tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55850017056091059252024-03-14T02:26:30.903-07:00The Charcuterie AdventureMy culinary adventure and its transition through the art of charcuterieRosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04002382796149598594noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585001705609105925.post-26542814516313947902016-10-10T02:06:00.000-07:002016-10-12T04:29:28.761-07:00Gluten Free Sausages<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The beauty of making your own sausages is being able to have 100% control of what goes in. Many commercial sausages have grains incorporated as binders, extenders etc. This typically brings gluten into the mix. A number of commercial spices also contain gluten (I only learned this recently).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am fortunate enough not to have a gluten intolerance. Others not so lucky generally don't get to tuck into good old pork sausages (porkies). Hence I decided to make a batch of gluten free porkies for a family lunch the weekend.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Although in all likelihood most if not all of my homemade sausages are gluten free, I was just more aware of not adding any ingredient containing gluten.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The recipe for these was a simple batch of pork trimming cubed and mixed with:</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Salt</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">coarse milled black pepper</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Chopped fresh Sage</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">minced Garlic fried in a little butter</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Chopped fresh thyme leaves</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Chopped fresh chives</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After giving this mix a couple of hours in the fridge for the flavours to infuse, the mix was ground, mixed well (±2 minutes in Kenwood Mixer) with iced water then stuffed and ready to braai and add to the lunch menu. I like to make sausages the day before to allow them to stand in the fridge for flavours to properly blend. </span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">I also prefer to cook my garlic a little before adding; this changes the taste completely and removes any pungent garlic undertone.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rKpBWImOu6g/V_tWS0GhE2I/AAAAAAAAk6g/TI2rqR8MzSM0xZdIwAN5K65yeMsQy3PQACEw/s1600/Gluten%2BFree%2Bporkies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rKpBWImOu6g/V_tWS0GhE2I/AAAAAAAAk6g/TI2rqR8MzSM0xZdIwAN5K65yeMsQy3PQACEw/s640/Gluten%2BFree%2Bporkies.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Freshly stuffed gluten free pork sausages</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This was served with a little pot of warm home made sweet jalapeno chilli chutney </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JIG5ckkrro4/V_tWSDVy43I/AAAAAAAAk6c/mn2kYzAKUGoM0z38IZ1FhcEUEb7qHLaYACLcB/s1600/Gluten%2BFree%2BPorkies%2B3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JIG5ckkrro4/V_tWSDVy43I/AAAAAAAAk6c/mn2kYzAKUGoM0z38IZ1FhcEUEb7qHLaYACLcB/s640/Gluten%2BFree%2BPorkies%2B3.JPG" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Porkies off the braai</b></span></td></tr>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04002382796149598594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585001705609105925.post-3057752384349000172016-09-11T22:48:00.004-07:002016-09-12T02:07:32.557-07:00Logo time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Part of improving my charcuterie skills involves the distribution of (mostly the giving away of) the successful products to friends and family. This is part of what makes this an expensive venture but allows you to get critical feedback on what you have right and what you need to improve on.<br />
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For me, critical constructive criticism is worth ten times someone just saying "wow, its great" unless of course it is just great.<br />
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To this end I decided it is time to create a logo so I hit the drawing board and came up with this:<br />
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What do you think?<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B5_trM3mOQs/V8fkGb2a9lI/AAAAAAAAkdc/E0KC7dqSxBIWszr4j8rBt2P4r9LanfpwQCLcB/s1600/Logo%2B2014%2BCleaned%2BBrown.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B5_trM3mOQs/V8fkGb2a9lI/AAAAAAAAkdc/E0KC7dqSxBIWszr4j8rBt2P4r9LanfpwQCLcB/s320/Logo%2B2014%2BCleaned%2BBrown.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is the logo in action (note, date corrected. gosh, how time has flown since my first cured bacon):<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wzTejdH_6UI/V8flPLs-8bI/AAAAAAAAkdw/miACQKeWb4E6HCdKDDhPJuSvs41qYoo1gCLcB/s1600/Cabanossil%2Blabelled%2Bvertical.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wzTejdH_6UI/V8flPLs-8bI/AAAAAAAAkdw/miACQKeWb4E6HCdKDDhPJuSvs41qYoo1gCLcB/s640/Cabanossil%2Blabelled%2Bvertical.JPG" width="233" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PQVtGSbylS8/V8flPK7YEYI/AAAAAAAAkds/3pHN8HLM1h4kYbHNWpJkvvXxzUTkyDnJACLcB/s1600/Cabanossil%2Blabelled%2Bvertical%2B2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PQVtGSbylS8/V8flPK7YEYI/AAAAAAAAkds/3pHN8HLM1h4kYbHNWpJkvvXxzUTkyDnJACLcB/s640/Cabanossil%2Blabelled%2Bvertical%2B2.JPG" width="360" /></a></div>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04002382796149598594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585001705609105925.post-18403133124798613422016-09-01T23:23:00.000-07:002016-10-31T03:00:46.855-07:00Salami<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At the same time as making Chorizo, I made a batch of Salami. These I stuffed into artificial casings - the only salami size casings I could find.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When using these casings, soak them for a couple of minutes. I pretty much just wet them for a few seconds as I wasn't sure. This worked fine but soaking is probably better. I must say, these casings were easy to use and worked very well.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-osSMsAwKjUQ/V8ZyzbDNlsI/AAAAAAAAkbc/PDfVCSlIpiU_RnH7tagU1erbtmWwrIXOQCLcB/s1600/Salami%2BCasings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="385" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-osSMsAwKjUQ/V8ZyzbDNlsI/AAAAAAAAkbc/PDfVCSlIpiU_RnH7tagU1erbtmWwrIXOQCLcB/s640/Salami%2BCasings.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Artificial Salami Casings</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The recipe I followed for this is a basic Milano salami recipe. I am not sure where this originates so I am not posting it here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is a fermented salami in which I used 3% salt for curing and safety along with the required prague powder addition for safety and CHR Hansens Bactoferm TD-66 as a fermenting bacteria and then sprayed on CHR Hansen MOLD-600 to get the good mold growing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Right or wrong, I added the Bactoferm TD-66 to some distilled water a few minutes before using and to help distribute it evenly through the meat mix. This seemed to work OK.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Mold-600 I made up in a clean spray bottle with tepid distilled water a couple of ours ahead of using. This was sprayed on when hanging.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I wasnt sure how much to "work" the meat after grinding so in error kept this to a minimum. I have since found I should be almost kneading the meat before hand. Next time I will mix this in the Kenwood mixer as I do with fresh sausages.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stuffing the casings was easier than I thought. These stuffed really well and were firm with no air pockets at all. I tied them off with a </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WERbWpQAdmI" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">bubble knot</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. There are some other knots if you google it. You should do a proper knot like one of these to prevent your salami slipping out over time if you hang it from that side. don't forget to prick the casing lots all over with a sterilised needle or sausage pricker.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b9HYOLL58XE/V8ZyzabzmBI/AAAAAAAAkbo/7utvVgXf5UoHuf1P7fmdU8CHj5yA1vYSACEw/s1600/Salami%2BHanging.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b9HYOLL58XE/V8ZyzabzmBI/AAAAAAAAkbo/7utvVgXf5UoHuf1P7fmdU8CHj5yA1vYSACEw/s640/Salami%2BHanging.jpg" width="456" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Salami labelled and hanging</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I hung this initially at around 20°C and 90% RH (See the <a href="http://thecharcuterieadventure.blogspot.co.za/search/label/Chorizo1" target="_blank">Chorizo</a> post for the temperature ranges and times etc. This was hung together so the same conditions prevailed); then 15°C and 75 to 80% RH</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After 48 hours the mold was starting to grow well.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VvQvrlN7ay8/V8Zyzh_8duI/AAAAAAAAkbo/79lwtgBynxwEreJdQgKwJIxPfG6fXTlvwCEw/s1600/Salami%2Bmould%2B48%2Bhours%2B003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VvQvrlN7ay8/V8Zyzh_8duI/AAAAAAAAkbo/79lwtgBynxwEreJdQgKwJIxPfG6fXTlvwCEw/s400/Salami%2Bmould%2B48%2Bhours%2B003.jpg" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Mold at 48 hours</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Within a week there was a really good mold covering. It got even thicker after that.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M-caF5Zsonc/V8ZyzWfuZ4I/AAAAAAAAkbo/fYf4MJjtzwMlaQV0EVUHc-dIIUnUVQUZwCEw/s1600/Salami%2Bmould%2B1%2Bweek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M-caF5Zsonc/V8ZyzWfuZ4I/AAAAAAAAkbo/fYf4MJjtzwMlaQV0EVUHc-dIIUnUVQUZwCEw/s400/Salami%2Bmould%2B1%2Bweek.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Mold at 1 week</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Over time I carefully checked for any other "bad mold". On a couple of occasions in the early weeks some fluffy mold started. This was wiped off with a cloth and some spirit vinegar and never became a problem. No horrible green or black mold was found. I also increased my air movement inside the chamber with the intermittent running of a fan to help prevent bad mold growth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The drying rate is as shown in the log below:</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mnHORaIIiNE/V8e-YgVIuvI/AAAAAAAAkc4/WVf-rClvmnsZW4ggrxC6-Y8UJmPoTj2TACLcB/s1600/Salami%2Bweight%2Blog%2B29%2BAug%2B2016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mnHORaIIiNE/V8e-YgVIuvI/AAAAAAAAkc4/WVf-rClvmnsZW4ggrxC6-Y8UJmPoTj2TACLcB/s640/Salami%2Bweight%2Blog%2B29%2BAug%2B2016.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On hitting the >35% weight loss mark and being eager to see if I would have the texture problems I found with the <a href="http://thecharcuterieadventure.blogspot.co.za/search/label/Chorizo1" target="_blank">Chorizo</a> I sliced open and sampled one of the small Salami.