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Jamie says...
Nov 28, 2009

Tuscan Excellence

Well, the three tuscans are done -- see photo series below. 

I pulled them out of the chamber on Thanksgiving morning, after about a month in the chamber (recall that we made them on October 24).  After the fermentation stage, I kept conditions in the chamber at around 54-58 degrees and humidity around 70-80%.  The mold bloomed pretty nicely and weight loss was around 35%.

After I pulled them from the chamber, I scrubbed off the mold with some salt water solution, then dried them off, and wrapped them in wax paper in the fridge.  You'll see the pre and post scrubbing images below.  You'll also see the spread of sliced salami that my daughter and I quickly gobbled up.  It tasted very good and was much less sour (in a good way) than the first batch that Tim and I made a couple months ago. 

So, who wants some salami?  I was just the custodian for these and I know that several of you wanted salami but did not have sufficient curing conditions.  So, I could probably cut two of the tuscans in half and give to those who want some -- Andy? Robin? Yolanda and Frank?  Others who helped make these?

       
Click here to download:
Tuscan_Excellence_tag_Jamie_tu.zip (1526 KB)

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Jamie says...
Nov 21, 2009

Weight Loss

In response to Jim's call for weights, I just checked all mine and found that my tuscans have actually lost 32-38% of their weight, so I think it's time to crack one open.

The giant genoa has gone down from 9 lbs, 7 oz to 8 lbs, 2 oz, for a loss of 14%.  Another couple months for that big boy perhaps.

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Jamie says...
Nov 19, 2009

Incipient Drops of Tuscan Fat

Interesting new development on my tuscans.  A handful of tiny drops of fat on the surface, which were not there two days ago (see photos below, and look closely for the small, gleaming beads of liquid fat). 

I've seen similar weeping fat in prior salami (though much more excessive), but I thought that was due to temperatures that were too high, and perhaps conditions too dry.  But, these have been kept consistently below 60F and at or above 70% RH for the last several weeks.  Anyone know what physically causes this?  I've been reading the very interesting (and detailed) Marianski book (http://www.amazon.com/Art-Making-Fermented-Sausages/dp/1432732579), but haven't gotten to anything on this yet (I'm bogged down in a section on the innumerable variety of bacteria and their properties and functions).  

One interesting thing is that I only see this in spots where there is no mold (though it may be happening in other spots as well but the white mold is just absorbing it as it oozes out, so it's not visible).

         
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Incipient_Drops_of_Tuscan_Fat_.zip (204 KB)

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Jamie says...
Nov 17, 2009

Rosen Salami Update

Here's the latest from the Rosen Chamber.  Conditions have been holding steady in the mid 50s for temp and 70-80% humidity.  I've been keeping my humidity up a bit more than the Ruhlman/Polcyn book calls for for a few reasons.  First, because the outside of the giant genoa was starting to get dry and it's so big, I want to make sure I don't get case hardening.  Second, I wanted to encourage more mold development.  Third, I just got the Marianski book on fermented sausages and it recommends a humidity range of 70-85%, rather than Ruhlman's lower 60-70%, and I put more stock in Marianski.  One interesting (and disconcerting) thing I found was that my remote humidity sensor generally reads about 7% higher than my base unit for the same conditions.  Who knows which is correct.  I have an analog hygrometer in the mail that I'll add to the mix ($5).

You'll see that all seem to be doing nicely, with plenty of mold on the tuscans and a slow but steady development on the genoa.  I wiped off some blue/green/khaki mold spots yesterday with a water/vinegar mix.  Probably wasn't necessary, but did it anyway.  Also, interesting to see that much of the "white" mold on my tuscans is really off-white tending toward yellow/brown.  I hope that's OK.

I haven't weighed anything yet, but plan to do so soon. 

           
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foundry says...
Nov 16, 2009

Monday Links: Drunk Girl In a Tub, Ferrari vs. Bulldozer, Link Love, Bruce Springsteen Slip-Up in Michigan, Poodles at Firefest, Nina Mercedes, Jamie Graham, Ann Angel

  • Shake off that Monday morning hangover and wake up the drunk woman in the bathtub

    Don't worry. Just get her home before her husband wakes up and then you can do it again next weekend...have an affair. Live it up a little!

