Weather is wreaking havoc with my basement environmental conditions. Temps are up (63-70°F) and relative humidity is nuts (63-70+%).
I have my pork cut up, materials gathered - curing salt, nitrile gloves, etc. And, the mixer is chilled, locked and loaded. Now, I have to figure out if the low 60's/60-70%RH is adequate or too moist for the dry cure. I may just make plain old sumptuous Italian sausage if I back out of the dry cure and save that for the winter when the basement environment is more stable.
I wouldn't worry too much about the humidity (I cured some pork belly when and the humidity fluxtuated between 60-80%). The temperature, on the other hand, may be a bit dicier. Fresh italian sausage is a beautiful thing, but the chorizio sausage recipe, which I'm making tomorrow, may be even better.
ReplyDeleteI got this killer Spanish smoked paprika the other day. So, the Italian sausage isn't a bad consolation prize. The chorizo sounds pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately tonight and tomorrow night kid-related appts. are holding me back. Got a great piece of pork too.
I just found this post because I'm about to make Ruhlman's saucisson sec for the first time as well. Unfortunately, I'm in San Diego and the temperature isn't really dropping below 70... I'm too impatient to wait until winter, so I'm just going to wing it and hope I don't end up with a closet full of rancid meat! Anyway, good to find someone embarking on the same project -- wishing you success! I look forward to hearing how it goes!
ReplyDeleteHey Ky. I was reading your comment just as I started grinding the pork (on the kitchen laptop). Thanks for visiting and good luck, you're in good company.
ReplyDelete