Finocchiona Fermented and Drying

Quick upate: the fermentation chamber worked great, with temperatures oscillating around 68-74 degrees (as heater timer cycled on and off -- see comment on last post).  I let the salami ferment for three days at around 85-90% humidity.  

When I pulled them from the chamber, some surficial mold had begun to grow (see first few pictures below).  I wiped that off with a salt water solution, then misted them with the M-600 mold culture from Butcher & Packer (formerly called the M-EK-4 culture), and put them in the curing chamber (see ghostly picture below with my bad camera).  Conditions in the chamber around around 57 degrees and 80% humidity. 

To make space for the salami, I pulled out some pancetta which was in there and let it dry in the ambient conditions in my cellar, which are around 60-64 degrees and around 50-65% RH.  I didn't want to keep them in with the salami, since I want the pancetta at a lower humidity.

A question to all: what are your practices for applying the M-600 mold culture?  Do you apply it before or after the salami goes into the fermentation chamber?  How much powder do you put into solution?  Do you spray it on or dip?  Do you precondition the mold if frozen (e.g., let sit in solution for 12 hours before applying)?  Seem to be mixed practices out there and not much good info on the mold package or Butcher & Packer.

(download)