    • THAT's TERRIBLE:

  • Saaay, that's a nice Ferrari, isn't it?

    Keep watching. It doesn't stay very nice for very long.


  • THAT's NOT-SO TERRIBLE:
    (Your breath, however, smells like stale beer. Brush those teeth, idiot.)


    Eliza Dushku has trucker butt!(Drunken Stepfather)
    ..and you know if you want see Eliza Dushku totally naked, make with the clicky-clicky.

    • Veronika is Very Innocent...until she takes off her shorts (z0d)

    TV Power Rankings: Winter Edition (Bullz-Eye)

    Uma Stone is ... is... oooh my Goodness. (Daily Niner)

    PENTHOUSE Pet Andi Sue Irwin is Awesome...and Naked. (Freakshow Planet)

    Budget Garage Door Opener Spoof (DJMICK)

    Vintage Video of Shaq in High School (BallHype)

    101 Signs You Might Be Evil (FunnyCrave)

    10 female celebs who should be seen and not heard (Guyism)

    5 Reasons Jon Gosselin Deserves His Own Reality Show (Top Cultured)

    'Dancing With the Stars' Just Got A Lot Better (Warming Glow)

    Cormac McCarthy Still a Fountain Of Wisdom (FilmDrunk)

    Finally, a handy tool for popping out baby eyeballs [WTF]

    'Twilight' STD Spoof (Comedy)


    I'M SORRY:
    (Sorry that you don't have anything other than laundry to cling to. Chop Chop, pool boy!)

  • Sexy Latina Nina Mercedez is taking her top off and whoa boy...

    and umm... we're totally derailed now. go watch Nina's hardcore footage too.


  • Keeping with the bosoms, let's take a look-see at PLAYBOY Cyber Girl Jamie Graham:

    She's young, possibly-dumb, and full of... um, bosom. Goddamn, we got nothing. Just look at her.


  • From nipple-slips to on-stage slip-ups, how could we NOT point out Bruce Springsteen's slip up at the Palace at Auburn Hills:

    Good evening, Ohio! Err, Detroit. Fuck.


  • Turning to the slightly-obscure, check out Swedish Melodic rockers The POODLES:

    That's "Caroline" LIVE at Firefest 6 in the UK. Why? Because we CAN.


  • aaaand Back to Boobies with Ann Angel and her great tan lines...

    Nina's dancing alone in her room... and lotioning up her boobies. she's doing other stuff too... naughty stuff.


  • Once again, we turn our attention to Gisele, who you all have seen in numerous FOUNDRY CAMS VIDEOS:

    We gave her a Grr Shirt. The guys in SLAUGHTERHOUSE and Koch Records gave us "The One".

    • GISELE's SHIRT DOESN'T STAY ON FOR LONG... CLICK IT!!!

    (and now to recap... for the folks with really low IQ's - us included)

  • When you finish up boinking the new office manager, click on over to the MEDIA SECTION, and check out what we added:

    Jamie Graham Nude Playboy Photo Shoot
    THE POODLES: Caroline LIVE at Firefest 6
    Ann Angel Dances Topless In Her Room
    Bruce Springsteen yells Good Evening Ohio while on Stage in Michigan
    Nina Mercedes Takes Off Her Tan Dress
    Ferrari loses control and hits Bulldozer


  • These are some of the many social networking programs we're linked up with, so JOIN US, won't you?

    Zannel: FoundryMusic
    Facebook: FoundryMusic
    Posterous: FOUNDRY
    Twitter: FoundryMusic (you can get updates to your cell phone here as well)
    MySpace: FoundryMusic
    NING: FoundryMusic
    FRIEND FEED: FoundryMusic
    Break.com: NSFW videos (we put all the dirty vids in one location)
    LiveVideo: FoundryMusic (updated daily)

    •  

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    Jamie says...
    Nov 05, 2009

    Spouse Versus Salami

    My lovely wife, Jeanine, cannot stand the "stench" in our basement.  She wants me to throw all the salami in the garbage.  I tell her that I am THE PRESIDENT OF THE MEAT CLUB and that it is both my duty and passion to carry on these old traditions and craft some tasty morsels in the process.  She pinches her nose and says: "Get rid of them!!!!"