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mcFwniobOJo/V8Z7yJsqmcI/AAAAAAAAkbw/R_D6Os15o_0-WovHRFyIRvCWlC71Mz7mACLcB/s1600/Salami%2BSample%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mcFwniobOJo/V8Z7yJsqmcI/AAAAAAAAkbw/R_D6Os15o_0-WovHRFyIRvCWlC71Mz7mACLcB/s640/Salami%2BSample%2B1.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Salami Sample 1</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In these photo's you can see how well the mold continued to grow as the salami cured. The fat distribution and size is also exactly what I was targeting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The shrinkage around the outside results in a wrinkly skin and when peeling the casing off the meat does tend to stick slightly to the casing.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kumHRWydxI0/V8Z7ykFMydI/AAAAAAAAkb8/E-Gkp8fu0zEijCXv7AIxHCzgFzoDr2aegCEw/s1600/Salami%2BSample%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kumHRWydxI0/V8Z7ykFMydI/AAAAAAAAkb8/E-Gkp8fu0zEijCXv7AIxHCzgFzoDr2aegCEw/s640/Salami%2BSample%2B2.jpg" width="372" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>First slices close up</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Results:</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Texture:</b> OK. I wouldn't say perfect but a lot better than my Chorizo. This was a relief and somewhat a surprise. The texture certainly doesn't have any of my of my chorizo raw meat texture problems evident. Absolutely no case hardening is happening so the air flow, temp and humidity seem OK. Looking closely at the meat around the fat you can clearly see the error I made of not massaging / mixing the meat up properly before stuffing. Despite having read so much before making this first batch I slipped on this one and only got that clear in my head the next day. I suspect this is causing a lot of my problems. Next time the mixture gets a good mixing before stuffing (much like fresh sausage mixing).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here is a close up showing hot the meat is more like compressed mince meat rather then typical salami:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8w7jeEBLGBo/V8fHwgp5YjI/AAAAAAAAkdI/e4Q_EAqjvUUxBCsDzAIIZaYWzpWhQSrQACLcB/s1600/Salami%2Bclose%2Bup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8w7jeEBLGBo/V8fHwgp5YjI/AAAAAAAAkdI/e4Q_EAqjvUUxBCsDzAIIZaYWzpWhQSrQACLcB/s640/Salami%2Bclose%2Bup.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Close up of salami</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Taste:</b> Well, this is two fold. The salami flavour is great. The black pepper has added a good spicy zing to the meat. The only problem is there is a slight "Oven Cleaner" taste which is left in your mouth. This is definitely not a taste associated with rancidity so I was not worried about that. The smell is also fine from a health perspective, nothing going bad. Reading up on the web there are a number of comments around ammonia being produced - Aaaah light on, this is the taste I am getting. In addition to this, although the mold is not said to impart any flavour; I can definitely taste the mold. This is much like the mold taste when eating a nice Brie or Camembert cheese; not a bad thing but definitely there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">From my exploring on the topic some say the salami just needs to breath a bit to allow the ammonia to dissipate. To help with this I skinned the balance of the salami and hung it back up again for a couple of days (apparently it should breath out in a few minutes - I doubt that so went with a couple of days)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The result of this: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Better but still not a great taste. I still get a bit of the ammonia flavour coming through and a strong mold flavour. I have now put this in a brown paper bag in my normal fridge to give it a week or so.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Update to come on that result. No great expectations though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I also found a comment on </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage-types/fermented-sausage" target="_blank">www.meatsandsausages.com</a> where they say " Salamis with mold will have a distinctive cheesy-moldy flavor " I guess this part is then normal. Its also not an unpleasant flavour like the ammonia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am going to continue to let the Salami dry some more. I'll expand here as I go</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lessons learned:</span></h4>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mix the meat properly to the right texture before stuffing.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Don't open the fridge to find one of your ingredients left there (the beef portion) after stuffing and cleaning up. It's a lot of work to de-stuff, combine and re-stuff then clean up all over again!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Don't do a 4,5kg batch on your first attempt. if it goes wrong as it likely may, its a lot of waste.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I would like to get less mold growing next time (less of the good mold, while still none of the bad). I'm not sure if this is possible, I shall have to test.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Don't get disheartened - try again using what you have learned</span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Absolute final results:</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rather disappointed. I ultimately threw it all away. The taste did improve a bit but not nearly to the point of it being enjoyable. The "oven cleaner" ammonia side dissipated a lot at the end (3 months after stuffing) which is interesting. </span>
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">The big one I sliced was the best of the lot. I am not sure the influence of size on taste etc. or if this was just luck. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">I'll try again for sure but need to wait until after the heat of summer and December break.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">For interest, final weight loss leveled out at 45% loss. to get this lower I guess I would have to lower the humidity. No real need though.</span><br />
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04002382796149598594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585001705609105925.post-61943140033192714292016-08-14T02:24:00.000-07:002016-08-14T02:24:03.096-07:00Scales<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Working with weights is far more accurate and repeatable than working with volumes. This especially holds true when curing and adding curing agents in the correct proportions. This is also important when looking for repeatability in the addition of dried herbs and spices into things like a simple fresh country sausage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ideally there are 3 size scales worth having in the kitchen</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">0 - 10kg with an accuracy of 50g or better (most would be better*)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">0 - 5kg with an accuracy of 10g (also most are better*) </span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">0 - 100g with an accuracy of 0.1g (most to 0.01g)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">*Just because a scale shows a 1g accuracy on the display. this does not necessarily make it accurate to one gram</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Out of all of these and unless you are planning on doing somethign large scale, the only one you can get away without is the 10kg scale.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The last on this list is typically marketed as a jewelers scale and this is why you need it:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Prague powder is a blend of sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate chrystals at somewhere around 10% blended in sodium chloride (table salt) which has been coloured pink for safety - if it weren't coloured and you confuse it with table salt you could very easily kill yourself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">With Prague powder (NOTE this is for the one I purchase, different suppliers may have different blends) you are looking at an addition rate of 0.375% of the mass of the meat. Lets say you are curing a half belly slab of bacon at 1,32kg. This will require the addition of 4.875g Prague powder into the cure. you cannot measure this accurately with a 5kg digital kitchen scale.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YK7cqXcZgpc/V62cYzk35yI/AAAAAAAAkFo/aLPTESKOO4MCRzaXNHdeixde59zJii1rACLcB/s1600/Scale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YK7cqXcZgpc/V62cYzk35yI/AAAAAAAAkFo/aLPTESKOO4MCRzaXNHdeixde59zJii1rACLcB/s640/Scale.jpg" width="355" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jewelers scale with Prague powder</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another mod I have done with one of my 5kg scales to allow me to weigh hanging meat (like Salami) reducing contact with any contaminating surfaces:</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Frame to hang salami under scale</span></td></tr>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04002382796149598594noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585001705609105925.post-385434221581591882016-08-13T05:41:00.000-07:002016-08-13T05:41:40.172-07:00Cabanossi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Having last made a batch of cabanossi cured dried sausage two years ago it was time to do this again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cabanossi is a very popular South African snack. This is a variant on "Kabanos" which originates from Poland (Kabanosy -plural). It is a cured and dried sausage snack stick which is also smoked and has a wonderful flavour. Anything this rich and fattening must be good.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My first round of doing this involved making a 7kg batch using a Kenwood Chef with a mincing attachment. Although the end result come out well, this process felt like it took all day and the Kenwood got really hot. The mincing feeder (the spiral screw inside the mincer) also kept jamming up with the fat having to be stripped and cleaned and the fat got more mushed than I would have liked even being kept almost frozen. