The first of the 3 Lonzino pieces from Lonzino batch 4, that I started at the beginning of November is ready. For the first 5-6 weeks the drying chamber (Rubbermaid bin with fan for humidity control) was in the garage. Once it dropped below freezing outside, the basement was now cool enough (55-60F) to bring it to the basement. Initial weight was 1122 g and final was 585g. My target was 45% weight loss.
It is delicious. This is the one that I spiced with Penzey’s 33rd and Galena (by eye). The spices were applied at the same time as the curing mix. I think the high humidity of the last couple of weeks, which was due to adding the Sopressata and Pepperoni to the chamber helped avoid any case hardening.
The next piece should be ready in a week or so, it is just over 40% loss. The last one is being slow so it may be another 4 weeks.
I started this batch with “recalibrating” / adjusting the target setpoint the Inkbird humidity controller and adding monitoring using an Ecowitt temperature and humidity sensor and gateway to log to the ecowitt.net website. Now I can see how the temp and humidity tracked over time. You can see the temperature shift as I brought the bin ito the basement and then later the humidity shift as I added the sausages just before Christmas. I have more of the Ecowitt sensors in the garage fridge and basement freezer (which is why this is Channel 2).
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Mark Bronkalla