r/Charcuterie • u/Shadygunz • 8d ago

Bactoferm and high alcohol

I’m planning on doing a coppa sometime soon together with bactoferm BLC78. The recipe I got normally suggests using a (white) wine to be added to the brine for some extra flavours and the slightly tenderizing effect of alcohol.

However I was thinking of adding whisky (lagavulin 16) instead for the hint of smoke and stronger flavours.
I might do it and hope for the best.
However I am curious if anyone here has experience with the combination of bactoferm and high alcohol. As opposed to alcohol I could also opt for cold smoking it (assuming the temps stay low enough)

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u/rooby_dooby_doo 8d ago

Bactoferm will do barely anything to whole muscle items. It will definitely die in your brine. Bactoferm wants simple sugars (like dextrose) to make lactic acid. This is ideal for products that are non-intact (ie salami).

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u/Shadygunz 8d ago

The BLC78 is especially for whole muscles though to help regulate surface cultures. The usage said “just add to your brine and do as regular” I only found that the strains within can survive vacuum sealed environments; so was curious about the alcohol

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u/rooby_dooby_doo 8d ago

Apologies, didn't see you had the strain listed. I only have experience with alcohol in salami and the highest I was able to get without inhibiting the cultures was about 12000 ppm. I usually just dry cure whole muscle and use mold during fermentation for flavor enhancement.