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As the flavour was so incredible I used the same mix this round. This involves the use of a Crown National Cabanossi batch pack. This includes all the spices, flavours and curing agent (Prague powder). I may make my own spice mix at some point in time but this is so delicious and easy I stuck with it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Using a large mincer (TK-12 mincer which does 150kg/h) and decent stuffer (5L vertical) makes this a very easy process. As you mince the batch 3 times, don't attempt this with a large batch and small equipment - trust me, lesson learned. The texture was also better this round with more mincing, less mushing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What I learned</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The main reason for this post is to share what I learned and what the process looks like when it looks wrong but is actually OK. When making the first batch I was sure things were going horribly wrong as the colour was a bland white fatty greasy looking mess. I was worried but had nothing to lose to keep going. I am thankful I did. Going through the process below you will see what I mean and how this turns out in the end (worth it)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ingredients (7.5kg batch)</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1.5kg Pork leg trimmings 80/20 (80% meat, 20% fat)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3.5kg Beef trimmings 90/10</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2.25kg Pork back fat (Spek)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Crown Cabanossi batch pack to suit</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sheep skin casings</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">250ml iced water</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Method</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is the fun part. Remember, your meat must be extremely cold and kept that way between grinds. Your back fat should be almost frozen. Your mincing equipment must be freezing cold. The Crown guideline is to return your meat to 0°C between mincing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pre-mince your beef and pork trimmings through your 8mm plate into a BIG tub.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Separately mince your back fat through a 5mm plate then put it in the freezer until needed (don't however go out to lunch now, you want the fat semi frozen, not completely frozen).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Add your spice batch with your included prague powder to your minced beef and pork trimmings, mix well then mince this mix through your 5mm mincing plate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Add your pre-minced back fat to this along with the iced water and mix it through. This is what you should have:</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Blend before final mincing (its ±40% fat)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You now mince this batch through your 5mm mincing plate. This leaves you with a rather white and horrid looking mix (through the Kenwood it looked like white slop):</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Final mix before stuffing</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stuffing, setting, smoking and drying</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Its now time to stuff this lot into sheep skin casings:</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cabanossi before colour setting in on curing</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After stuffing, put into a closed container in the fridge overnight to help giving the curing agents a chance to get active then into your cold smoker for around 3 hours.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MfEYGzLjsQM/V61-zjDuYoI/AAAAAAAAkFI/s2BddQcroPcZ6ULTWW55HZ22oPOXBKANACLcB/s1600/Cabanossi%2BSmoking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="419" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MfEYGzLjsQM/V61-zjDuYoI/AAAAAAAAkFI/s2BddQcroPcZ6ULTWW55HZ22oPOXBKANACLcB/s640/Cabanossi%2BSmoking.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cold Smoking for 2,5 to 3 hours (Smoked with European Beech)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After smoking, hang in your biltong drying cabinet. It will take about a week to ten days to cure and dry. The colour shall start going pink after a day of drying. This was a huge relief first time round. When done the skin should crack when bitten or bent and the inside should have a wonderful cured texture and not taste "fatty" on your pallet; this is due to the change the fat undergoes during curing.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--fiP1jm6NkI/V62BzADGLaI/AAAAAAAAkFY/osLC50Z-uwMQtnrc41a47DXayUCofVnogCLcB/s1600/hanging%2Bto%2Bcure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--fiP1jm6NkI/V62BzADGLaI/AAAAAAAAkFY/osLC50Z-uwMQtnrc41a47DXayUCofVnogCLcB/s640/hanging%2Bto%2Bcure.jpg" width="372" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Colour starting to set in after 24 hours hanging</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When drying and curing, keep your temperatures fairly low; not much above 20°C. This gives your sausage time to cure while drying.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Colour changes</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On my first round the fat got slightly over worked and made the initial sausage much whiter than this batch. This was scary as I thought I had wasted a huge amount of time and money.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fortunately this was not the case. The sausage starts pretty white / bland coloured. There is no change over night in the fridge. There is little to no change when cold smoking. The colour only really starts to set in and go pink after approx 24 hours of hanging and drying. The colour improves over the drying process and the lovely dark pinky brown is only there at the end.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F88u3nZI-UE/V68RyomvghI/AAAAAAAAkJc/NJBu06URrewS4bLgpsTv3vRN1X88uW4ygCLcB/s1600/Dried%2BCabanossi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F88u3nZI-UE/V68RyomvghI/AAAAAAAAkJc/NJBu06URrewS4bLgpsTv3vRN1X88uW4ygCLcB/s640/Dried%2BCabanossi.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Colour change after 1 week</span></td></tr>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04002382796149598594noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585001705609105925.post-44900201215774758152016-08-12T05:40:00.000-07:002016-08-12T05:40:06.351-07:00Salt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As the most important ingredient in curing this deserves some attention.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We cant get "Kosher" Salt in South Africa - well at least not the kosher
salt available in the USA and referred to extensively as the salt of choice in
curing. This led me towards many a session looking into salt to determine what to use etc.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">Three key factors I believe are of utmost importance when selecting the salt to use are:</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17.12px;">Naturally made (i.e by nature not in a chemical factory by man)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17.12px;">The correct crystal size to distribute evenly through your meat</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17.12px;">Knowing how much salt you are adding.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17.12px;"> </span></li>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Naturally made</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">All salt found in nature has at some time originated from the dissolved salt mineralisation in the oceans. Natural salt can therefore be sourced from producers evaporating sea water to crystallise salt or from rock salt mined. This salt will have been formed into underground salt formations millions of years back after trapped sea water evaporated over time in trapped caverns - or </span><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">something</span><span style="line-height: 107%;"> like that.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">I have read </span><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">opinions</span><span style="line-height: 107%;"> on salt produced from the oceans now risking contamination like radiation from Fukushima and other pollutants etc. I have no real opinion on this at this time.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Man made chemical salt (table salt) has a few problems for me - It's unnatural, the </span><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">crystals</span><span style="line-height: 107%;"> are typically too small and there are usually flowing agents, anti-caking agents and often iodine added. I don't want those.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Crystal size</span></span></h4>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You need to be able to evenly distribute your salt through your meat when making salami, Chorizo, fresh sausage etc. To do this effectively it is easier to have the right size salt crystals. From what I have read this is the main reason Kosher salt is selected for use.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">Not being able to purchase Kosher salt locally I started using Maldon see salt (basically a fleur de sel) which I would lightly crush. This distributes well and is a lovely salt. Unfortunately as this is more of a finishing salt it is expensive to use in curing. Solution - I am now using fine ground Himalayan rock salt. This has a chrystal size similar to Kosher salt. It distributes well and I have found this to work very well.</span></span></div>
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<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Addition amount</span></span></h4>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Adding the correct amount of salt is critical to curing. Too little and you can have unnecessary spoilage. Too much and you will have a salty tasting end product.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">The amount of salt required is typically calculated as a percentage of the mass of the final meat product. Hence this is a mass (weight) calculation and not a volumetric calculation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">Different salt's have different bulk density's (weight to
volume ratio or say the weight of a teaspoon of salt), a gram of salt will add
the same amount of saltiness no matter what salt you choose to use. You should therefore
ensure you always calculate the salt requirement on mass and not volume.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Different Salt Crystal Sizes</span></td></tr>
