Elevated pH for sausage/soppressata

[ninocala61]

Using Bactoferm T-SPX for 2 days at 75 degrees and 75% humidity, I am getting a pH level higher than 5.7 after 7 days in a curing chamber. Can anyone tell me if this is normal at this stage, and if not, can anyone tell me what went wrong?
Thank you for your help.

[NCPaul]

How much culture did you use? How much dextrose did you give the bacteria? How sure are you of your pH measurement? Did you check the pH of the meat initially? How old was the culture and what date was on it? These are just some of the obvious questions. Welcome to the forum.

[ninocala61]

I used 1/8th teaspoon of culture for 5lbs of meat. I used 1 and 1/2 TBS of dextrose per 5lbs. The ph strips were 3.9-5.7 and the color maxed out at 5.7. maybe i should of bought the ph strips that were higher numbers. I did not measure the ph of the meat initially(just got the strips today) The age of the culture is fine (2015) Thanks

[DanMcG]

T-SPX won't lower the pH a much as other cultures. Take a look at this write up about 3/4' down the page
http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... ed-sausage

[ninocala61]

Thanks Dan, I should buy a AW meter and check water activity. Is it too late to spray mold 600 on outside of sausages while in drying stage? Aiso sausages seem to be sticky on the outside. I have a computer fan that runs every 3 hours for 10 minutes on high side of chamber to exhaust out and a filtered opening on opposite lower side to let air in the chamber.I am at 57degrees and 60 % humidity drying stage.

[ped]

Could I suggest that there really is no need for an aw meter, if your Sop is losing weight then it is losing water, protein and fat don't lose weight, well certainly not at the rate that you need worry about.

[ninocala61]

Thanks ped for the aW meter info, any other helpful tips would be greatly appreciated.

[DanMcG]

You can spray it anytime but ideally the 600 mold will develop much better if applied before the fermentation stage.

[herjac]

T-SPX won't lower the pH a much as other cultures. Take a look at this write up about 3/4' down the page
http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... ed-sausage

T-SPX will go below pH 5 with the amount of glucose being used (0.484%) but at the temp fermented, 75F, needs 20 hours just to get started. Reference, Marianski, Art of Making Sausages, first edition, page 156.

I normally leave mine with this culture for 36 hours @ 72F and have no problem getting to low 5's. I also notice a distinct smell of fermentation at this time. Especially if garlic powder is used.

I used 1/8th teaspoon of culture for 5lbs of meat.

It has been noted here that when using small amounts of culture the package should be well mixed before measuring as the package is not all culture and contains something? to prevent the culture clumping. This is why they recommend using larger amounts of culture for smaller amounts of meat than you would think reasonable. Use more culture, say 1/4 tsp after shaking the package. Did you use distilled or cooled boiled water to rehydrate the culture? Did you add it after mixing in the other ingredients? All these factors will affect results..

My 2 cents...

[ninocala61]

No I did not shake the package of culture. I used room temp distilled water to mix culture for 30 minutes. I also mixed the culture mixture in the meat after I mixed in the seasonings. I did not use garlic powder although i have the same distinct smell of fermentation. Sausages are really stickey in the curing chamber. I kept mine at 75degrees @75% humidity during fermentation for 48 hours

[herjac]

It sounds like your ferment worked so I would continue with the curing and drying. Keep track of the weight loss when drying. When you tested the pH did you use some distilled water to mix with your meat sample before using the test strips? Tap water will give a higher pH result if this is used.

[ninocala61]

Is that why the sausages are sticky due to the fermentation? I did not mix the meat with any water. I put the ph strips directly on the meat. Is that wrong? I simply put mixed meat in a glad bag unzipped.

[herjac]

The book says "to use pH strips mix 1 part finely chopped meat and 2 parts distilled water, tear off a strip of pH paper, dip into solution, and match immediately to colour chart". I wrap excess meat mixture after stuffing with cling wrap. I scoop out a bit of this, re-wrap the rest, and mix with some distilled water to pH check fermentation progress .

The sausage will feel sticky for awhile as they lose moisture. This is usual. I don't think that you have any problem. Recheck your pH.

[wheels]

I've never been able to 'get my head around this', why does the pH still read true if the meat's only one third of the mix? Surely it will read somewhere between the pH of the distilled water and the meat? Logically, it should be nearer the pH of the water?

...perhaps it's just me!

Phil

[herjac]

I am a retired winemaker and have used pH for years to determine wine total acidity by titrating with a base without fully understanding the chemistry but maybe I can give you the backyard gardeners explanation.

pH is the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration:

pH = log 1/[H+ = −log [H+]] We're measuring total hydrogen ions here.

It is not a linear relationship. A solution of pH 6 has 10x more hydrogen ions than a solution of pH 7. A solution of pH 5 has 100x more hydrogen ions than a solution of pH 7.

So you can see that the influence of the water pH in our case has little effect on the pH of acidic solutions in the pH 5 range. I hope this helps. Don't ask me to do the math. I just follow the instructions that come with equipment....