    But, of course, I cannot.  I will need to come up with some other solutions.  I'm thinking of setting up some odor barriers in the short term (shower curtains?) and then maybe devise a more involved venting system to the outdoors.  I guess not everyone can appreciate the funky/sour smell of aging raw meat.....

    While I've still got my cherished boys (they're really like family now), here's a quick update: the Giant Genoa and the three tuscans are all sharing the curing chamber, which is hovering around 55-60 degrees and 72-76% humidity.  Everything's looking pretty good, especially the tuscans, which are developing an excellent bloom of powdery white mold (see pictures).  The genoa is doing nicely too, but not much mold and the only mold is slightly furry (though it's white and not too furry, so I'm not concerned); I see the beginning of some nice white powdery mold, which is good.  Despite the relatively high humidity in the chamber, I have some concerns about the exterior of the genoa drying out given its massive girth and the fact that the venting fan is often on, which may be passing a dessicating breeze across the genoa.  We'll see.

    Next time you see Jeanine, let her know how cool you think she is for curing salami in her basement....

             
    Click here to download:
    Spouse_Versus_Salami_tag_Jamie.zip (2610 KB)

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    Jamie says...
    Oct 30, 2009

    Rosen Salami Update Day 7

    Interesting last couple of days. 

    Genoa: Last couple of days fermenting.  Significant natural/ambient mold bloom -- see attached photos of genoa from 10-29 and 10-30.  Most of mold has been white, but a few spots of greenish blue and one or two small dots of brown.  I just scrubbed the whole thing down with white vinegar and sprayed on the mold Peter distributed (see photo of scrubbed genoa).  Conditions in fermentation chamber have been pretty steady around 63-64 degrees and 95% humidity.  When temperature dropped to 61 or 62, I put a hot water bottle in to bump up the temp about 10 degrees.  I'm now calling fermentation done, and am going to drop temp and humidity in curing chamber.

    Tuscans: Have mostly been hanging in ambient conditions in my basement for the last couple of days, with conditions around 63 degrees and 50-55% humidity.  Staying pretty moist, with some spots drying out.  I figure my putting them in the curing chamber with the massive genoa and all its humidity (which I just did) will moisten them back up.  Some very minor mold bloom on tuscans (see photos) -- a couple of white lightly furry spots and a few areas of nice thin powdery white mold.  I wiped off a few spots that were tending toward the bluish green tint, but otherwise left them unscrubbed and did not mist much with mold, since I think they'll pick it up from the conditions in the chamber with the genoa.

    The tricky thing now with my small curing chamber and all that meat will be getting the humidity down without my air circulating fan running all the time, which might dessicate the exterior.  We'll see......

                       
    Click here to download:
    Rosen_Salami_Update_Day_7_tag_.zip (4001 KB)

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    Jamie says...
    Oct 30, 2009

    Rosen Salami: Day 5 Progress Report

    (download)

    Above is a Word document I put together a few days ago with a progress report on our Giant Genoa and the three Tuscans I’m curing (use Zoom and Fullscreen for easier viewing).  Yesterday, some mold started to develop on both salami.  I'll try to email an update tonight or tomorrow. 

    I look forward to everyone else's posts and the discussion to follow (feel free to use the comment function under each post).

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    murphtron says...
    Oct 28, 2009

    Salami Follow-up with updated email list

    Greetings all,

    Thanks for the great class and all the reports.  I've fixed the group mailing list here to include just those that attended the class (plus tim) and adding Wayne, who was missing from the original list (Wayne, I'll forward you all the other emails).  So, in future group emails related to the class/curing, please use this for your "reply all."

