Am I being too paranoid about mold?

[anthony elias]

So, I am currently dry curing capicolla with the Umai Dry Bag. I went a little too heavy on the paprika, even though it has not interfered with the bag attaching to the protein, I am concerned on whether my capicolla has black mold or it's caked paprika.

What is the best way to identify mold?

I am paranoid by nature, so this might all be paranoia, but does black mold  have a smell? is it fuzzy?

I believe its probably the paprika getting caked cause I used so much of it, but I rather be safe than sorry, theres absolutely no bad odor coming from the bag.

 

[daveomak]

The UMAI recipe I found for Capicolla does not call for paprika and calls for the meat to be rinsed of all seasonings before placing in the UMAI dry bag.....  

I'm not sure where you are in the process..... 

[h1]Featured Recipe[/h1]
[h2]Traditional Capicola Recipe[/h2]

This traditional dry cured pork shoulder is made from just the coppa muscle of the whole shoulder.

Dry Cure Ingredients

• Pork coppa muscle 4 1/2 lbs. (2kg)
• Kosher salt (3% of meat weight) 6 tbsp (60g)
• Sugar 2 tbsp (30g)
• InstaCure #2 (0.25% of meat weight)1 tsp (6g)
• Black pepper, coarsely ground 2 tbsp (4g)
• Juniper berries, crushed 1 tbsp (4g)
• Bay leaves, crumbled 2 (2g)
• Freshly grated nutmeg 1/2 tsp (1g)
• Fresh thyme 2 or 3 sprigs (3g)
• Garlic, minced 2 cloves

Instructions

1. Mix Dry Cure Ingredients well and rub onto meat, making sure to cover all nooks and crannies.
2. Transfer meat into a Ziplock or Foodsaver bag and place in your refrigerator for two weeks to cure.
3. After the curing process, remove meat from bag, and rinse off cure under running water.
4. Transfer to UMAi Dry[emoji]174[/emoji] and place place on an open wire rack to dry in your refrigerator four to eight weeks, or until 35-40% reduction in weight.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

WHITE: powdery white mold is good. A form of penicillin. It will have a smell of ammonia. White mold that is furry or hairy is bad.

GREEN/BLUE: not the best. If this is present you generally have a humidity or airflow problem. Try to either lower the humidity in your hanging environment, or make sure there is some positive airflow in your chamber, with regular transfers of air (get the stale air out, and fresh air in).

BLACK: Serious stuff. Can be toxic. Generally only forms when there is very high humidity and no air movement. I have only ever had black mold appear once. For me anything that grows black mold is instantly thrown away.

The best way to deal with a case of the fuzzies or blue/green mold is simply to wipe the area in question with vinegar. It wouldn’t hurt to wipe your chamber with the stuff either. Once you are done curing, clean the chamber out with a 10% bleach solution and let it dry for a couple of days before using again.

Hope this helps some.