Good Mold vs. Bad Mold on Cured Meats: What You Need to Know

Our relationship with moldy foods is strange, to say the least. Mold on food is relatively healthy or toxic depending on the product that carries it. White mold on bread = bad. White mold found on tomatoes or bananas = very bad. White mold on properly cured meat = perfectly fine. As a matter of fact, the whiter the mold = the better the salami, ham or dried sausages.

Most people shy away from foods that carry mold spores. They instantly associate it with infection, disease, and death. But, it is not all toxic mold. Good mold can exist. Some molds have the role of preserving the edible qualities of foods like cheese and cured meat.

Today, we take a closer look at the good mold that gives cured meat its delightfully unique taste, the bad mold you should avoid, and how to store your salami and charcuterie so you never have to worry about it.

What Is the White Stuff on Salami?

According to the USDA, molds are microscopic fungi that live on plant or animal matter. Not all mold is dangerous, although some may produce "mycotoxins," poisonous substances that can make people sick.

Most mold spores develop on the non-porous surface of foods and ingredients, and just a few grow inside the food, such as is the case with blue cheese molds.

Molds exist in all types of environments and pop up on our food all the time. While most prefer and thrive in hot, humid conditions, some also develop in cold and dry conditions. Those are the ones that form in the fridge or in cold storage rooms where meat is hung up for drying.

Fresh meat or deli meat should never show signs of mold growth, which indicates the food is in an advanced state of decomposition. If you come across a piece of fresh meat that has mold, throw it out.

Which Molds Are Good on Cured Meats?

Good mold found on cured meat should look white and fuzzy. This specific type of good mold acts as a protective mesh of microorganisms that keeps the salami or dry sausages from developing bad, toxic mold.

The standard good mold for quality cured meats is "Penicillium Nalgiovense." You can easily spot it the moment you walk into a charcuterie shop. It is the white, fluffy coating that keeps the meat from drying out too fast. In time, it slows the drying process and enables the development of all kinds of complex aromas. Producers like Turchetti's and Salt & Twine inoculate their salami casings with this mold culture before fermentation begins. It's an intentional, centuries-old technique, not an accident.

The Penicillium has a slight smell of ammonia. It rarely stains your hands when handling the cured meat and it is easy to clean or wipe off the food. Do not mistake this normal mold for another type of white mold that is hairy or furry, which is a bad mold for any kind of food.

Generally, cured meat producers clean the products before packing and selling them. However, while it stays in your fridge, the culture of white mold may reappear from some of the remaining pores. The new coating of protective fungus should not scare you. On the contrary, as long as the resurging mold is white or light grey, the dried meat is still ideal for consumption.

The white mold is perfectly safe to eat. Most of the time, it resides on the casing of a piece of cured meat, which you can easily remove. Some people have no problem with eating the casing as well, which in most cases is edible. You'll find this same mold on products like La Quercia's Prosciutto Americano, Turchetti's Sweet Soppressata, and most traditionally produced dry-cured salami.

You can prevent bad, toxic mold from overtaking cured meats by not placing them in the same storage area with fresh fruits or vegetables. Your best choice is to have a small fridge or cold pantry for safe, long-term storage of cured meats.

Which Molds Are Bad for Cured Meats?

There are two types of bad molds on cured meats: green and black.

Green mold found on cured meat is a sign that the storage room in which you keep it has either too much humidity or very poor air ventilation. You can still try to salvage your dried salami, ham and sausages by reducing the moisture or increasing airflow into the room in order to remove the bad mold.

Green mold may sometimes appear as blue, but it is caused by the same type of mold. Contrary to the powder-like texture of white mold, the green mold is fuzzy and leaves small amounts of crumbles on other surfaces as well. When you handle cured meat that has developed this bad mold, you should wear gloves to avoid staining your skin.

Black mold is a clear sign that you should immediately throw away the cured meat that has developed it. This specific type of mold is poisonous and appears when you store dried meat in a room that has no air ventilation, and where the humidity is at a very high level.

How to Remove Green Mold from Meat

If you spot green mold appearing on cured meat in its early stages, you can still save most of the contaminated piece. Simply dip a cloth in vinegar and use it to wipe down the fuzzy fungus from the meat. The vinegar acts as a disinfectant, and its smell should disappear in a matter of days.

How to Store Cured Meats at Home

Proper storage is the difference between salami that lasts for weeks and salami that goes south in days. Once you cut into a piece of dry-cured meat, wrap it loosely in its original paper packaging and slide it into an unsealed ziplock bag. The key word is unsealed. Cured meats and their mold cultures need oxygen to stay alive. Cut off the airflow and the mold dies, creating off flavors and a sour smell.

Store the wrapped meat in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. The crisper provides a slightly more humid environment than the main compartment, which is exactly what dry-cured salami needs. Keep it away from fresh fruits and vegetables, which release moisture and ethylene gas that can encourage bad mold growth.

Whole, uncut salami and soppressata can be stored at cool room temperature (55-65°F) if you have a pantry or cellar. Once sliced, always refrigerate. Properly stored, most dry-cured meats will last several weeks to a few months without issue.

Shop Properly Cured Meats

Now that you know the difference between good mold and bad, put that knowledge to work. Every salami and cured meat in our charcuterie collection is made by small-batch producers using traditional mold cultures and real fermentation. No shortcuts, no rice powder, no imitation coatings.

A few good places to start: the Turchetti's Meats Sampler for a tour of Indianapolis-made salami, the La Quercia Cured Meats Sampler for Iowa-raised prosciutto and speck, or the Charcuterie Board Bundle if you want to build a board that actually impresses people.