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<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">Pink Salt</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">Prague powder (also known as pink salt) is something completely different. This is a curing agent to help protect against botulism. Although Himalayan rock salt is pink, this is NOT prague powder. Prague powder is a blend of sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite with table salt and pink colouring for safety. This is poisonous in the wrong concentration (the wrong concentration is not very much). As a safety precaution, do not store this where children or other adults can confuse this as a form of table salt and eat it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">Although some people don't believe in using prague powder in curing, my opinion is that I would rather not risk botulism when giving cured meat to family and friends. Botulism kills; I will protect against that. The active ingredients (nitrites and nitrates) occur in natural food sources too so we consume them eating healthy products anyway. Besides these chemicals break down and dissipate over time through the curing process. Common sense and safety.</span></span></div>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04002382796149598594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585001705609105925.post-17860771890546442662016-08-04T04:06:00.003-07:002016-08-04T04:06:38.673-07:00Pork Sausages One<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This last weekend was time to make some more sausages. I followed two recipes this round and then cold smoked half of the second recipe. This is an experiment to see how much smoke flavour I can get into a pork sausage.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">BREAKFAST SAUSAGE WITH FRESH GINGER AND SAGE</span></b></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The first recipe was "BREAKFAST SAUSAGE WITH FRESH GINGER AND SAGE" from the book <b>Charcuterie </b>by<b> Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn</b>. see <a href="http://thecharcuterieadventure.blogspot.co.za/p/books.html" target="_blank">books tab</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Unfortunately I could not find fresh sage and mine has not survived the winter or the puppies so I had to substitute with dried sage. For the rest I followed the recipe closely and must say this is a delicious sausage. I do believe the fresh herb would add another dimension to the flavour - next time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">THYME FLAVOURED SAUSAGE - Half smoked</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The second recipe was a simple sausage focusing on a strong thyme flavour. I also cold smoked half this batch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3kg 80:20 pork shoulder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1tsp garlic powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">8g white pepper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">53g salt (I used fine ground Himalayan rock salt)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3Tbsp Dried Sage</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2tsp onion powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3g dried thyme</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">300ml iced water</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After blending the dry spices with the chopped meat I ground this through the mincer small plate then mixed for about 2 minutes in the electric mixer (Kenwood) adding the water until this was all looking nice and sticky. This was then stuffed into hog casings and linked.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Half this batch was then put into the <a href="http://thecharcuterieadventure.blogspot.co.za/search/label/Cold%20Smoke%20Generator" target="_blank">cold smoker</a> for 2 hours of cold smoke contact. After this the sausages are bagged, tagged and left in the fridge for a day for the smoke and flavours to blend.</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MhUZXaQ16Ys/V59FIqtadYI/AAAAAAAAj2w/EcyW68W-R40bFza_o1FbrbYeXGUMdv9_ACLcB/s1600/Smoking%2BSausages.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MhUZXaQ16Ys/V59FIqtadYI/AAAAAAAAj2w/EcyW68W-R40bFza_o1FbrbYeXGUMdv9_ACLcB/s640/Smoking%2BSausages.JPG" width="393" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The thyme flavour is well pronounced in this sausage. The cold smoke also penetrated well giving this an interesting additional flavour for a fresh sausage. Adding smoke like this to a bacon and cheese sausage would work very well.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The smoke was not a dominant or overpowering flavour but also tamed the thyme somewhat. The cold smoke also didn't make the sausages very rich like I find hot smoking them does.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The texture and flavour here was wonderful and I will definitely add a splash of cold smoke to sausages on occasion going forward.</span><br />
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04002382796149598594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585001705609105925.post-48855237540040863642016-08-01T01:44:00.002-07:002016-08-13T06:12:41.128-07:00Cold Smoke Generator<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cold smoking requires little more than a cardboard box and a way to generate cold smoke. The idea is to be able to expose your cured bacon, salmon or other delicacy to smoke without any heat being added.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have made a couple of different cold smoke generators and having pulled different ideas together would recommend following the sketch below. this allows the most flexibility between free standing or clipping onto the side of you smoker box (you would need a wooden or steel cabinet for this).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As far as materials of construction; Stainless steel is first prize but is expensive. Mild steel is perfectly alright. You can also use copper in the construction. Stay clear of galvanised (Zinc coated) materials for any of it as this can be poisonous.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You need a source of pressurised air connected onto the thin inner tube. The air blowing out the end of the inner pipe causes a venturi suction and pulls air up through your smoldering wood chips and blows the cool smoke out the front.</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NkJhg2tue9I/V58HOdPyFII/AAAAAAAAj1Q/177g2LbhNogbWd5djdQs9tv4AK2dLHV1QCEw/s1600/Cold%2BSmoke%2BGenerator%2B%2Boperating%2Bsketch%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="467" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NkJhg2tue9I/V58HOdPyFII/AAAAAAAAj1Q/177g2LbhNogbWd5djdQs9tv4AK2dLHV1QCEw/s640/Cold%2BSmoke%2BGenerator%2B%2Boperating%2Bsketch%2B2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Having tried both a large compressor at one extreme and a basic fish pond air pump on the other. The fish pond pump is SIGNIFICANTLY better. I was hesitant at first and thought it wouldn't supply enough air flow however in practice still had to slow the pump down as it produced too much air flow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another option is a simple T piece on top of the unit out of copper pipe as per the photo below. I used this successfully on some of my units built. You can see the inner pipe on this too. made of thinner copper tube. Don't get too caught up in exact measurements. I have found that anything close to the scale above that looks right is bound to work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another basic tin option:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Connection to a compressor is not even effective when throttling the air with a ball valve. You can use a compressor as per the photo below to generate a huge amount of smoke. This is however completely unnecessary and also has the disadvantage that you burn lots of wood chips and generate a huge amount of tannin / creosote which are bitter from the high temperature of the wood burning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My current setup - based on the operational principle of the diagram at the beginning of this post is as follows with a basic cardboard box smoking cabinet:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Below is a video with the smoke generator running as I use it (fairly well turned down):</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxzO-6EFZS58rqsTnrx5yFauKTGHBWZx9kpkP2SdhFXR6KmDi56qOJpfphXXNwQ2UBEd9X10tUrdzfOFFOo' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You don't need anything fancy as the smoking cabinet although I would like to build something that I can store outdoors to minimise setup and pack up time. here is an earlier smaller box:</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bacon on the go</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here is some added info on the wood chips I use. I use a lot of beech wood chips. they have a nice well balanced smoke flavour. these are what I use:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here is a <a href="http://www.brandenburg-gruppe.de/en/raeucherspaene/goldspan-smoke/praxistipps/" target="_blank">link to the GOLDSPAN site</a> where they have some interesting information on humidity etc. in your smoking chamber. I need to play with humidity a bit I think</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.brandenburg-gruppe.de/en/raeucherspaene/goldspan-smoke/praxistipps/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dtxoipdt8ZM/V68cB5RU6bI/AAAAAAAAkJ0/oxk4PyoA4J8Ua1bZXdz0NJowBvhQSUB7wCLcB/s640/Wood%2Bchips%2B2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="284" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.brandenburg-gruppe.de/en/raeucherspaene/goldspan-smoke/praxistipps/" target="_blank">beech smoking chips</a></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">close up showing chip size - perfect</span></td></tr>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04002382796149598594noreply@blogger.com13Midstream Estate, Olifantsfontein, 1692, South Africa-25.9102474 28.191253800000027-25.9245299 28.171083800000027 -25.8959649 28.211423800000027tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585001705609105925.post-11751168590578722102016-07-26T04:50:00.001-07:002016-08-01T05:03:40.418-07:00Chicken Liver and Green Olive Pate<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is a very simple and most delicious recipe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1 Large Onion</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">500g free range cleaned chicken livers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">25 to 30 green olives stoned</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">250g farm butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2 plump cloves of garlic crushed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">30ml Brandy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Salt (Fleur de sel is my preference for this)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Freshly ground black pepper</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Method</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Finely chop and fry the onion and garlic in half the butter over a medium heat until soft not browned. Add the chicken livers and fry approximately 5 minutes per side until fully cooked but still slightly pink inside.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Remove the pan from the heat, add the olives, the brandy and balance of the butter. Season well then when the butter has melted, liquidise in a blender until smooth. transfer to your pate dished, smooth off and pour melted butter over to cover.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Refrigerate over night and serve with bread, melba toast, crostini or as you wish.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fried liver off the heat with olives and butter</span></td></tr>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04002382796149598594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585001705609105925.post-72562581842245088222016-07-26T02:23:00.002-07:002016-07-26T02:23:11.732-07:00Temperature and Humidity Control Problems<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This post came about when using a pretty standard curing chamber setup, I found I was having some interesting temperature and humidity control issues. Below describes these issues and how I solved them.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Setup<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As a curing chamber I
modified a fridge following the general guidelines readily available on the web.
