possible white mold?

[Steve]

I have my first attempt at lonzino in the fridge and have noticed small white patches forming on the surface. I have very good surface contact between the bag and the meat and these patches seem to be in areas where there may have been some air left between the bag and meat. Could this be white mold and can I safely clean it off ? I’ve seen other posts that mention cider vinegar. Is it simply a matter of wiping it off with a vinegar moistened towel? Thanks for any input!
Steve

[Joseph Czerniawski]

I too have just started this system, but have been doing salami & charcuterie in my curing chamber using the traditional methods for about 2 years. My first coppa never obtained a good seal and it started developing a white powdery mold both on the outside of the bag and on the surface of the meat. So today I removed the bag and washed the mold off with white vinigar using paper towels. I then resealed the coppa in a new bag and we’ll see what happens. I started the coppa and a prosciutini on 10/24/15. but rather than place them in the refrig, I put them into my curing chamber @ 55 degrees and humidity starting at 90% and graduated down to 75%.
I wasn’t surprised that they d veloped mold because of the high humidity in my chamber, but I wouldn’t expect to see mold in the regular refrig because the humidity should be too low for mold to grow.

[Jim]

If it is white mold specs you can wipe them with cider vinegar after the drying is done.

[Steve]

Max/Jim
Thank you both! I’m looking forward to tasting these!

[Steve]

I weighed my lonzino this afternoon and was at around 45% weight loss so I cut into it. AWESOME!!!!!! I used a tenderloin cut since it was smaller (and cheaper) to experiment with for the first time. What I thought was mold definitely was not. Not sure if it was possibly fat that I had not trimmed off, or just discoloration due to small air pockets. Either way I am very pleased with the way this turned out for my first attempt.

My next concern is how can I store this and how long will it last? I cut it into 4 pieces, and vacuum sealed three of them and the fourth piece will not be around much longer B) . Can this be frozen? If not what is the best way to store them? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Steve

[Joseph Czerniawski]

Once the meat is fully cured it should stay pretty much indefinitely if you vacuum sealed it and store in the refrigerator. My bottom drawers are full of soppressata and other dried sausages, and some are over a year old.

[Jan Ooms]

Steve, I have vacuumed Coppa, Bresaola, Loin, etc etc in a dedicated fridge for over a year now. The taste intensifies with age. We’ll make a dent in it this coming Christmas though.
Jan.

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