Venison Proscuitto Lucca

[Spuddy]

Terry,
In my view the white mould (a penicillium) is always a desirable mould. Whether or not it is desirable for a particular product is a matter of taste/tradition. However its presence will protect against "undesirables" that's why I say it's always desirable (if something is going to grow I'm thankful it's friendly).

The ice on your cooler element (obviously NOT "frost free") will make your fridge work a little harder. If the contents have finished curing and are just maturing then it won't hurt them to be out of there for a couple of hours while you defrost the thing.

[Paul Kribs]

Spuddy

Thats what I thought, but had only heard it discussed with regards to salami and chorizo.

The fridge is a self defrost type, but has never done what it is supposed to, ie. doesn't defrost till you set the dial to off and back to on.. I can live with it, although I am loathe to defrost it as it takes a while for it to stabalise with decent humidity again. All the goodies should be either finished or ready for the next stage by this weekend, so I will defrost it then.
Thanks.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Paul Kribs]

Some of the white mould is turning green in the centre of the spores, also it has some different colour green mould in other areas. (these are macro photo's)





Just need to check with you knowledgable people if this is OK or is it turning rotten. It doesn't smell bad... yet.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Oddley]

I think Franco posted, if the mould is white or green it's ok, if it's black bin it.

If you are worried you can always wipe the meat with vinegar, to get rid of the mould.

[Paul Kribs]

Thanks Oddley

I am aware of the white/green mould issue, but as I am new to all this I was somewhat bothered by the fact that there is 2 distinct colours of green mould.
I will persevere until such time as it becomes unpleasant to the smell before I opt to discard it.
It is peculiar that on one side of the fridge I have plenty of mould forming but on the other side the chorizo is clean. BTW, the wife is suitably impressed by the look of the chorizo, and I have been instructed to make a cassoulet one day next week. Alas, she is not impressed with the look of the proscuitto. It is not completely hard yet and I am very tempted to procure a slice for tasteing.. but I will resist and see it through to completion or dustbin.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Spuddy]

Terry, I've got to say I'm NOT sure about the darker, olive coloured mould. The paler blue/green moulds are absolutely fine but that patch just right and above the centre of the photo I can't say I've seen before.
I'd recommend wiping with vinegar or citric acid.
I have a friend who is in microbiology, I'll try to get some feedback there.

[Paul Kribs]

OK Spuddy,

Thanks for the advice. I will rub the olive green mould with vinegar and have a look at the meat beneath.

'Edit'
In fact I have wiped the whole lot with vinegar, and could not see any underlying spoilage and even though it should have a few more days I decided to slice some and re-hang the rest.




It smells nice, but the centre is a little soft. I took the plunge and tried a small bit of the darker, drier meat and it tasted fine. Oviously this doesn't necessarily mean that it is fine and if there are any adverse effects I should find out later today. It doesn't taste as salty as I had expected.


Regards, Paul Kribs

[Erikht]

What was the initial weight of this haunch?

[Paul Kribs]

Erikht

The boned haunch weighed 1375 grammes. The recipe I used is further back in this thread.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Erikht]

I see.

When I cure legs of mutton on the bone(you can also do it off the bone, but I prefer the latter), I usually let the cured leg hang in a fridge or coolingroom for 2 weeks, just to give the sakt a chance of spreading out evenly in a cool inviroment. Then I hang it for another 3 months, cool at first, but at the end you can hang it hotter and hotter.

When doing venison(still on the bone), at least the same time is needed. If I cure only a deer hart, it will still get 4-6 weeks before declared finished.

I think you should give this untill the end of november at least. Also, I don't think its a good idea to have it to moist in the beginning of the curing period. This is, after all, not salamis.

I have some experience with this kind of curing, and would love to be of help.

[Paul Kribs]

Erikht

Thanks for the information. My dilemma was that one one side of the fridge I had chorizo, and on the other side had the venison haunch. I currently have a eye of pork loin hanging in the fridge, it's been there 4 days so far, I was wondering wether to cover it with lard and black pepper mix to retard drying a bit, although commercially bought Lomo is on the dry side.

Regards, Paul Kribs