My specs are as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Free
standing full fridge unit (no freezer compartment): 360 litre</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Humidifier:
ultrasonic</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Fan
150mm 220V electrical case fan (big brother to a standard computer casing fan)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Hanging
rack – wooden. I will later change this material or paint it.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "symbol"; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Controller:
Lilytech<sup>®</sup> ZL-7801A. This controller has some nice features in that
it can control temperature based on heating (connect it to a heat source) or
cooling (connect to fridge power) it also has two other timer switched outputs.
One is NC (Normally closed) and the other NO (normally open) on the same
circuit so the power effectively toggles between them according to how you set
the time. I’ll get to this more later. Setpoint adjustment is also really
simple with this unit.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Out of interest, this
controller seems to be used typically in the chicken egg incubation industry
where the additional timers are used to turn the eggs over.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XxmfXIEkt7g/V5cXpcescXI/AAAAAAAAjqo/1dAzXoong8gg8uIaCodjGSRLuNQZMQ6kwCLcB/s1600/Curing%2BChamber%2Blabelled%2B90deg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XxmfXIEkt7g/V5cXpcescXI/AAAAAAAAjqo/1dAzXoong8gg8uIaCodjGSRLuNQZMQ6kwCLcB/s640/Curing%2BChamber%2Blabelled%2B90deg.jpg" width="332" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Chamber overview</span></h4>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QbqFJoOweLA/V5cXo1R0J9I/AAAAAAAAjqg/VrAWI1gOtgsq9rcKf1hNoit-GIz3OKnSwCEw/s1600/Controller%2Bmounted%2B90%2Bdeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QbqFJoOweLA/V5cXo1R0J9I/AAAAAAAAjqg/VrAWI1gOtgsq9rcKf1hNoit-GIz3OKnSwCEw/s640/Controller%2Bmounted%2B90%2Bdeg.jpg" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Control Panel Mount</span></h4>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ztq2PjKa9E4/V5cXpMuz4xI/AAAAAAAAjqk/KekB2sObHsoM2O70hEaHo2hQz4MFNqCpQCEw/s1600/Chamber%2Bcomponents%2B90deg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ztq2PjKa9E4/V5cXpMuz4xI/AAAAAAAAjqk/KekB2sObHsoM2O70hEaHo2hQz4MFNqCpQCEw/s640/Chamber%2Bcomponents%2B90deg.jpg" width="406" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Components</span></h4>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MfWYghsmeBI/V5cP6z5R97I/AAAAAAAAjqA/2Rp0FmpfTMwh2s4hGp_Ut7wYLkZHH9ITQCEw/s1600/Controller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MfWYghsmeBI/V5cP6z5R97I/AAAAAAAAjqA/2Rp0FmpfTMwh2s4hGp_Ut7wYLkZHH9ITQCEw/s400/Controller.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Controller</span></h4>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ambient Weather</span></b></div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some further input to
understanding my initial temperature control problem. I live in Johannesburg
South Africa. It is mid July (middle of winter) typical temperatures are as
follows:</span></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background: #BFBFBF; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 191; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 150.25pt;" valign="top" width="200"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Time
of day<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #BFBFBF; border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 191; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 126.25pt;" valign="top" width="168"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Outside
temps °C<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="background: #BFBFBF; border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 191; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 131.15pt;" valign="top" width="175"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Inside
my garage<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #BFBFBF; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 191; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 150.25pt;" valign="top" width="200"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Daytime high<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 126.25pt;" valign="top" width="168"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Varies 14 to 18<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 131.15pt;" valign="top" width="175"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">10 to 14<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #BFBFBF; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 191; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 150.25pt;" valign="top" width="200"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Typical overnight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 126.25pt;" valign="top" width="168"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Around 8 to 10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 131.15pt;" valign="top" width="175"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">8 to 10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background: #BFBFBF; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 191; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 150.25pt;" valign="top" width="200"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Morning low (the dip
as frost melts)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 126.25pt;" valign="top" width="168"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">0 to 3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 131.15pt;" valign="top" width="175"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Slight dip to about 6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Humidity is low averaging around 35%RH<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When hanging my first
batch of Chorizo and Salami together I put them in the chamber with a heater to
control around 20°C with humidity set point 90% for fermentation then connected
the controller to the fridge and dropped the humidity set point to 80%.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At this time I noticed
significant swings in the humidity and with a little help I added an Arduino
based temperature and humidity monitor with a history trend into the fridge.
For the history trend this is connected to <a href="http://www.blynk.cc/">www.blynk.cc</a>
and trends live on the web so I can check what’s happening any time from
anywhere on a phone app (really cool).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qFf0ff-yyGg/V5cP6P26y8I/AAAAAAAAjqA/YcG5xlhbBSYKM_UsPBamnh3ctvPYIZtlgCEw/s1600/Arduino.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qFf0ff-yyGg/V5cP6P26y8I/AAAAAAAAjqA/YcG5xlhbBSYKM_UsPBamnh3ctvPYIZtlgCEw/s400/Arduino.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h4>
Arduino Temp Humid Monitoring Unit connected through wifi</h4>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Problem</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Adding the trend I
found I hit 100% humidity and even adjusting the set point I could not get it
down. I was also getting a significant discrepancy between the Arduino temperature
probe (even after upgrading to a DH22 probe) and the controllers probe. I did
not have the Arduino probe in an enclosure so may have had dewing on the probe
itself adding to this problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This led me to digging
out dew point charts and I found that for the humidity we are running at and the
temperatures we control to, we are typically within a few degrees of dew point.
