flavor? All I could find are dried cherries, so i figured if I rehydrate them and toss a decent bit in while they cure that would work? Any suggestions welcomed!

I have 2 batches of Mangalitsa Lardo going

Batch #1 was cured in salt and spices for 2 weeks then hung in my cool basement

Batch #2 is still in the fridge vac packed with salt and spices, it will go for 4 months

I saw a few different ways and decided to try both. Now I have the batch #1 hanging, I can’t find the video that showed how to do it. I’m not sure how long to hang before I try it.

Wanted to make some for an expat, but I cannot find a recipe. Does anyone have anything?

I can fake it with fatty pork, nutmeg, and pepper, but would like more info since I've never had them.

I was trying to do some curing this week, and the last time I attempted to make Maple Bacon, I was a little disappointed with the turnout. So I used more maple syrup this time.

975 gram of pork belly

20 grams of Kosher salt 9 grams of brown sugar 3 grams of curing salt. And then 1/2 a cup of maple syrup.

I guess I'm paranoid that I made a marinade, rather than a cure. The next day I added a a quarter cup of water and another teaspoon of kosher salt to be safe. But yeah, just worried I may invite too much bacteria to the pork belly. Sorry for bugging the group with a dumb question.

So I have been hanging this salami for almost 49 days. The weight dropped around 34%. I’m curious why mold has not grow properly and also the skin has a slight slime to it. I don’t know is it safe to continue? I tried to stick a needle in and smell it, it smells like lap choung (from vietnam)

Note that I have made salamis before and it turned out great. Mold grew beautifully.

For this salami particularly the only thing I change differently is sugar to dextrose.

Or just tell me about it. Where’s your charcuterie journey at. What incredible molds have you accidentally discovered. I wanna hear it all.

Hi all.

Me and my friend tried to make our first salami last weekend,

to store it I created a box using some multiwall policarbonate and sealed the sides using silicon.

I think I sealed the box quite well since I didnt want bugs or dust getting to the meat ( i will leave it in the shed).

So my "problem" is that since sunday (4 days now) it didn't loose any weight.

Is it normal ? or is the box too closed and I need some fresh air?

Thank you all in advance

First time curing meat, went with a cost effective cut.

Cured in wine fridge at 12c and 75% humidity for 22 days. Starting weight 288g and final weight 172g. Light white mold on it when I took it out but washed this off.

How does it look? Any tips? Currently have it vacuum sealed and in the fridge to equalize the moisture.

What starter culture are you using for curing salami? Preferably from the Sausage Maker.

Going by consumption statistics, I feel it'd be nearly impossible to produce that amount of cured pepperoni in the US of A. So I'm guessing it's cooked? Or both? Would anyone have an idea how it's made and what would be its recipe?