Wednesday, February 18, 2009

saucisson update: fully cured and edible! (sort of)


At long last, I decided to eat one of my saucissons. In my last update I decided to let them cure a bit longer to make sure the interior of the sausage was fully cured. The big day was last Wednesday - I've been so busy with work and a toddler daughter that I haven't been able to post about it yet.

The good news is that the saucissons are fully cured (no raw meat in the middle), but as feared, I think the outside cured too fast given the low humidity level in my basement during the month of January. The resulting saucisson is edible, as I ate several pieces and did not puke or die, but the interior does have a slightly brownish tint which indicates that the exterior dried too fast (this is visible in the photo above). I don't think the interior rotted, because it doesn't smell bad, but I do think it wasn't able to dry evenly because the exterior cured too fast. As a result the saucisson has an off taste which isn't exactly delicious.

Rest assured, I will purchase a humidifier and give it another try. In Minnesota humidity levels are higher in the spring, which should also help. We shall overcome.