The problem I was experiencing was with the dip in temperatures in the early
morning along with my humidifier over shooting the set point due to controller
lag I was dropping below my dew point and had no control over this as I am only
controlling on cooling. I also did not have a fan in the fridge at this point. Fridge
was off however temperature was steadily dropping. Here is a trend of that
data:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tm2ZukIJL0M/V5cYwPdW7OI/AAAAAAAAjq0/krXBs_rZdBMDA6GFX9XSIpErAQXt8D9ogCLcB/s1600/Graph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tm2ZukIJL0M/V5cYwPdW7OI/AAAAAAAAjq0/krXBs_rZdBMDA6GFX9XSIpErAQXt8D9ogCLcB/s640/Graph.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Solution<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Firstly</i> I added a fan
to the same power circuit as the humidifier so this will run with
the humidifier. I also turned down the humidifier to very low. This made little
difference but was necessary for bad mold control anyway (airflow).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Secondly</i> I realised I
needed to add a heat source into the fridge to consistently pull the
temperature above the set point. This way my controller was in charge and not
the ambient temperature. I googled around for ideas on this and the easiest inexpensive solution I found was an incandescent light bulb in a tin (you don’t
want too much light in the fridge – so I believe; although I am still trying to
verify that). For information, a tin with a 100W light bulb, tin foil top and
plastic lid will get so hot that within 5 minutes the lamp fitting and lid will have
melted. So, back to the drawing board.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After some more fiddling, I have settled
on a 60Watt light bulb mounted on a block of wood, wrapped in tin foil and
connected to a dimmer unit to turn this down as low as possible. This has
solved my problem and I am now controlling perfectly with great correlation
between the two units. Less heat would be preferred but this works (maybe a reptile heating pad is the next option)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EE85yobBhMc/V5cP61iYyOI/AAAAAAAAjqA/peBGaEreIo0KH4XKIMyp-5jv_NE-JbFPACEw/s1600/Heat%2Bsource.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EE85yobBhMc/V5cP61iYyOI/AAAAAAAAjqA/peBGaEreIo0KH4XKIMyp-5jv_NE-JbFPACEw/s400/Heat%2Bsource.jpg" width="146" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h4>
Foil wrapped light heater (foil top helps to dissipate heat)</h4>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Resulting control:</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BnzE9NLdegk/V5cP7O_KxOI/AAAAAAAAjqA/sq2afX5_7wwnKla7v_8_mEC_GuAliWRwgCEw/s1600/Screenshot_2016-07-21-06-40-55.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BnzE9NLdegk/V5cP7O_KxOI/AAAAAAAAjqA/sq2afX5_7wwnKla7v_8_mEC_GuAliWRwgCEw/s400/Screenshot_2016-07-21-06-40-55.png" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h4>
6 hour trend</h4>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yF15LpjjpxI/V5cP7SbZ08I/AAAAAAAAjqA/f0-ikByvTVUtqp0F3qfBhSi49alY29qzgCEw/s1600/Screenshot_2016-07-21-06-41-45.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yF15LpjjpxI/V5cP7SbZ08I/AAAAAAAAjqA/f0-ikByvTVUtqp0F3qfBhSi49alY29qzgCEw/s400/Screenshot_2016-07-21-06-41-45.png" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Dip when adding heater on 24 hour trend</span></h4>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">A further change I then
made to increase the amount of air circulating inside the chamber was to
connect the fan to the controller timer and run on a 15 minute on, 15 minute
off repeating cycle. I also dropped the temperature and humidity set points. This
had the following trend effect:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iVf2l1R7rNI/V5cP7vi-VFI/AAAAAAAAjqA/QHxT-pli-dUVfomuaAhPovyQmjdoeG8GwCEw/s1600/Screenshot_2016-07-22-18-21-49.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iVf2l1R7rNI/V5cP7vi-VFI/AAAAAAAAjqA/QHxT-pli-dUVfomuaAhPovyQmjdoeG8GwCEw/s400/Screenshot_2016-07-22-18-21-49.png" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h4>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Temp Set Point Drop and Fan Change</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Below is a longer term
trend of the chamber with a few tweaks to settings. Note, the spikes can be
ignored. These are when opening the door and making other mods to hardware (I also put the Arduino DH22 sensor in a pill box with lots of holes drilled in it to
prevent the risk of dewing on the electronics – I figure this is like parking
your car under a tree to prevent dew on your windscreen in the morning).</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1 Week Trend</span></h4>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04002382796149598594noreply@blogger.com5Midstream Estate, South Africa-25.9102474 28.191253800000027-25.9245299 28.171083800000027 -25.8959649 28.211423800000027tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585001705609105925.post-57921361104942776262016-07-19T02:15:00.000-07:002016-08-29T22:58:50.730-07:00Chorizo 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Chorizo number one</div>
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This first attempt went as follows:<br />
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<b>Ingredients:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
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2,0 kg Lean
pork (ground 3mm plate)<o:p></o:p></div>
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400g Back
fat (ground 3mm plate)<o:p></o:p></div>
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67g salt (3%
accounting for Prague Powder) – Himalayan rock salt slightly coarse<o:p></o:p></div>
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9g Prague
powder<o:p></o:p></div>
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5g Glucose
powder<o:p></o:p></div>
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5g light
brown sugar<o:p></o:p></div>
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50g Smoked Paprika
(Cape Herb Company)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
5g Oregano<br />
5g garlic
powder<br />
14.4g
cracked black pepper<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">0.6g Bactoferm TD-66</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">CHR Hansen Mold-600 sprayed on after stuffing, linking and ready to hang (Optional)</span></div>
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<b>Method:</b></div>
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The meat and fat must be kept close to frozen while grinding and mixing. To maintain this, put your mincing attachment in the freezer before use and keep returning your ground product to the freezer to chill. After grinding, mix all the ingredients thoroughly kneading them together then<span style="text-align: justify;">,
stuff into Hog casings and tie them into loops. There are a few different tying methods. I used the "</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WERbWpQAdmI" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Bubble knot method</a><span style="text-align: justify;">" </span></div>
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I mixed the Bactoferm TD-66 powder with the spice mix to help blend this through the meat. You can also mix in with distilled water then blend through. Rather mix more than you need as it cant do any harm. I have also read you should use a minimum of a quarter packet (i.e. enough for 25kg meat) to guarantee you have enough bacteria blended through the meat. </div>
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If going with the mold, when ready to hang spray with the MOLD-600. This was made up of 1 gram of CHR Hansen MOLD-600 in a quarter cup of luke warm distilled water left to stand for a couple of hours then diluted into a cup of distilled water. Put this in a clean spray bottle to apply. The benefit of the mold is it takes hold quickly and prevents bad mold from getting the opportunity to set in. any mold that is fluffy or a colour other than white is BAD; wipe it off with a cloth and vinegar.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hang your links in your curing
chamber set up as a fermenting chamber (temp set-point 20°C, controlling
between 18 and 21°C) and (Humidity set-point 87%RH to target control between 85% and 90% relative humidity)</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div>
<br />
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Leave it there for 72 hours at this setting then dry at 12 to 16°C 80 to 85% humidity until you get 35% weight loss. This is expected to be a couple of months. To monitor this I labelled each Chorizo then weighed and logged their starting weight.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div>
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A daily PH check confirmed an acidic environment. PH should be around 5 after 30 hours. you need an acidic environment to prevent bad bacteria from taking hold and growing. These will spoil your meat.</div>
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<b>PH test method:</b> When you hang your meat, keep some separate for testing. This can be left in a bowl or just a hanging open link. Keep this inside your fermentation chamber with your Chorizo. I kept a short stuffed casing open one end and just squeeze out a meat sample as required. Mix this sample into a clean ramekin with distilled water. To test PH I am using a universal indicator paper (form of Litmus paper). The paper I have is to measure a range 0 to 14. If buying, rather go for a smaller range like 4,5 to 7. This will be much easier to read. Dip the paper in the sample and compare the colour to the scale supplied with the paper.</div>
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<b>Side note:</b> Keep your environment and equipment extremely clean. During fermentation and curing you are creating an optimal environment for bacterial growth. do your best to keep the bad bugs out. When mixing the meat by hand, wear disposable latex type gloves.</div>
