Mold on Bacon

[xfitjay]

This morning I pulled out a slab of some bacon I cured and smoked about a month ago which had been sitting in my basement refrigerator and it had mold on it. My search of the forum seems to indicate that mold isn't a problem and I can just cut off that part of the bacon. I wondering why I got the mold on it. It's the first time it's happened. I've only been curing bacon for about a year or so now, so I'm still pretty new to all this. I dry cured it using Martin's cure calculator. Put the bellies in zip lock bags in the fridge for two weeks. Let them sit out in the fridge for almost a week to get the pellicle. Cold smoked them in a Brinkman Griller-Smoker using an AMZNPS for a total of about 12 hours - 6 hours on Saturday and 6 hours on Sunday. I have a hard time keeping the AMZNPS going for long periods of time so I put everything away and started again the next day. I cleaned out the zip lock bags and put the smoked bellies back in the bags and put them in the fridge. This is my last part of the belly and had no problems with the other parts. Anything in particular I'm doing wrong? The fridge is pretty cold. I keep my beer in there as well.

 

[rp ribking]

bump

 

[diggingdogfarm]

Sometimes that just happens when conditions are right.




~Martin

 

[pops6927]

Cured and smoked meats, over a period of time, will develop mold, just part of the aging process.  The salt draws moisture out of the cured meat, which collects on the surface, and the conditions are prime to make mold (cold, dark, wet).  Just check it frequently and wipe it off as you see it.  Best thing is to freeze it before the mold occurs, after a few weeks, up to 6 months frozen.

 

[xfitjay]

Thanks guys.