Zip tied salami developing air pockets after 1 wk

[Rebecca Harrell]

Hi there,

My first attempt at Bresaola, Lonzino, and Capicola seems to come along just fine as far as the UMAi skin bonding goes. Did have to reseal the Capicola. Probably best to handle the meat package carefully and as little as possible just after sealing. I used a 1000 series FoodSaver.

So we ventured into making a 10 lb salami batch using the 33 mm UMAi casings and zip strips. Possible, that we did not stuff very tight. Anyway, after 7 days in the fridge, some of the salamis are developing rather large air pockets.

The meat is drying in a fairly new full size all refrigerator. Not much else is in fridge.

Are the air pockets problematic for the salamis? Is it too late to wrap some string around?

Thanks for any advice.

[Jim]

Hello Becky,

Air pockets (release) in dry sausage stuffed in UMAi Dry are frequent and do not cause any issues. The sausage still dries but may dry a bit slower (like an additional week or so), which isn’t all that bad. There are mainly two factors that make this happen:
1. Sausage stuffed a bit loose into the casing.
2. As the sausage dries it shrinks and separates from the casing.
Anyway, the 32 mm casing is fast drying since it is small in diameter, so I would expect your sausage should be ready in 1-2 weeks.

[Rebecca Harrell]

Thanks so much, that’s great to hear! Can hardly wait for the first taste…

[Rebecca Harrell]

We tasted our first fennel salami on Dec 5 that we started on November 2 – delicious!
Dec 23 and the salami is even better… with now more than 40% moisture loss.

Definitely will make more batches.

Will use colored zip ties to identify batches next time.

[Dan Shankle]

POSTED in another Section: Looks like Identical issue using 50 MM Zip ties and same recipe.

Greetings; I am a newbie to your product. I am 70 years of age, Have made sausage for 20 years, Hold a PhD and have taught sausage making at a local Community college. I received my order of 50mm casings last week and made a 5 pounds batch of Salami using your Recipe for Finocchiona on 10/21/2015 using your Zip Ties and following YOUR directions to the Letter. I am noticing as this Batch looses green weight it is pulling away from the casing…I LOOKS good…and I notice NO off odor…is this normal now that Vacuum packing is NO longer done and Zip ties are used for closing the casings? I am concerned. I got the casings as tight as I possibly could without breaking them. Of the entire batch (Three Ten inch, One eight inch and one 6 inch Salami) ONLY the short six-inch casing that I hand stuffed with the remnants from the grinder is adhering tightly to the meat. Should I be concerned??? I would HATE to throw ALL this meat away AFTER so carefully following the directions. Thank you…Dan Shankle — doc@docshankle.com

[Jim]

Hello Doc,

Here is another picture of the salami in the fridge drying. As you can see casing separated but the results speak for themselves:
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[Dan Shankle]

Jim; Thanks, so much, for the prompt reply AND for including photos that show MORE separation than I have. That gives me t he reassurance I was looking for! Thanks, again!

“Doc”

quote Jim” post=7296:

Hello Doc,

Here is another picture of the salami in the fridge drying. As you can see casing separated but the results speak for themselves:
[/URL]

[John Danca]

I have had the same thing happen with a batch of Venison salami. It has lost 40% of it’s weight and I am going to pull it from the fridge tonight. There are some small patches of what looks like white mold that has developed.

Should I be concerned or just wipe it clean with cider vinegar?

JD

[Jim]

White mold is OK, you can wipe with some cider vinegar.

[Dennis]

Here’s my take on it.

The bags are “plastic” so there should not be any shrinkage like a natural casing would due during the phase.
Since the bags release the moisture out and not back in, no problem except looks.

If wanted one can place into a vac sealer to “srink or pull it closer”, but as the chub dries further the same thing is going to happen.

[Author]

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