Bad or good white mold? (Photo attached)

[SlocombeM]

Hi

These cured sausages are 3 weeks old, I did a 12 hour fermentation as I wasn't going to be about for a while. They have been kept in a homemade arduino based curing cabinet. Which keeps the humidity between 65-80% and temp between 12-15c. All temperatures and humidity's are logged on my home computer (pi). My ranges have been fairly good except for two occasions where for a few hours things went down for a power cut and where I accidentally switched off the wrong wall plug before going out.

I used Bactoferm T-SPX as instructed. Although they recommend a 24 hour fermentation period rather than the 12 i did. I used a pre-mixed salt & #2 cure 28g per kg as instructed.

Whats the general consensus regarding this mold? Is it a good or bad white mold. Looking online there is a lot of talk about bad white molds being hairy/fuzzy. Which mine are.

I have vinegar wiped them and the cabinet, but I assume they'll come back. The little orange patch of mold is just mold that happened to form on a needle prick, so its covered with meat juice. This mold was on all the sausages except the smoked ones as expected.

Thanks

 

[daveomak]

If you leave the white fuzzy mold growing on your sausage, it will protect the sausage from bad mold getting a start... It's good insurance..... and it's edible...

 

[SmokinAl]

What Dave said! Let the white mold take over the whole sausage. It will protect it from other bad molds.
Al

 

[smokininthegarden]

If you are like me and don’t want mold growing on your sausage at all, get some food grade potassium sorbate, It is very cheap and a little goes a long way. Dissolve a tablespoon of it into the water you soak your caseing in then soak as usual then stuff. It works very well to keep mold from growing. If by chance some mold does begin to form during the curing process, dissolve a little more of it in water, dip a clean cloth in the water solution and wipe down the sausage, just like you would do with vinegar.

Cal

 

[Slow42]

DON‘T remove the mold. It has a purpose. Most people involve in what your attempting purchase a product to enhance the grow of mold. Anyone voting that this mold is bad hasn’t a clue on the art of charcuterie. That is not an opinion but a fact!

 

[DomfromCT]

Hello . So need some help i never added white mold to my sausage and im curing it now it has been 3 weeks we have small white fuzzy spots nothing large about half the quarter the size of a pea .

 

[SmokinAl]

I spray my sausage with mold 600, that makes the white mold grow quicker. And as Dave said it protects the sausage from the bad molds. There are a lot of people that consider that white mold a delicacy. I just brush it off with a scrub brush when the sausage is dried. It's completely edible though if you want to leave it on!
Al

 

[DomfromCT]

Thank you sir

 

[DanMcG]

there is a lot of talk about bad white molds being hairy/fuzzy. Which mine are

Your mold looks like a powdery mold which as mentioned is desirable to most people. White hairy fuzzy I wipe off.

 

[rfwoodvt]

Am getting slightly fuzzier mold on my bresaola (see pic) I've also had some of those white spots begin to go green on me. For those I've trimmed off that section of meat and sprayed the whole thing down with vinegar. Having said that, how the the molds in these pics measure up to what I should be expecting?

 

[daveomak]

Spraying your products with "mold 600", will protect it from bad molds....
That's a protective step that should be employed...

Bactoferm Mold-600

Bactoferm Mold-600 is a starter culture that suppresses the growth of undesirable organisms. Gives a white mold layer on your sausage or other charcuterie.

www.sausagemaker.com

 

[DomfromCT]

So i had a problem this year i contacted microbiologists at my local university asked about white mold and talked to people in our community that make sausage and gabagool every year. they say its not good but not bad i sprayed it down with white vinegar not deluding it at all it didn't effect the flavor at all. it killed the mold.

 

[daveomak]

White mold not good ???? Did you mention it was Bactoferm mold-600 ???
Mold present on traditional sausages prevents myotoxin formation by wild molds. It allows for uniform drying and contributes positively towards flavor. It forms a nice, white mold on the surface of your product. The strain of mold secrete enzymes that also contribute towards the development of flavor in your final product over the drying time.

What is that stuff on the outside of my salami?

That dusty stuff is a natural, edible mold similar to those found on aged soft cheeses. Its called Penicillium, and we inoculate our salami with it to help the aging process. The mold acts as a natural barrier to protect the salami from any competing mold or bacteria growth during the drying process. Spraying the mold on the salami inoculates it with good mold and drives off any potential bad mold that might exist in the environment. It is a point of pride for us that all of our salami are naturally molded.

While there are easier ways to produce salami, such as imitating flora with rice or milk powder, we do not use shortcuts. These molds are natural and delicious, but are easily removable by taking off the salami's casing, if you so desire.

The picture below shows some examples of the variation in our mold colors. It's normal to see everything from a dusty white to vibrant blues and greens, all the way down to a shadowed grey. The colors change with the seasons, just like the rest of the flora in nature. All of these variations are delightful and delicious. Enjoy!

 

[DomfromCT]

fuzzy white mold not good i was told.

 

[daveomak]

fuzzy white mold not good i was told.

Do you think the owners of Salumaria would sell a product that was harmful ??

The folks you asked were not well informed.....

 

[DomfromCT]

No white fuzzy mold is not the same. I have never seen white fuzzy mold in the stores only the right kind of mold .

 

[DomfromCT]

Bactoferm Mold-600
Its not fuzzy its like powder am i right?