See!!! I did need those extra ram rods I bought (or hanging sausage)

I got back from Texas with 2 hogs and after butchering I made 12.5 LBs of Breakfast Sausage & 12.5 LBs of Mild Italian.



That went so well this weekend My son came over and we ground up odds and ends packs of Deer and elk meat I rummaged from the freezer + some left over pork fat from the earlier Sausage making. We made 25 LBs of Smoked Salami. Smoked at 120°F for an hour, then took them up to an internal temp of 160°F. Now they need to hang someplace cool and dry until they lose 25% of their weight (1-3 weeks depending)

I knew this time of year my gun room would work perfect as a cool dry place, it stays in the 40s so long as I keep the door shut. However I had no idea how to hang 60 sausages, until i remembered the bundle of ram rod blanks I had stowed ways.

Sean Gadhar said:

my gun room would work perfect as a cool dry place, it stays in the 40s so long as I keep the door shut.

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Sean Gadhar said:

they need to hang someplace cool and dry until they lose 25% of their weight (1-3 weeks depending)

Click to expand...

So where does the moisture from the 60 sausages go with the door shut?

Gun Tramp said:

So where does the moisture from the 60 sausages go with the door shut?

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Good Question
Humidity here is at 16% right now.
We are talking about 3 quarts of moisture lost over say 2 weeks, although most will be in the next few days, after that about the same rate as having my coffee cup in the room all the time.
There is venting, just no heat ducts.
But I will watch to see if there is any condensation, and switch out the tarp on the floor every day.

Sean, I applaud your improvisations. And that salami sounds delicious. Your use of the cool, dry gun room reminded me of a term I haven't heard in a while. My paternal grandmother was a farm girl up in Quebec long before the area had electricity. She still used the term 'cool room' to store things. I suspect she meant a root cellar but I'm not sure and there is no one left to ask.

Jeff

Jeff my parents had friends who's parents had a cabin in Conifer Colorado. I was vary young and they were Vary vary old (about my age now ) They had a bomb shelter that was a fantastic Cool room, had maybe a 100 foot by 200 foot garden, and stored root vegetables and cabbages down there. Cooked on a wood stove, I can't remember now if they had electricity. . . . and like you " there is no one left to ask."

Well it's been two weeks. Smoked Salami got tasted today. Vary pleasant mild Salami. I don't know if it is the smoke or the smaller casings I used, but the texture is vary much on the hard Salami side (which I prefer ) Guess I'll wait and see if I live. If I'm fine by Tuesday, I'll start handing them out to other people
It's a good thing I didn't have crackers and a nice Cheese around the house or there wouldn't have been any left of this one to photograph.

That looks wonderful. Looks like exactly the kind is salami I like, a little on the dry side, but fatty.