what is the best starter culture to use when making dry cured pepperoni? I want to make it then hang it in the basement where the temperature will be around 60 F and the relative humidity around 75%

Thanks!
Next question, does it go directly into the curing chamber, or does it hang outside the chamber for a while to get it “started”?

A friend is dumping a non working upright freezer so I want to make a curing chamber out of it. I have seen some pretty fancy and costly ways to convert it, but the easiest and most low cost seems to be using a line voltage thermostat hooked up to some kind of heater, maybe just an incandescent light bulb and a small humidifier, also hooked up to a line voltage humidistat.
It will be in my basement, and the temperature never gets up above 65, but it does get down to around 38 in the winter.
Anybody have any do’s or don’t for this type of set up?
Thanks,
ane

Which Bactoferm is the right choice for dry cured pepperoni that will be in a 50-55 degree environment with a humidity level of around 65%?
Lane

Jonathon,
There is not much to the process. After I combine the meat and spices (I have been using about 2% salt with cure # 2 @ 1 teaspoon per 5lbs of meat) then stuff it into natural hog casings, I put it in the basement to hang for abut 6 weeks. The humidity is low, so it dries out about half it s weight by then, maybe a little bit less.
Then we eat it. I have only had one hollow batch so far and i think that may be the stuffing issue or maybe the very low humidity combined with temps of around 42 degrees. The good batches came out when the humidity was a little higher and the temperature stayed around 58 degrees.

I am not a big fan of salt, and would like to keep the amount to a minimum in my next batch of dry cured pepperoni.
If I was not using #2 curing salt, I would use about 2.75% salt . But, since I will be using #2 curing salt, do I still need to add any other salt, or will the curing salt take care of everything without any additional salt?
Thanks.

well, there was only one way to find out so I ate some. Still alive and it tasted great. I too think it was a stuffing issue.

This is one of the sticks cut open into slices. Some were whole throughout, some with small pockets, others with almost nothing inside.

Jonathon Jonathon,
I am going to cut into the rest of them to see what they look like. It seems like this is a combination of issues. The product smells fine, the texture is generally good, but I am going to throw them out anyway, just to be on the safe side.
Thanks

#2 cure, two teaspoons, ten pounds of meat.

I made a batch of dry cured pepperoni in December. Today it was hanging for just over a month so I decided to taste one to see how it was coming along.
The original weight 31 days ago was 10 oz. Today it weighed in at just under 5 oz.
Temperature during that time in the basement was about 42 degrees F.
Humidity was low, not sure how low, but low.
When I cut into a piece, the inside had hollowed itself out. So was it time, temperature, humidity or a combo of all of them that made it dry out this way?
Lane

Here is a link to a website that has a handy Excel spreadsheet. It is, as it says a free non-commercial site.
As for Waltons dropping the ball, I vote they are doing a great job.
I think for all of us there are general guidelines, but unless you have a temperature and humidity controlled environment, both for the preparation, cooking (if you cook them) smoking, hanging etc, the results are bound to vary from batch to batch.
Personally, I am searching how to get my home made smoked and dry cured pepperoni to the exact texture and firmness of Margarita pepperoni from the store.
Through trial and error I have the flavor where I want it, but not the texture or firmness. I know time, temperature and humidity are all crucial, but the best I can do is in the basement and then subject to the environment that is there.
I figure as long as I am not killing anyone or making anyone sick I am making progress. Thanks Waltons for all of the great information so far.
Having said that, it would be nice to have your chart in an Excel spreadsheet.

Thanks, thats what I thought but I wanted a second opinion, like a Doctor of Meat!

When adding backfat, the only kind I can find around these parts has the skin still attached. I have been cutting the skin off, but is it ok to use with the skin on?

daveomak Thanks Dave. I am not adding water, just the wine it calls for in the recipe for the pepperoni. Could it be the humidity level is somewhere around 25%?

I have a batch of Pepperoni hanging in the basement which I made the first week in December. So its been hanging about a month.
I used Cure #2, 1 teaspoon per 5lb of meat mixture (2lb chuck, 1lb pork loin, 1lb backfat), stuffed it into hog casings, recorded the initial weight and hung it up.
Some recipes call for hanging 6 weeks or more, some say 6 weeks “or until it has reduced weight by 30-40%”.
Mine is at just under 50% of its initial weight, so that makes me think it is ready. Has sufficient time elapsed to allow the nitrates to dissipate? I tried a piece today and it tastes great.
Thanks

Jonathon The product tightened up overnight in the fridge and the crumbly texture turned into a more homogeneous texture. Not exactly what I wanted, but much better than the day it was processed.
As for the mixing, it was a shot in the dark I kept mixing it until all of the meat seemed to be one large sticky lump. Next time I will check to see that it stretches instead of breaking into two lumps.
I did not use any ECA, nor did I use any binder agent. I have used powdered milk in the past, and will add it to the next batch (probably tomorrow).
At any rate, it is getting there. I did not expect perfect results overnight, but on a positive note the keilbasa I made yesterday was cooked up for dinner and was the best I have ever tasted.
Thanks for all of the advice, I really appreciate it.

Ed_Orum But, after a day in the refrigerator the texture is pretty good, everything seems to have consolidated overnight and “tightened” up.
This recipe was pure ground beef chuck. tomorrow I am going to try a 50-50 pork and chuck meat mixture to see how that comes out.

Jonathon Thanks!

I made them today. The extra water made stuffing the casings super easy.
Next, I put them in the smoker with no smoke for about three hours at 135 degrees.
Then I pushed it up to around 150 degrees for another couple of hours, then set the smoker to 190 degrees (it was a little cold outside today) and took the sticks out at 162 degrees .
Next they went in a water bath to cool them down, then into the dehydrator for a few hours, no heat.
So it worked pretty well, but the texture is still not what I am looking for. Maybe the texture was because I used only beef chuck and no pork. The texture was, well, maybe “crumbly”, not the homogeneous texture of store bought pepperoni.
I will try one more batch, this time add in the pork and see if it changes things. If not, I will go back to dry hanging them in the basement for six weeks.