Biltong - white spot. Salt? Or a disaster?

[Biltonger]

I've been home making Biltong for a while now. Not lots but just when I can. Got a Biltong maker - which is just a largish plastic box with air moved through it.

Put some on a few days ago and just checked it. It has small white spots all over; not fluffey and not totally white. Not sure if this is a mold or salt forming. Anyone got any ideas? If there is any doubt I'll chuck the batch; erring on caution. But would love to know what it is...

When I hung this batch it was rainy overcast day about 24Cish. Usually it is a sunny 28C+ day...

Here is the image with a zoomed in view....

 

[Biltonger]

Here's a better pic. I'm thinking salt crystals as they are not totally white, and not fluffy... I'll see if they 'grow'....

 

[JohnsMyName]

Hard to see in picture. Scrape a few off, are they hard? It they are, taste them to see if it’s salt. It’s probably mold, but doesn’t look dangerous at all. I’d wipe them clean with vinegar and keep going, no need to waste the product.

 

[daveomak]

White mold is OK to eat... It does look like salt... Like john said, "Taste it"....
If you dipped the biltong in vinegar and a heavy dose of salt, I don't think mold would grow..

 

[idahopz]

It looks to uniform on the surface to be mold - likely salt. As mentioned, taste it - if it is off, then spit it out, but I suspect it is salt.

 

[SonnyE]

Fly specks from White Flies.
If it was regular old flies, it'd look like Pepper. :confused:


No clue. I hardly know what biltong is, let alone how to spell it. :rolleyes:

My best guess would be a mold of some sort, based on the appearance of it.

 

[Biltonger]

Thanks guys. Yeah, difficult to get a pic that really shows it well. Biltong is really just a thick version of jerky washed in cider/brown vinegar with small sprinkling of salt and hung for a week or so.

Gonna wipe and dip then re-hang to see what happens... Be a shame to waste, good bit of Kangaroo that :-)

 

[JohnsMyName]

Cool, never had kangaroo, what does it taste like?

 

[myownidaho]

Good call on the rewash. It does look like white mold. Not a loss though.

 

[texomakid]

keep us updated on your results. I've always wanted to make Biltong. We used to eat the heck out of that stuff. There was a place called the Kraalkop close to Caroltonville that made a very good Biltong. Just hanging in that glass room ready for the picking and slicing. Biltong and Castle beer. It don't get much better than that.

 

[mlrtym44]

So what was it?

 

[RayM]

Hard to see in picture. Scrape a few off, are they hard? It they are, taste them to see if it’s salt. It’s probably mold, but doesn’t look dangerous at all. I’d wipe them clean with vinegar and keep going, no need to waste the product.

I have a spiderweb kind of mold on my cut biltong. Most times I throw the cut meat in ziplock bags into the freezer within the day of cutting. My son asked me to send him some that was completely dried so I left them in the opened zip locks longer than I should. I picked out the pieces that did not get visible mold on it. I was planning on cutting off the white parts and store in freezer.
Is this mold dangerous?

 

[Jonok]

PsW.

keep us updated on your results. I've always wanted to make Biltong. We used to eat the heck out of that stuff. There was a place called the Kraalkop close to Caroltonville that made a very good Biltong. Just hanging in that glass room ready for the picking and slicing. Biltong and Castle beer. It don't get much better than that.

Lived in Hartebeespoort and had the local Boers with their home-made fare.
The Biltong available on the roadside was the best ever...