Venison prosciutto question

Hello everyone -

I’m brand new to this site and was hoping you all could provide me some advice. I’m curing venison prosciutto roughly following this recipe

https://thebigfatmushroomhunter.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/venison-prosciutto/

The leg has been hanging in my basement for 6 months now encased in the wax. There is one part of the leg that is softening under the wax. When I push on the wax it gives more than other parts and makes a slight squishing sound. There are also about three very small needle sized holes around the leg that are oozing a bit of reddish liquid. Should I be concerned? I’m wondering if I should remove the wash and inspect the softening part of the leg or just ride it out.

Thanks for your help!

Gabe

This is fascinating. Looking at the link you posted it seems that the meat should be dry prior to the waxing. If its leaking i would conclude that its not dry or doing something to cause the leak(rotting). I have no firsthand knowledge though.  Just reading between the lines.

Thanks Wayne. Would you open up wax to inspect? I did hang it uncovered for two months prior to waxing and it got pretty hard and lost a lot of moisture.

I don't think it would hurt as its easy enough to recoat.

I'm not familiar with this recipe, but I agree you need to break in there and check it out.  I think I'd chill the whole thing if you can, then break off the wax and cut away any spoiled meat.

I'm worried the meat wasn't salted enough.  When I made pork prosciutto, I packed the leg in salt in a cooler, then dumped out lots of fluid that had been pulled from the leg, then repacked in dry salt, then dumped out fluid, etc, etc multiple times. This before I hung it up to dry, wrapped in many layers of cheese cloth to keep out bugs.

If you break off the wax, you should be able to re-melt it (be careful, beeswax will combust when it hits the right temperature) and re-use it to coat your prosciutto in progress.  Filtering out bits would be nice, you may have success washing the cold chunks in water to remove debris.

Ok - so I cracked off all the wax and good news - there is no rot! However, the leg is very moist and soft. I'm thinking I should resalt it for a week or two to extract more moisture before recoating it in wax to hang and mature. THoughts?

I agree.  Maybe it was just all the remaining liquid gathered at the bottom, so that area was soft.  

Great thread folks. Very useful stuff.

Anyone using Sea90 as the salt? I was planning on using the salt on the fields after curing and getting damp, and I assume that's cool because it is just a sea salt, but I know the Sea90 is a little more mineral rich than other salts because of where and how it is obtained.

Any way this is a bad idea that people can think of?

Sorry
Not sure how to use this page
But
I have a venison prosciutto leg.
It’s been salting and I’ve turned it for two weeks
It’s lost about 30 percent of its weight. I had a a weight on top of it to help in pressing the liquid out( a cobble stone)Also early on, I rubbed it with celery powder.
The meat has pulled away from the bone in some spots. Is that normal?
Also, I’ve seen a guy on the internet for the next step rub with lard and a mixture of pepper and spices.  Anyone had any suggestions for spices and lard to coat with while it hangs.
I’ve heard venison doesn’t had to hang for a year but that 8 months is fine?
Anyone
Suggestions???
Thanks