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The above mix gave a yield of 9 links averaging 275g each from this batch:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j-S4E8lznX0/V43jMyd3CKI/AAAAAAAAjbA/pdq-Y8w93NEwVneOl1u1bXvWeXyah6rIQCLcB/s1600/Chorizo%2B%25231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j-S4E8lznX0/V43jMyd3CKI/AAAAAAAAjbA/pdq-Y8w93NEwVneOl1u1bXvWeXyah6rIQCLcB/s400/Chorizo%2B%25231.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chorizo entering the fermentation chamber</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--WGSdIRMOlE/V43oDPqNbjI/AAAAAAAAjbs/9bgJy0VCvZwNN-JWriXntQJuQjLxiHpcQCLcB/s1600/20160710_163151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--WGSdIRMOlE/V43oDPqNbjI/AAAAAAAAjbs/9bgJy0VCvZwNN-JWriXntQJuQjLxiHpcQCLcB/s640/20160710_163151.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chorizo marked. Salami in for company</td></tr>
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The Mold started to show noticeable cover within 24 hours and excellent coverage a few days later.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kES6W4naRaY/V43nDtyIgyI/AAAAAAAAjbc/zkbtidm3Es02UadILoaTTWrEb-8wXwTpwCLcB/s1600/Salami%2Bmould%2B48%2Bhours%2B004%2BChorizo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kES6W4naRaY/V43nDtyIgyI/AAAAAAAAjbc/zkbtidm3Es02UadILoaTTWrEb-8wXwTpwCLcB/s640/Salami%2Bmould%2B48%2Bhours%2B004%2BChorizo.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mold 48 hours</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-19rSU9mGjCo/V43nCZvh0JI/AAAAAAAAjbU/O8V6HzXSXo0vWMxWW8MdIRVMVhvj_czUgCEw/s1600/Salami%2Bmould%2B1%2Bweek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-19rSU9mGjCo/V43nCZvh0JI/AAAAAAAAjbU/O8V6HzXSXo0vWMxWW8MdIRVMVhvj_czUgCEw/s640/Salami%2Bmould%2B1%2Bweek.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mold 1 week</td></tr>
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<b>Equipment used:</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">01 August 2016 - Update</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">21 days after hanging and diligently controlling the temperature and humidity (refer to the temperature and humidity control problems found and solved <a href="http://thecharcuterieadventure.blogspot.co.za/search/label/Temp%20Humidity%20Control" target="_blank">here</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I cut open and sampled my first Chorizo last night. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">First things first. Here is the drying profile for my 9 Chorizo's:</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j_2dr-MhIe0/V57s3fAT7oI/AAAAAAAAjw8/D8FY7QhohRA6gV80WfVOhBQ_2Y_3HYDoQCLcB/s1600/Chorizo%2Bweight%2Btable.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j_2dr-MhIe0/V57s3fAT7oI/AAAAAAAAjw8/D8FY7QhohRA6gV80WfVOhBQ_2Y_3HYDoQCLcB/s640/Chorizo%2Bweight%2Btable.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here is how it looks after wiping mold off with vinegar rinsing, drying and slicing:</span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O4h3ymi6Fyk/V5716Wn2GGI/AAAAAAAAjzU/XyWgnTlaBZME4a1e0dAGWJE5pLGZv3eYwCEw/s1600/Sliced.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O4h3ymi6Fyk/V5716Wn2GGI/AAAAAAAAjzU/XyWgnTlaBZME4a1e0dAGWJE5pLGZv3eYwCEw/s640/Sliced.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>First impressions:</b></span><br />
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<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Flavour:</b> Superb. I made this batch without the hot side of the spices. A little Cayenne or hot paprika would add nicely to this. The flavour however is fantastic.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Texture: </b>A little difficult to tell. I believe it needs to dry a bit more. I have re-hung this, will sample again at 50% moisture loss. Currently the texture is a little too close to a "raw meat" texture - too close for my wife to enjoy. <i><b>Update</b> <b>6 weeks later</b> effectively at the end - I say the end as I seem to have reached a drying equilibrium for the humidity and temp. Texture hasn't improved. I'm not impressed. I am now wondering if the paprika etc has an influence on this. I say this as I tried my Salami made at the same time yesterday and this does not have the texture problem.</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Size: </b>I would like to get hold of a larger casing for this. something in between the hog casings I used and the small salami size casings. I haven't managed to source anything yet.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>General: </b>The Chorizo is drying nice and evenly. There are no indications of "case hardening" around the outside. The residual mold has no negative flavour effect. The hog casing peels off easily although a little meat sticks to it. This would also improve with some more drying time. The Chorizo I have had travelling in Spain is definitely dryer than this. They also don't appear to have the shrinkage and wrinkling I find. I need to figure that out, maybe stuff the casings fuller. The wrinkling of the casing makes wiping off the mold challenging.</span></div>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04002382796149598594noreply@blogger.com0Midstream, South Africa-25.9135525 28.183760399999983-25.9706815 28.103079399999984 -25.856423500000002 28.264441399999981tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585001705609105925.post-26895247709878168492016-07-08T05:08:00.002-07:002020-02-24T00:44:47.798-08:00Dry Cured Bacon - Various flavours<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QauFENu9GRE/VUI0TgQwskI/AAAAAAAAZ-0/ZF-HUjCKS7IE3jican6k874g20lDxQZiQCKgB/s1600/20150215_102557.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QauFENu9GRE/VUI0TgQwskI/AAAAAAAAZ-0/ZF-HUjCKS7IE3jican6k874g20lDxQZiQCKgB/s400/20150215_102557.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">INGREDIENTS</span></i></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pork Belly (skin off unless you prefer it on, bone out). use the best quality ethically reared pork you can find</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Flavour 1:</i></b> <b>Black pepper, thyme and fennel</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> This is a family favourite</span></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">22,5g/kg Sea salt*</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">8g/kg light brown sugar</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3,75g/kg Prague powder (this is as per the manufacturer dosage rate from my supplier)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Generous amount of coarse crushed black pepper, dried thyme and lightly crushed fennel seeds.</span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Flavour 2</i>: Maple Syrup</span></b></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">22,5g/kg Sea salt*</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">30g/kg Demerara sugar</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">80ml/kg genuine Canadian maple syrup</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3,75g/kg Prague powder (this is as per the manufacturer dosage rate from my supplier)</span></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Flavour 3</i>: Jalapeno</span></b></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">22,5g/kg Sea Salt*</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">8g/kg light brown sugar</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3,75g/kg Prague powder (this is as per the manufacturer dosage rate from my supplier)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">pickled jalapeno chillies chopped and crushed, black pepper.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Flavour 4</i>: Use your imagination </b>on herbs, flavours and combinations: </span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Szechuan pepper</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Marjoram</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Origanum</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Paprika</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Juniper berry</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">white pepper</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cajun spice blends (compensate for salt)</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">*see blog page on <a href="http://thecharcuterieadventure.blogspot.co.za/search/label/Salt" target="_blank">salt selection</a></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">METHOD</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wash and dry your pork belly then place into a vacuum bag or zip lock bag and add your dry rub ingredients making sure you rub this mix into the entire surface area of the belly. Vacuum seal or simply squeeze out as much air as possible and close your bag and pop it in the fridge. Leave for 7 to 10 days (I started at 7 days however prefer a 10 day cure) turning daily.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After 10 days, remove the belly, wash off the rub with plenty of cold water. if too many herbs are washed away you can add more now but no salt or prague powder. Dry and hang in the fridge for around 24 hours to dry slightly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After drying a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellicle_(cooking)">pellicle</a> on the cured bacon it is time to smoke.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Put into a cold smoker and smoke using your choice of wood. I use European beech for this recipe and cold smoke for around 3 hours. After smoking, put in a plastic bag and back int the fridge over night before slicing up to freeze or fry. thick cut (1cm) rashers are also awesome on the braai.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To make back bacon, substitute the belly for a deboned pork loin. For curing this, work on a minimum of 7 days or 1 day per 13mm thickness (thickest part), whichever is the greater.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">you can ignore the criss-cross cuts in the belly fat below, these bellies got diverted from belly roasts to bacon.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Some additional side notes for the various flavours:</span></b><br />
