Full Answer
How Do You Remove White Mold From Salami?
Why do they put white mold on salami?
Does the White Mold Require Special Handling?
Why is my salami not white?
What does it mean when you hear mold on salami?
Why is there mold on salami?
How is salami inoculated?
See 2 more
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Hanging your salami the right way
Plenty of people love salami but have no idea how to handle it. We get calls for eitza all the time like, “I left my salami on the table, what do I do?”
How long to keep it hanging
The ideal hanging time for salami is around two to three weeks, depending on how hard you like it. Hanging time also may vary depending on the size of the salami and humidity.
What to watch out for
Moisture is the main culprit for spoiling a delicious Romanian salami. It’s important to keep your salamis hanging freely because water gets trapped in walls and you don’t want that moisture harming your salami.
What is the mold on my salami?
When you open up one of our salamis from the packaging, you will immediately notice a white mold coated outside the salami. Don't worry; it's supposed to be there! It is a penicillin-based mold similar to the white mold you will find on a fine cheese like a French Brie or Camembert. It's a natural part of the fermentation process of producing artisanal salumi, and the salami mold has its own flavor and flora.
What is the purpose of mold in salami?
The mold protects the salami from any harmful bacteria getting inside the product. It serves an essential purpose and is part of what we call the "terroir" of our product, giving our salami a unique flavor and flora, similar to fine wine.
How to store salami?
As part of the home storage process, I recommend storing your il porcellino salumi in one of the crisper drawers in your refrigerator. Once you open and cut the salami, rewrap the product in its paper packaging and store it inside an unsealed ziplock bag. Keeping the salami this way allows the product to continue to "breathe." The salami and the mold itself do indeed require oxygen to continue to grow. If the airflow is cut off, then the mold begins to die and will create an unpleasant aroma and flavor. Our salami has a shelf life of nine months when stored correctly in your home refrigerator.
Why is mold important in salami?
Again, the mold is present to protect the product from other competing mold or bacteria growth during the drying process. This good mold does indeed protect the salami from any potentially harmful molds present in the environment .
How to ferment salami?
We stuff our salami into all-natural casings, and as part of the process, we inoculate a mold solution onto the casings by soaking them before stuffing them. Once the casings are stuffed with salami, they are put into our climate-controlled fermentation rooms set at 100% humidity and 75 degrees. Obviously, that's not the ideal temperature to store meat, but it is the perfect climate to ferment our salumi.
What does salami do to pork?
As the salami pH reaches a level below 5.0, the fermentation process kills any harmful bacteria present in the raw pork we use . Plus, as the salami ferments, all of that beautiful white penicillin-based mold blooms and starts to form a luscious white coat on the salami's exterior.
How long does salami last in the refrigerator?
If the airflow is cut off, then the mold begins to die and will create an unpleasant aroma and flavor. Our salami has a shelf life of nine months when stored correctly in your home refrigerator.
Why is white mold used in salami?
This fluffy white mold acts as a natural barrier to protect the salami from competing mold or bacteria. The mold also keeps the salumi from drying out too fast, thus slowing the drying process and enabling the development of all kinds of delicious flavors.
How to clean mold off Pecorino Toscano cheese?
Pecorino Toscano is covered with mold in its natural state, which is wiped off before shipping – now there’s a cheese that cleans up well! If by chance the mold starts growing on the rind again, it can be simply brushed or wiped off with a cloth. I usually suggest using a dry cloth since mold thrives in a damp environment. I often (depending on how porous the rind) suggest finishing the product off with an olive oil polish for visual effect and further inhibiting any unwanted mold growth.
Is it safe to eat a hard cheese with mold?
If you see some fluffy mold growing on a hard cheese, simply scrape or cut around, 1 inch deep for safety. The roots of mold cannot penetrate hard cheeses such as parmesan, and can only penetrate a little in softer cheeses such as harvati. Should you see mold on fresh cheese, such as mascarpone or chevre, it is safer to dispose of the product.
Is mold in cheese dangerous?
mold, for the most part, is not dangerous , it can either be wiped off or cut off cheese. mold (other than those of Blue cheeses) should be on the rind, not inside cheeses.
What is the white mold on salami?
The typical white mold that we see on salami is Penicillium nalgiovense. However, in recent years, scientists found a different strain of mold from the Penicillium family, Penicillium salamii . Like the common white mold, this particular mold has a green color and does not produce mycotoxins, toxic substances that can have harmful effects on human ...
What is the first mold to appear on salami?
A butcher-friend from Italy, when asked about what he thought about green mold, said this: white mold, the favorite for cured meats, is the first to appear on salami, but is very weak and during the long maturation phase tends to disappear to give way to more aggressive, gray and green molds.
Why and when green mold appears?
Up until recently, I dry cured my salami at the standard 55F / 75% RH. Green mold rarely appeared on my sausages, which were inoculated with white mold. I use naturally occurring white mold collected from previous batches. When inoculated with a more active Mold-600, chances of green mold appearing are practically zero. Here is a picture of Fuet that I finished just recently. It was cured at 76%-78% RH and, as you can see, there is not a hint of green mold on it.
Is Penicillium salamii green?
As you can see, both strains exhibit green color, though Penicillium salamii is more of creamy, light green. I am surprised about the green color of Penicillium nalgiovense though. But it looks like the color changes over time. Perhaps humidity affects that as well.
Do moldy cellars smell?
However, the molds must be smelled to understand if they have unpleasant smells that we would then find in the product. Smells of pepper, earth, peas, potatoes, mushrooms, camphor, peppers, moldy cellar are good. Naturally, molds that give off unpleasant smells must be removed by brushing them off.
Is green mold avoidable?
Most, if not all, of my batches, dry-cured at 75%-78% RH did not develop green mold. As such, I can confidently say that high humidity is the cause. By lowering the humidity, you can almost certainly avoid green mold. This is assuming that the environment is not contaminated with green mold spores .
How Do You Remove White Mold From Salami?
Although the white fuzzy mold on salami is safe and can add flavor depth, not everyone will enjoy eating it.
Why do they put white mold on salami?
In short, the purpose of white fuzzy mold on salami is to protect it from the development of harmful mold and bad bacteria. Most salami manufacturers use natural casings, which require some preparation before the stuffing process.
Does the White Mold Require Special Handling?
In the same way that white mold is safe to eat, it’s also perfectly safe to handle with your hands. So, there’s no need to worry whether you’ll remove too much when you’re cutting the salami, either.
Why is my salami not white?
Contrary to popular belief, if the salami doesn’t have any white mold on its surface , then it’s likely something went wrong during the fermentation process.
What does it mean when you hear mold on salami?
When you hear that the white substance on their salami is mold, it’s natural to be a little taken aback. However, we’ve learned that the presence of mold on our food means it’s time to get rid of it.
Why is there mold on salami?
The mold on salami is an entirely natural occurrence caused by the fermentation process. However, it’s also important to point out that artisanal salami white mold has its own flora and flavor, adding to the complexity of the flavor profile.
How is salami inoculated?
The casings are inoculated by soaking them in a unique solution. Only then are the casings stuffed. After that, the freshly stuffed salami is placed into a temperature-controlled environment where the fermentation process takes place.
