Jonathon Thanks!

Jonathon The product tightened up overnight in the fridge and the crumbly texture turned into a more homogeneous texture. Not exactly what I wanted, but much better than the day it was processed.
As for the mixing, it was a shot in the dark I kept mixing it until all of the meat seemed to be one large sticky lump. Next time I will check to see that it stretches instead of breaking into two lumps.
I did not use any ECA, nor did I use any binder agent. I have used powdered milk in the past, and will add it to the next batch (probably tomorrow).
At any rate, it is getting there. I did not expect perfect results overnight, but on a positive note the keilbasa I made yesterday was cooked up for dinner and was the best I have ever tasted.
Thanks for all of the advice, I really appreciate it.

well, there was only one way to find out so I ate some. Still alive and it tasted great. I too think it was a stuffing issue.

what is the best starter culture to use when making dry cured pepperoni? I want to make it then hang it in the basement where the temperature will be around 60 F and the relative humidity around 75%

Thanks!
Next question, does it go directly into the curing chamber, or does it hang outside the chamber for a while to get it “started”?

A friend is dumping a non working upright freezer so I want to make a curing chamber out of it. I have seen some pretty fancy and costly ways to convert it, but the easiest and most low cost seems to be using a line voltage thermostat hooked up to some kind of heater, maybe just an incandescent light bulb and a small humidifier, also hooked up to a line voltage humidistat.
It will be in my basement, and the temperature never gets up above 65, but it does get down to around 38 in the winter.
Anybody have any do’s or don’t for this type of set up?
Thanks,
ane

Which Bactoferm is the right choice for dry cured pepperoni that will be in a 50-55 degree environment with a humidity level of around 65%?
Lane

Jonathon,
There is not much to the process. After I combine the meat and spices (I have been using about 2% salt with cure # 2 @ 1 teaspoon per 5lbs of meat) then stuff it into natural hog casings, I put it in the basement to hang for abut 6 weeks. The humidity is low, so it dries out about half it s weight by then, maybe a little bit less.
Then we eat it. I have only had one hollow batch so far and i think that may be the stuffing issue or maybe the very low humidity combined with temps of around 42 degrees. The good batches came out when the humidity was a little higher and the temperature stayed around 58 degrees.

I am not a big fan of salt, and would like to keep the amount to a minimum in my next batch of dry cured pepperoni.
If I was not using #2 curing salt, I would use about 2.75% salt . But, since I will be using #2 curing salt, do I still need to add any other salt, or will the curing salt take care of everything without any additional salt?
Thanks.

well, there was only one way to find out so I ate some. Still alive and it tasted great. I too think it was a stuffing issue.

This is one of the sticks cut open into slices. Some were whole throughout, some with small pockets, others with almost nothing inside.

Jonathon Jonathon,
I am going to cut into the rest of them to see what they look like. It seems like this is a combination of issues. The product smells fine, the texture is generally good, but I am going to throw them out anyway, just to be on the safe side.
Thanks

#2 cure, two teaspoons, ten pounds of meat.