Charcuterie Thread

[Fatback Joe]

Would interior dimensions of 33" high, 21 1/2" width, 21" deep be big enough for me to get started with to make a chamber? If not, what would be recommended dimensions?

It would be a good starting point. To me, if the meat will fit in it, it is big enough. :becky:

Also, I have found that the smaller chamber you will be battling high humidity when you first put something in and it is giving off moisture.

Good luck and welcome to the addiction.

 

[Fatback Joe]

Revival of the thread reminded me of my recent pull from the chamber.

Bresaola - 35% weight loss or so.

 

[harleykids]

Yes, it will work for starting out, no problem at all.

Here is the best charcuterie and sausage forum on the planet, visit there and search under "chamber" for curing/drying chamber builds.

http://www.wedlinydomowe.pl/en/

Jason

Harleykids

 

[harleykids]

Fat back Joe,

Most of your salumi don't have the typical white mold on them...how do you keep the mold off while it is hanging in your chamber? I know the mold is a good thing, but if a guy wants no mold on his salumi and.whole.muscle cuts, how.do you keep the white mold from growing? Thx

 

[newtwoq]

To me, if the meat will fit in it, it is big enough. :becky:

I guess that was the crux of my question, I know the most important dimension is the height, would 33" be tall enough for most cuts and salami? The W and D would just be how much can be hanging at one time.

Also, I have found that the smaller chamber you will be battling high humidity when you first put something in and it is giving off moisture.

When you say smaller, what would you consider the cut point between smaller and good sized?

My thoughts were to have the freezer hooked up to an STC-1000, have a humidity controller like the HM-40 hooked up to an ultrasonic humidifier, then to have a reptile ceramic lamp constantly on to keep the humidity stable, unless there is the ability with the HM-40 to cycle it like the STC-1000. But, I was thinking that if I kept the lamp constantly on, then it would battle the humidity by cycling the freezer more often thus running the fan.

 

[newtwoq]

http://www.wedlinydomowe.pl/en/

Jason

Harleykids

Thanks for the link!

 

[Fatback Joe]

Not doing anything in particular, I don't use any kind of stuff like bactoferm, etc. I was getting to where most everything had a good mold going then my chamber crapped out and in starting up the new one it was intermittent at best. Just getting back to where everything has some going on it (like the bresaola above). Most of the ones that I see that have a heavy mold were dipped or sprayed with a solution.

If you are doing something that you really don't want mold on, just wipe it down with vinegar or wine on a regular basis and it will keep things in check. If it is a whole muscle cut, you can just put it in a bung and then remove that when it is ready.

Hope that helps..........I guess mold isn't something I am too concerned with, if it gets it, great, if it doesn't that is fine too. I would be lying if I said I could tell a difference in the finished product.

Oh..and the cotto earlier in the thread was not fermented/aged so no mold on that.

Fat back Joe,

Most of your salumi don't have the typical white mold on them...how do you keep the mold off while it is hanging in your chamber? I know the mold is a good thing, but if a guy wants no mold on his salumi and.whole.muscle cuts, how.do you keep the white mold from growing? Thx

 

[Fatback Joe]

Oh hell, I don't know, I guess when I typed that, I was thinking the smaller as the dorm size, small wine cooler and larger/good sized to be a regular full size kitchen fridge.

In any case, it looks like you have a good plan from what you posted. You will just have to tweak it a little to get it dialed in. I just remember when I first started I let my chamber run empty for a while and thought I had it all figured out. When I added my first product, the humidity shot up and stayed up and frustrated the hell out of me.

When you say smaller, what would you consider the cut point between smaller and good sized?

My thoughts were to have the freezer hooked up to an STC-1000, have a humidity controller like the HM-40 hooked up to an ultrasonic humidifier, then to have a reptile ceramic lamp constantly on to keep the humidity stable, unless there is the ability with the HM-40 to cycle it like the STC-1000. But, I was thinking that if I kept the lamp constantly on, then it would battle the humidity by cycling the freezer more often thus running the fan.

 

[newtwoq]

Oh hell, I don't know, I guess when I typed that, I was thinking the smaller as the dorm size, small wine cooler and larger/good sized to be a regular full size kitchen fridge.

In any case, it looks like you have a good plan from what you posted. You will just have to tweak it a little to get it dialed in. I just remember when I first started I let my chamber run empty for a while and thought I had it all figured out. When I added my first product, the humidity shot up and stayed up and frustrated the hell out of me.

Haha fair enough!

 

[robinfresno]

Just want to offer a big thanks to all you guys in the thread. This thread initially got me to look into getting a meat grinder and sausage stuffer. Recently I made my first batch of Andouille after some success with bacon. Looking forward to getting a curing fridge setup in the near future.

This was made following the nolacusine recipe using weight for cure #1 as opposed to eyeballing it. Also used some smoked Spanish paprika a friend brought back from Spain. After stuffing I let it hang overnight. I cold smoked it for 5 hours with an amazen tray using his pitmaster's blend of hickory/maple/cherry and then hot smoked it at 180-200 with some kbb and pecan wood chunks until it hit 152f internal. Chilled it in a bucket of ice water, dried it and let it hang overnight in the fridge.

 

[Fatback Joe]

Oh man, that looks good!

 

[Shagdog]

Pepperoni

 

[Fatback Joe]

Berkshire leg that has been hanging since the end of November. Once every couple of months I check on it and make sure nothing too funky is up and give us a good cleaning.



Gave it a wash down with some red wine.



Sealed it up with a mix of lard, rice flour, and black pepper to slow down the wieght loss while it continues to age. Going to try to leave it alone until Christmas.

 

[Shagdog]

Chorizo, Pepperoni, bastardo

 

[Melissaredhead]

This is amazing. There should be a Throwdown scheduled where you document the process and the turn in date is like 6 months later.

 

[Footy]

Oh great, now my wife is going to think I'm even crazier for wanting to make charcuterie at home, oh well the cold storage side of the basement needs to be cleaned this weekend anyways.

 

[CakeM1x]

Lookin good! I have some guanciale and coppa close to finishing hopefully in a week or 2. Can't wait!

 

[Redleg71]

Ok, I am gonna give this a try but have a few questions.

I do not plan on intitally building a chamber. Im just gonna hang them in the unfinished part of my basement / mechanical storage room. That being the temp dowm there is usually around 70 degrees. My wife will freak ......

a. Does it smell up the house?
b. What about attracting rodents?

Also Ive researched the UMAI dry products. Seems expensive; will i have succes going bare basic to start?

Thanks

 

[Fatback Joe]

Ok, I am gonna give this a try but have a few questions.

I do not plan on intitally building a chamber. Im just gonna hang them in the unfinished part of my basement / mechanical storage room. That being the temp dowm there is usually around 70 degrees. My wife will freak ......

a. Does it smell up the house?
b. What about attracting rodents?

Also Ive researched the UMAI dry products. Seems expensive; will i have succes going bare basic to start?

Thanks

That is a little warmer than "recommended" but I would give it a shot at that temp. I started just out in the basement like that as well, but it stayed cooler. How humid is it? Keep a small fan going for some air flow.

In my experience of doing that, it did not smell up the house, but I only did a handful of things before I switched to a chamber......probably will depend on what you are making. I hung a ham in my basement for 6+ months and it turned out fine.

I had no issue with rodents. YMMV

Good luck and welcome to the addiction.

 

[Redleg71]

What were your first attempts?