soppressata first time.

[Nickst88]

Hey guys I'm new to curing meats. I made some soppressata last weekend and I converted a wine cooler into a curing chamber. I noticed that my soppressata is smelling a little funny. Is this normal in the curing stages? I have the temperature set for 50 deg F. And humidity around 70% so I'm think I'm doing okay. Or maybe it could be my ingredients such as the red wine or my pepper paste. Any tips or information would be appreciated. Thanks nick

 

[William656]

Congrats on getting started. Unfortunately there needs to be a lot more information here to help you out. What kind of meat did you use (commodity pork, heritage pork from a small farm...), did you use a bacterial starter (what kind, what temp, what humidity, how long), did you keep all your meats at a reasonable temp during processing (ideally below 41 degF), did you spray them with a mold culture? Let's start with those...

Cheers!

 

[passedpawn]

Unless mold has breached the casing, I'm surprised you can smell them at all. If you've got a bacterial starter in there and it's lowering the pH properly, you should be OK.

Mmm, you might be smelling the alcohol coming out of the sausage as it dries. I think I had some wine in some pepperoni I made last year, but I don't remember it having any particular odor while drying.

 

[wishingiwasfishing]

Hard to say without seeing the entire recipe/procedure. Fermentation can get a bit smelly, but at 50's...you're looking at fermentation lasting a week or so. What's the ph?

Certainly, let it ride...take pictures...take notes. You can learn as much from your failures as from your successes. But, with cured meats...you can benefit from letting things go. If it's bad...it will get worse! Learn to follow the process and see what develops.