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Incipient Drops of Tuscan Fat

Interesting new development on my tuscans.  A handful of tiny drops of fat on the surface, which were not there two days ago (see photos below, and look closely for the small, gleaming beads of liquid fat). 

I've seen similar weeping fat in prior salami (though much more excessive), but I thought that was due to temperatures that were too high, and perhaps conditions too dry.  But, these have been kept consistently below 60F and at or above 70% RH for the last several weeks.  Anyone know what physically causes this?  I've been reading the very interesting (and detailed) Marianski book (http://www.amazon.com/Art-Making-Fermented-Sausages/dp/1432732579), but haven't gotten to anything on this yet (I'm bogged down in a section on the innumerable variety of bacteria and their properties and functions).  

One interesting thing is that I only see this in spots where there is no mold (though it may be happening in other spots as well but the white mold is just absorbing it as it oozes out, so it's not visible).

         
Click here to download:
Incipient_Drops_of_Tuscan_Fat_.zip (204 KB)

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Posted by Jamie 

Comments (4)

Nov 20, 2009
Tim said...
I've got the drops of fat, even on the small Tuscans I had hanging in the fridge. They are also on the larger one's still curing. I think I'm going to move them (Erika) up to the fridge this weekend.

Nov 20, 2009
Erika said...
My salamis are very greasy on the surface. Are the pockets of yellowish fat that you pictured soft? I worried that perhaps my temps were too high and humidity too low. I'm obsessed about the blistering on mine and still debating what to do about it.
Nov 20, 2009
Erika said...
I lanced the two little blisters on my second salami. They were pockets of fat. No off odor. They seemed rather innocuous. The salami itself smells very much like the first one I cut into. I had a little more of the first one today and like the way the flavor mellows after it has been in the fridge a little bit.
Nov 21, 2009
Jim said...
Been out of town a couple of days and just saw this...as I mentioned when I posted about my Tuscans, they had a few very small tears (runs) of fat also which is one of the reasons I decided to harvest them - weight loss and firmness also justified taking them...

Bye the way, I have been reading the Marianski book as well. It's got good information in it, but I find the writing to be very labored and confusing in places along with a LOT of repetition (can you say filler?). I just got through chapter 5 (Starter Cultures) and expect it to get more entertaining in the latter part of the book.

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