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I’ve been having a very similar problem with my past two salumi projects.
I know the portions were correct for the salt/instacure, as they were the combo packages I purchased from Umai Dry. The meat portions were exact as well, based on those requirements from the salt/cure package. The meat was par-frozen and I also boiled water and let it cool to room temperature before adding the Bactoferm.
After letting the meat start it’s fermentation process, most of the salumi had the darkened red color one would expect, although not all of them had this in a uniform fashion.
(Note; The previous time to this, I did extend the fermentation time, for which I did see a more prominent color change, although not as dark as I would have wanted, but I was going into a 4th day, so I decided to start them in the refrigerator.)
The temperature was monitored, and it was 66 to 71 degrees. Some of the casings used were 32mm and 50mm. The 32mm size seems to be working out well, but even after 3 weeks, the hardness is just not what I expect it to be. The main issue however, is that the smell in the refrigerator seems to be slightly off. Am I going to lose all this salumi again? This is my 2nd 30lb batch – which is very costly. I think I may just go back to my traditional ways, and only dry cure during the low humidity and cool temperatures of Fall and Winter.
What should I do?