Curing meats in fermentation fridge?

[New_guy]

I am keen on making some pancetta and other salumi
Can I cure meat in fermentation fridge?
I thought if it had a steady ? 12 degrees and if I put a fan in there to move the air around, would this work??
Would the fridge environment give any off flavours
Obviously no beer in fridge at same time...

 

[mattfos01]

There are more knowledgeable gents who could contribute, but this article about curing chambers is pretty good.

http://www.curedmeats.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/lets-talk-curing-chambers.html

 

[themonkeysback]

I have used my fermentation fridge for pancetta and drying other meats without any significant dramas. The main difficulty as touched on in the article Mattfos has linked is maintaining humidity. My non high tech method to do this was a tea towel hung over the fridge rack with one end in a bowl of water, this managed to keep the humidity at >50 percent compared to around 30% in my fridge without it. I think optimally you would also have a small fan to circulate air within the fridge as you have suggested but I managed ok without this. I simple purchased a cheapo hygrometer to keep an eye on humidity, and if it was consistently dropping I also misted some water around the fridge with a spray bottle.

If you haven't already got it this book is great for charcuterie stuff: http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Craft-Salting-Smoking-Curing/dp/0393058298

Adam.

 

[New_guy]

Cheers Adam - book looks good

 

[Aces High]

Ive set one of my fridges up with both a temp and humidity controller for curing meats. You can purchase the humidity controller off ebay just like the temp controllers. Then you just need a cheap humidifier. The problem with the fridge alone is that any time the compressor comes on as well as cooling the fridge it also humidifies it.

So in summer it will be turning on quite regularly and without at controller and a humidifier your humidity will stay pretty low. If doing a flat piece of pork belly you could put it in a sealed container on a rack with rock salt and a little water underneath and I should stay at 75% humidity (this is similar to how you calibrate a humidity controller)

 

[doon]

http://www.mistygully.com.au/banquet-bag-cure-smoke-4-pack/

If using one of these is humidity control needed?

 

[Mercs Own]

I am keen on making some pancetta and other salumi Can I cure meat in fermentation fridge? I thought if it had a steady ? 12 degrees and if I put a fan in there to move the air around, would this work?? Would the fridge environment give any off flavours Obviously no beer in fridge at same time...

Read through the Salami 101 thread there is some good info regarding setting up a fridge to make salami etc.

 

[Phoney]

Ive set one of my fridges up with both a temp and humidity controller for curing meats. You can purchase the humidity controller off ebay just like the temp controllers. Then you just need a cheap humidifier. The problem with the fridge alone is that any time the compressor comes on as well as cooling the fridge it also humidifies it.

+1

WH8040 - just like the STC1000 but for humidity control. Mist makers are good for humidifying - they're only about 6 or 7 bucks on ebay from HK.

The other thing to watch is when you create a dark, humid environment, it creates ideal conditions for mould to flourish. It's a good idea to spray the inside of your whole fridge down with a mild bleach solution.