Black mold

eightysixCJ · Post by **eightysixCJ** » Sun May 13, 2018 21:33

Greetings all,

My first attempt curing. Whole muscle from a wild hog hind quarter. Cured in vac bag for a bit over two weeks, rinsed, respiced, stuffed into casings, netted, into my chamber at 55*F and 75% humidity, and dipped in Bactoferm 600 12 hours later.

After a few days I saw light white fuzz growing on this one. I thought all was going well. A couple of days later it was all black. I rinsed and scrubbed off with vinegar and returned it to the chamber. The other three are looking good but have a similar light white fuzz forming.

What are your thoughts? Should I remove the netting and inoculate again?

Thanks,

Tom

Post by **Butterbean** » Sun May 13, 2018 22:16

Definitely not a color you want. That said I have a different attitude toward molds after a microbiologist friend came by to pick up some meat and I showed him a ham I had hanging that had a rainbow of mold colors including black. My friend is a very picky person when it comes to the food he eats since he lost his sister to food poisoning when he was a child hence his interest in microbiology. I was surprised when he took a quick look at the ham and said the mold was fine. This shocked me because I expected him to say bin it. Since that meeting I have a different view on molds. The important thing - I gather - is that the mold needs to be a dry mold and not slimy. If its slimy he said to bin it.

That said, just because it may be "safe" doesn't mean it will taste good. Doesn't mean it will taste bad either but when you use the time proven molds you are assured of a pleasant outcome.

The more you make stuff the more "desriable" mold you will get in your curing area. In my situation I have an abundance of white mold and rarely see anything other than an occassional green here and there.

I can't tell you what to do in your situation but in the future it might pay you to spray your curing chamber with a chlorox solution being sure that it penetrates the duct work and fan area. Basically sterilize everything. A few days later come back and do the same again with a mold solution. That's my two cents. Good luck.

I'm no microbiologist but I suspect the black you are seeing are the fruiting bodies and spores.

eightysixCJ · Post by **eightysixCJ** » Mon May 14, 2018 00:52

Thanks. This helps. Although it was not the 600 mold I was looking for, it did appear to be a light white fuzz and black spores. Not slimy at all. After wiping it was all gone for the most part. The netting was not as white/tan as it was.

I did give things a sanitize before entering the meat. I's a small, 36"x24"x24" fridge, and I was opening the door every day.

I'll start a fresh batch of 600.

Tom

Post by **Butterbean** » Mon May 14, 2018 02:45

When you sanitized it did you spray it good and close the door and run it for a day or so? That is what I did with mine and it seemed to work well. Good luck with it and let us know how it goes.

eightysixCJ · Post by **eightysixCJ** » Mon May 14, 2018 12:14

Butterbean wrote:When you sanitized it did you spray it good and close the door and run it for a day or so? That is what I did with mine and it seemed to work well. Good luck with it and let us know how it goes.

Yes, I cleaned it all out a couple of times when I started the cure and had it running for a week before I put them in. The others all have a nice white coating. I reinoculated this morning and will keep you posted.

Thanks,

Tom

Kijek · Post by **Kijek** » Thu May 17, 2018 14:52

Wow, this is a small short post, BUT, I learned a lot in just a few sentences.
Thanks for sharing 86CJ and thank you Butters.

eightysixCJ · Post by **eightysixCJ** » Fri May 18, 2018 14:42

Well the black, or something similar returned. To recap; put into the chamber May 7th, black mold developed in about five days and was cleaned off on day six (May 13th) and reinoculated. About five days later it looks like this.

I removed the netting, scrubbed it down with vinegar, trussed it, reinoculated with 600, and returned to the chamber. The other three pieces put in the chamber at the same time are all growing a nice white coat. Everything smells fine in the chamber and it looks fine after wiping off the mold.

Tom

Post by **redzed** » Fri May 18, 2018 15:09

Maybe because the picture is a bit dark, but I don't see the type of black mold that sometimes develops on salami. It usually appears as black spots on the white mold. Try lowering the temp to 52, and if you do get the black spots, remove them with the tip of the knife and dab that spot with vinegar. And give the inside of your chamber a few squirts of 600.

Kijek · Post by **Kijek** » Fri May 18, 2018 15:38

Oh come on now everybody, how much more are we going to dissect these piece of meat and try and save it, with still lingering health questions at the very end.
I mean don't take this the wrong way, but now we are down to picking black dots off of it with the tip of a knife.
Let just play it safe and throw it in the can and be done with it.
All the other meats are fine, except this one, something strange happened and we don't know what. Let just chalk it up to one of those crazy unknowns.

eightysixCJ · Post by **eightysixCJ** » Fri May 18, 2018 17:19

I thought about chucking it this morning but since it cleaned up I thought to give it one more try. Same meat and casing as two of the other pieces that are fine.

Tom

Kijek · Post by **Kijek** » Fri May 18, 2018 19:43

Ok, it's your meat, I understand and hope it ends up delicious.

Post by **redzed** » Fri May 18, 2018 23:45

I've had black mould appear when I started new curing chambers. By monitoring carefully and removing it in the manner described in my earlier post, nothing was spoiled. Eventually P. nalgiovense establishes itself as the dominant fungus and the black spots don't return.

eightysixCJ · Post by **eightysixCJ** » Sat May 19, 2018 00:24

Kijek wrote:Ok, it's your meat, I understand and hope it ends up delicious.

I appreciate your input. First run, I'm likely overthinking it but learning. So far, a lot less checking in on this than when I made my first batch of wine.

How much, if any, black/not-white mold growth will you work with before tossing a piece of meat?

redzed wrote:Maybe because the picture is a bit dark, but I don't see the type of black mold that sometimes develops on salami. It usually appears as black spots on the white mold.

This started as a light coat of white that turned black. Kinda like the white mold I am looking for but black. It wiped off pretty easily.

This piece was the only one with sweet Calabrian pepper on it before casing. Something I'll pay attention to next time.

Thanks for your help.

Tom

Post by **redzed** » Sat May 19, 2018 06:22

Tough to analyze what exactly you have on the salami. Can you try and post pics with higher resolution and better lighting?

Kijek · Post by **Kijek** » Sat May 19, 2018 15:48

Can you try and post pics with higher resolution and better lighting?

This thread is an eductation for me, for sure, I'd love to see some more pics and hear what the pros think.