    A quick update on my end:

    1) The Big Salami (the genoa) weighed in at 9 lbs 7 oz!!!! Massive.  It's been hanging in my chamber at a steady 64 degrees and 91% humidity.  Great for now, but I have no idea how I'm going to reasonably drop the humidity when needed, since that log of humidity is filling my entire chamber....

    2) I cured three tuscans in my oven over the weekend (approx 36 hours total).  Like several others I had trouble getting the temperature up/stable and esp. keeping humidity up.  I occasionally turned on the oven to bump up the temp and did a lot of misting water inside the oven (and on the casings) to get humidity up.  I definitely noticed that after about 24 hours, even with that misting, the casings were definitely drying out (and I could see the same in some of your photos).  I resorted to keeping them all on a sheet pan lying flat (still in the oven) for last night, covered with warm damp towel.  That did wonders to rehydrate the casings.  If your casings are starting to dry, I would do something like that, or mist them with a spray bottle the first few days/week in the chamber (if your casings start drying out now, you risk case hardening down the line).  I've now moved my tuscans into the chamber with the big salami, where they'll coexist at high humidity for a few more days while the the genoa continues to cure at 65/90.  Then, I'll try to drop temp and humidity.

    Keep reporting, taking notes, and photos.  Once our webmaster, Tim, gets our site runnning, we can post everyone's material they're gathering now and perhaps each person can have their own little zone to post to so we can see running progress of each salami.

    Happy curing!
    Jamie

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    Aid Africa says...
    Oct 08, 2009

    Ken Goyer's Reflections

    Greetings from AidAfrica!
    I would like to welcome the newcomers to our blog and greet the old timers. We are trying to build AidAfrica based on friendship, and it has been a big challenge to reach to the distant corners of the world. So far, most of our outreach has been directed at helping the people in the crisis we found in the IDP camps in Northern Uganda, helping them with basic needs, survival tools and skills. But the log rolls both ways, and our Acholi friends have helped us to stay grounded in world realities and we have brought our experiences home to share. About twenty of us have gone to Uganda as volunteers, some of us more than once. While each of us has had our own ideas as to how we could help, we have all taken our message of friendship and caring to them.

    Jamie-ID-Card-resized.jpgOur present volunteer, Jamie, is in Gulu now to teach her skills as an x-ray technician at Gulu Referral Hospital. It was fortuitous timing. Gulu Referral Hospital just got a new x-ray machine and needed her help. Gulu Referral Hospital is the only free hospital, like our “County Hospitals”, it is the only hope for the poorest people. Sometimes they don’t even have drugs and supplies, and their x-ray machine had been broken for ten years. You can read Jamie’s blog at http://hopeventure.blogspot.com/. We are very excited that next month AidAfrica will host the first Peace Corps Volunteer to be assigned in Uganda north of the Nile River.  I am planning to return to Uganda soon and I hope that my next letter will be coming to you from Gulu. My goal there is to continue our work on owner-drilled wells.

    Since we first went to Uganda in 2005 we have done a world of good. We have found a way to organize AidAfrica and to figure out what we do best.  Now we hope that in the next five years we can expand our work ten times over. Achieving this vision will require more of you to go to Uganda as volunteers, and AidAfrica will need increasing financial support. AidAfrica will probably always be staffed and funded by people like us. Maybe someday large organizations will support us, but our success right now depends on your contributions and we continue to depend on your support. This is particularly good time for you to make a generous contribution.

    AA-Web-site.jpgIf you haven’t seen our website, or haven’t seen it recently, you should take a look. Elizabeth, our “webmaster” has done a wonderful job. Thanks Elizabeth! See it at http://aidafrica.net

    The invocation at my Rotary Club meeting yesterday included a quote from Hilary Clinton’s commencement speech at New York University: “We need each other. We always do.” Aid Africa needs your support and, yes, you need Aid Africa – to do the essential human work you know must be done.

    Let’s continue forward with our friendship and good work.

    Much love from Ken

    P.S. for those of you who live in Southern California I hope that you can attend our First Gala Fundraising Event on October 24th. See our website for more details.

    Ken Goyer
    Executive Director

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