White fuzzy mold

[Clark D]

Just looking for a few thoughts.  We cure four briskets a week with a dry rub of 16 oz salt, 8 oz sugar and 2 oz of cure number 1.  They go for 8 to 10 days before being rinsed and smoked.  The least two times we have done this we ended up with large amounts of white fuzzy mold on the briskets.  The briskets are stored individualy in bus tubs with lids and flipped every couple days. The fridge is at temp and sometimes a little cold.  Looking for thoughts on what could be causing this?

 

In the mean time we have started doing a faster more agresssive wet cure and injection process which works well.  Just want to figure out whatis happening in our old process.

 

Thank you for any thoughts!

 

Clark

[gfweb]

I wonder if your cure #1 has gone bad.

 

 

[rotuts]

with that amount of salt I wonder what might grow.  esp in the frig

 

any chance you mixed up the salt with the sugar ?

 

ie 16 oz sugar and 8 oz salt ?

 

did you loss the meat ?   if not, scrape off some of the fuzz and see if the surface is salty with a very small

 

taste.  use your very clean finger.

Edited May 6, 2016 by rotuts (log)

[Clark D]

I was also wondering about th curing salt but with that amount of salt I figured it wouldn't matter. The bag is new but I don't know how long it was in the warehouse before we got it.

 

On the salt sugar mix up it's unlikely since it happened twice in a row. The first time we trimmed the briskets down smoked them and ate them and they tasted and looked correct. The last time we tossed them as there was a lot more mold and they were fairly slimy.

 

I was thinking it must be excess moisture somehow but no really sure how that would have ben introduced to the environment.

 

Thank you for the idea and replies!

 

Clark

[gfweb]

A dry rub is only dry when its applied (since moisture comes out of the meat), so I don't think it is due to excess moisture. And if the rub is as advertised it ought to kill the fungus spores wet or dry.

 

I'd be surprised if the brisket would get fuzzy if just left in the fridge with no rub applied for  that length of time. To me it suggests that the rub is somehow contaminated and inactive too.  Or the bag or something.

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2016 by gfweb (log)

[rotuts]

im intrigued that something can grow in such a salty environment.  did the first batch you ate taste salty and 'cured?'

 

taste the actual salt and sugar that you used if you still have any left.

 

maybe the error was farther back.  do you keep your sugar and salt in its original containers or dump them into a new larger container ?

Edited May 6, 2016 by rotuts (log)

[JohnT]

A few thoughts - who does the turning? Are they actually doing it? Were the bus tubs properly sterilised before use? Why not seal the briskets, with the cure, in ZipLok bags to prevent contamination and simply flip the bags when you need to turn. There really should be no sign of "fir" if the salt is correct and if proper hygiene guidelines are strictly followed (and your cure mix is correct).

[paul o' vendange]

Depending on the species, some molds (or actually species that exhibit both fungal and mold characteristics) can be quite salt tolerant, if it's a portion left in the air for any time.  The very essence of some washed cheeses and rind-ripened cheeses, actually. 

 

Was the mold long and thread-like, scaly, or a kind of chalky, powdery, low-lying mold?

 

Edit:  Should also have said, cured meats - geotrichum candidum and related coat both sausages and many cheese styles.

Edited May 6, 2016 by paul o' vendange
Incl. charcuterie. (log)

[Clark D]

Morning!  

 

The mold was very find strands, furry up to about one centimeter.

 

Sanitation should be solid, dishwasher is checked twice daily for proper levels and bus tubs and cutting boards etc all go through before entering.

 

Thanks again everyone.  Was very weird to us we've been doing this for a ling time and never experienced it until the last two attempts  

 

Thanks!

 

Clark

[Clark D]

As for the look of the one we smoked after instead of tossing, a picture is attached....

[rotuts]

@Clark D   

 

just drooling here for a sandwich of the above.

 

personally Id just go back to your Usual methods  

 

and don't forget the smoking step.