Less-than-obvious signs salumi is unsafe to eat?

[Ty520]

Prepping for my first attempt at fermented sausage (spanish chorizo) and was wondering if there are any less-than-obvious indications of a bad cure that would make it unsafe to eat (as opposed to the obvious signs like slime or green/black mold on the surface)

 

[jtratcliff]

Feed it to the least useful family member.... If they make it thru the next few days, it's probably ok...

 

[Jayjay1976]

Feed it to the least useful family member.... If they make it thru the next few days, it's probably ok...

Or, feed it to the least useful member of this thread.

 

[jtratcliff]

Oh... Wait... That might be me...

 

[Dland]

If it smells OK, it maybe it is, nothing wrong with frying it up nice to be sure.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Did you follow a recipe? Anything go wrong in making it that leads you to believe it might be unsafe?

 

[Ty520]

nothing as of yet - still waiting for it to drop to proper weight - taking f.o.r.e.v.e.r.

It was just a thought that popped into my mind after reading through some blogs on troubleshooting and knowing when a cure is done. Especially regarding excessive case hardening that can retard inner drying, which wouldn't necessarily reveal any spoilage? Would this reveal itself after cutting it open? (bad smell, rot, etc?)

Seems like there is some variation on what is an "acceptable" final weight loss - some recommend min 25%, up to 40%, and everything in between? From what I've read, getting a pH of 5.3 is the minimum threshold regardless of weight loss? Does that apply to whole muscle as well as salumi?

 

[passedpawn]

nothing as of yet - still waiting for it to drop to proper weight - taking f.o.r.e.v.e.r.

It was just a thought that popped into my mind after reading through some blogs on troubleshooting and knowing when a cure is done. Especially regarding excessive case hardening that can retard inner drying, which wouldn't necessarily reveal any spoilage? Would this reveal itself after cutting it open? (bad smell, rot, etc?)

Seems like there is some variation on what is an "acceptable" final weight loss - some recommend min 25%, up to 40%, and everything in between? From what I've read, getting a pH of 5.3 is the minimum threshold regardless of weight loss? Does that apply to whole muscle as well as salumi?

First, you really want the pH to drop fast. For that reason, typically you add some sort of culture (e.g., BactoFerm T-SPX ) and let it go crazy at room temp for a couple of days - or better, get it up in the 90's. Low pH will protect the meat from spoiling during the 3 weeks why it drys out. It's a good idea to make a two stubbys (short sausages). Open one after a week and measure the pH (if you have a meter).

Periodically spraying with a beneficial mold protects the outside skin from infections that can eat through the casing and ruin your prize. I use Penicillium nalgiovense / Mold-600. And, when hanging, don't let the sausages touch each other. Places where the touch each other will stay damp, and you will get bad mold to grow there. Bad mold is black or blue or green. Don't want that. Places where there are fat chunks touching the casing won't develop mold of any kind, but that's OK.

Once you're in the drying phase, humidity is key. use another stubby for monitoring the mass during the drying. If your humidity is too low, the outside of the sausage will dry out too fast, get hard, and the center will never harden - this is "case hardening" and is a very common and fatal problem. If the humidity is too high, then of course it never seems to dry out. I kept mine about 70% RH.

If you do everything right, you'll have an awesome treat

 

[passedpawn]

Just re-read my post above, sorry for the typos. Middle of a work day, rushed through it.

To the OP, thought I'd add, I sorta improvised a method of adding a pepper coating. I LOVE peppered salami. If you're interested in that, look here: Salami (Finocchiona) - curing in the Chamber of Meatiness

 

[DuncB]

@passedpawn
Had a bit of a shock at first glance of the stubby with pH meter in, thought it was a maggot coming out of the sausage base. You were stringing me along though.
Nice looking sausages when viewed correctly.

 

[passedpawn]

@passedpawn
Had a bit of a shock at first glance of the stubby with pH meter in, thought it was a maggot coming out of the sausage base. You were stringing me along though.
Nice looking sausages when viewed correctly.

butchers twine haha.