Strong Vinegar smell multiple kinds of sausages

[Joel]

Hi. We are making our first run of dry cured sausages and everything seems to be going well…we made multiple different kinds, following umai recipes as well as those from the recommended book.

We made the venison salami that calls for powdered milk in the recipe as well as soprasetta, chorizo, fennel salami, saucisson sec, and others. 8 styles in total. Total was 48 pounds, all drying in the same refrigerator and doing well. I have a small fan set up for air circulation, so that is t an issue.

They have been drying for about 3 weeks now, and are at worst halfway to target weights, some further along.

I have noticed a gradually increasing vinegary smell as they dry, but I cannot isolate it to one type of sausage or even to one particular sausage…

We did use vinegar to clean all the racks used in the refrigerator, but they were rinsed well and dried, so I doubt it is that.

I am thinking that this is a result of lactic acid fermentation, and I am thinking that it is most likely coming from the venison salami as we used the powdered milk as called for in the recipe.

It doesn’t smell bad, just noticeable, and it dissipates quickly when the refrigerator is opened for air flow.

Has anyone ever experienced this? And as there is no mold or growth or sliminess on any of the meats, are they still good, or should I be concerned about contamination?

[Jim]

What kind of fridge are you using to dry? Can you post a pic of your set-up?

[Joel]

Sorry, I can’t send pics. Briefly, it is a new frost free refrigerator, nothing in it except the sausages, two lonzino and 5 venison loins.

Everything is on wire racks, there is adequate airflow around everything, there is a small RV frig air circulation fan running.

I too my wife out to smell it…she’s from Eastern Europe, and she said it just “smells like sausages”.

Neither one of us could narrow the smell down to a single type of sausage or even a single link. They all smell fine when sniffed individually.

The smell is a cross between vinegar, sour kraut and pickled meat. It doesn’t smell rotten, and it isn’t noticeable on any specific sausage or link. There is no mold, there is no slime…its all fine…

[Jim]

Based on your description there isn’t much to worry about. Bactoferm is a lactic acid culture that can produce a “sour” smell sometimes. I wanted to make sure that you were getting some dehumidification in that fridge and getting rid of the moisture evaporating from 45 lbs of sausage which over time can amount to 4 gallons of water. Since you are doing it in a new full size fridge you are getting that dehumidification.

[Author]

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