Hello from Thompson, Manitoba – Canada

[Sherri]

My thought is that even though the UMAi material does not let moisture in, a lesser differential in humidities inside and outside the UMAi membranes I would assume impacts the drying rate. I have no idea if I have experienced case hardening in part because I have little to compare my results to and we have had other variables changing as I go along as well (first time kitchen stuffer over processed meats, second one complaint about salt w/ cause unknown, third was the best but could it be better?, forth is drying currently)

I know I have seen discussion in these boards about case hardening and I have seen discussion of water added to the chamber. As for the water discussion, I could search on them again but I am supposed to be doing spring cleaning right now. Fortunately, I did do the following cut and paste into my notes:

“humidity comment: So what I do to bring in a little more humidity is go to the garden shop and get a Package of Soil moist. These little pellets when hydrated with water swell up into little pea shaped marbles that hold water and release slowly. take a 1/4 cup or so put in a small bowl and hydrate with water and put in the fridge. This will help if you need higher humidity.

or

I have found a way to mitigate case hardening by placing a small bowl of water with Salt ( salt will keep bacteria at bay) in the refrigerator with a little fan blowing over the bowl to increase Humidity. This works like a charm!!!!!”

What also made this issue come to mind is yesterday my finocciona had gone from 9.1 oz to 6.1 oz in just 10 days. They are expected to take 3 – 4 weeks for 35 – 40% dry and I am already down 33% in less than half that time. That is just getting my mind going.