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<b>Black pepper, thyme and fennel - </b>if you are not fond of fennel, leave this out. Just black pepper and thyme alone is wonderful. Origanum or Marjoram work really well in this mix too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Maple syrup</b> makes a lovely sweet bacon. the sugars penetrate so well that you get a caramelisation when frying.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Jalapeno:</b> Add additional chopped jalapeno after smoking to fry up with the bacon. this is a very subtle flavour with almost no chilli burn noticeable.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KwicSortLP8/V3-LdmMI-DI/AAAAAAAAjOo/3wpknFziZK4hhLXs6HSpNdJTHN9TEGXMQCKgB/s1600/20150208_112911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KwicSortLP8/V3-LdmMI-DI/AAAAAAAAjOo/3wpknFziZK4hhLXs6HSpNdJTHN9TEGXMQCKgB/s400/20150208_112911.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">bagged and ready to start 10 days of curing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Maple syrup Left, Thyme and black pepper right</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e8Aw0uyqto0/V3-Lhg9D49I/AAAAAAAAjOw/wbbcljnv-S4KTGW1RHLbmOnIeESUagqlwCKgB/s1600/DSC_0094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e8Aw0uyqto0/V3-Lhg9D49I/AAAAAAAAjOw/wbbcljnv-S4KTGW1RHLbmOnIeESUagqlwCKgB/s320/DSC_0094.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jalapeno chilli flavour </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IDIeICjvNyI/V3-NcT1WXfI/AAAAAAAAjO0/p91Oj-TCZr0MrfH-0Y0n5t95CkPYltlDgCKgB/s1600/DSC_0095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IDIeICjvNyI/V3-NcT1WXfI/AAAAAAAAjO0/p91Oj-TCZr0MrfH-0Y0n5t95CkPYltlDgCKgB/s320/DSC_0095.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All sides well covered</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FlVbAs8Kxk4/V3-Nc8eP_gI/AAAAAAAAjPA/pjrj2yMi2RU92iDG6spENDk8LmMHVuQIgCKgB/s1600/DSC_0109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FlVbAs8Kxk4/V3-Nc8eP_gI/AAAAAAAAjPA/pjrj2yMi2RU92iDG6spENDk8LmMHVuQIgCKgB/s400/DSC_0109.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Hanging to dry the pellicle ahead of smoking</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LbbZuGhpR8I/V3-Le_QmpSI/AAAAAAAAjOo/3zUToAfr2fcPy0vwnXPJxcwDwaoh8ycuACKgB/s1600/20150214_172501.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LbbZuGhpR8I/V3-Le_QmpSI/AAAAAAAAjOo/3zUToAfr2fcPy0vwnXPJxcwDwaoh8ycuACKgB/s400/20150214_172501.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qwNuU8UEZwc/V3-LeF9H_SI/AAAAAAAAjOo/YWus7Td5GIAhjVdS41S0AIown3Ec7UulgCKgB/s1600/20150214_142850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qwNuU8UEZwc/V3-LeF9H_SI/AAAAAAAAjOo/YWus7Td5GIAhjVdS41S0AIown3Ec7UulgCKgB/s400/20150214_142850.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Time for some cold smoke</span><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I5OAlZL8TO0/V3-LeUb2pLI/AAAAAAAAjOo/gbdy74Mrgqk4Cr5ae2PzEEMGtusqLYHmQCKgB/s1600/20150214_142918.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I5OAlZL8TO0/V3-LeUb2pLI/AAAAAAAAjOo/gbdy74Mrgqk4Cr5ae2PzEEMGtusqLYHmQCKgB/s400/20150214_142918.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Smoke getting a little carried away. you don't need this much.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8BiBrInEcE8/V3-NdT8u4WI/AAAAAAAAjP0/fhrHeJK2ZIELOYys7oU1MOJq2SitYO08QCKgB/s1600/DSC_0118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8BiBrInEcE8/V3-NdT8u4WI/AAAAAAAAjP0/fhrHeJK2ZIELOYys7oU1MOJq2SitYO08QCKgB/s400/DSC_0118.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ready to slice</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JexeyQIuYmU/V3-LdSXfjcI/AAAAAAAAjOo/tVrZgKqEV-UiOJ0W6iBZuHOzio5bLQ0BwCKgB/s1600/20140803_114453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JexeyQIuYmU/V3-LdSXfjcI/AAAAAAAAjOo/tVrZgKqEV-UiOJ0W6iBZuHOzio5bLQ0BwCKgB/s400/20140803_114453.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A job well done</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UsauYVy2kzs/V3-LgYzLEYI/AAAAAAAAjOw/WJB5eTf00DcnKJhjdxoc5g0R4lU1vbroQCKgB/s1600/20150215_110341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UsauYVy2kzs/V3-LgYzLEYI/AAAAAAAAjOw/WJB5eTf00DcnKJhjdxoc5g0R4lU1vbroQCKgB/s400/20150215_110341.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Streaky and back bacon</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v82pvKa-A5w/V3-LfkNzYHI/AAAAAAAAjOo/jMha4ziMn7YEVJXXMpSRLv7mqN90K8aPgCKgB/s1600/20150215_103213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v82pvKa-A5w/V3-LfkNzYHI/AAAAAAAAjOo/jMha4ziMn7YEVJXXMpSRLv7mqN90K8aPgCKgB/s400/20150215_103213.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Time to test some of the thick cut slices</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J7po4D7eWBI/V3-LhGJ_IcI/AAAAAAAAjOw/pw1oKSQ_ruI-vf0OUchqcam3BgkfwKZPACKgB/s1600/DSC_0006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J7po4D7eWBI/V3-LhGJ_IcI/AAAAAAAAjOw/pw1oKSQ_ruI-vf0OUchqcam3BgkfwKZPACKgB/s640/DSC_0006.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Breakfast out camping</span></td></tr>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04002382796149598594noreply@blogger.com0Midstream Estate, South Africa-25.9102474 28.191253800000027-25.9245299 28.171083800000027 -25.8959649 28.211423800000027tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585001705609105925.post-14801419184449237872016-07-07T05:32:00.001-07:002016-07-26T03:46:44.161-07:00Biltong Drying Cabinet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When deciding that biltong was the order of the day, the need for a drying chamber came to the fore.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fortunately Some of my other hobbies complement my creative desires in the kitchen; hence the biltong drying cabinet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Although one can simply hang biltong from the rafters in a well ventilated garage away from pets and other undesirables or modify a cardboard box, I decided a wooden cabinet would be something I would get enough use from to justify a little more effort:</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O1OsD2r1aKA/V34_0eaLCQI/AAAAAAAAjGI/FR-vdQghaxsMJqQulPyVHJ1fZ0Lyh2lfQCLcB/s1600/20140921_152011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O1OsD2r1aKA/V34_0eaLCQI/AAAAAAAAjGI/FR-vdQghaxsMJqQulPyVHJ1fZ0Lyh2lfQCLcB/s400/20140921_152011.jpg" title="Biltong Dryer" width="225" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Biltong dryer</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6jpLFjmRRvU/V35C37VE19I/AAAAAAAAjG4/apcVCue2uI0cWamPWtSVY0_IpWN4fGknwCLcB/s1600/20140921_151954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6jpLFjmRRvU/V35C37VE19I/AAAAAAAAjG4/apcVCue2uI0cWamPWtSVY0_IpWN4fGknwCLcB/s400/20140921_151954.jpg" width="225" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Side view with switch panel</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The unit is built from a pine frame with plywood side panels and a glass door.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On top of the box are three forced ventilation holes each with a 100mm computer case fan fitted. These along with the three incandescent 100 Watt light bulbs at the bottom can all be individually switched to both direct air flow through the unit and also to control the temperature.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Vent holes at the base of the unit allow air to flow in while keeping bugs out. Using 12VDC computer fans with a 220VAC power supply meant adding a transformer and rectifier into the cabinet (I had some help with this). A diffuser board is also added above the globes to assist the warm air in being dispersed through all the meat and not short circuiting up the back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The switch bank below allows for the following control:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Main power isolator</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Run individual fans</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">select 1, 2 or 3 globes (one switch is for the center light and the other for the outer two lights)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">I can hold approximately 10kg of biltong in this unit and dry this in under a week. Should a smaller unit be preferred then the option below which I made for a friend at the same time is the answer. This works just as well and only required one fan and one incandescent globe:</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Small dryer cabinet</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Below is a charge of 8kg (wet weight) of Cabanossi sausage in for drying. note the available height; don't cut back on this. you need to be able to hold the full width of a beef silverside slice in here + the hook. The temperature and humidity gauge below is reading 10% humidity and 30°C ( 86°F )</span></div>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04002382796149598594noreply@blogger.com4Midstream, South Africa-25.9135525 28.183760399999983-25.9706815 28.103079399999984 -25.856423500000002 28.264441399999981tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585001705609105925.post-37611012590428290542016-07-07T03:33:00.001-07:002016-07-22T05:38:26.190-07:00Where it started<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I guess there is no defined moment I can recall when my passion for creating in the kitchen started. It has however evolved over the last twenty something years. I have moved through many phases and styles in the kitchen and find as long as I am creating something I am passionate about, stretching boundaries into new areas of discovery and enjoying myself there is no real reason to stop.</div>
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Living in South Africa certainly has its challenges when delving into new culinary areas. Simple online sourcing of specialised (and even not so specialised) ingredients is borderline impossible and makes finding these necessities an ongoing challenge. That said, when digging deep enough into the realms of the commercial supply world I have managed to source almost everything I need.</div>
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Moving into the Charcuterie side of meat started with the basics of biltong and has moved forward from there with a vengeance. Dry cured cold smoked bacon is now a staple in the house. Sausages more often than not are a flavour adventure and Salami and Chorizo are about to open as the next chapter.</div>
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Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04002382796149598594noreply@blogger.com0Midstream, South Africa-25.9135525 28.183760399999983-25.9706815 28.103079399999984 -25.856423500000002 28.264441399999981