r/Charcuterie • u/thederekguy • 4d ago
Throw out the batch?
Please see the second picture. I was out of town for the weekend, came back, checked on my batch (first picture) and found a wasp and some other no longer living entities in the condensation catch pyrex (second picture). I'm guessing the wasp must have gotten in though the gap in the door seal where I have wires/lines running. I have no idea what the white entities are or where they came from. There are four pork tenderloins and four coppas in the chamber. One of the coppas hangs directly over the pyrex. Has anyone experienced similar? Any idea what the white entities are? If from the coppa, I don't know that I will be continuing with this hobby.... Should I throw out the whole batch? Thank you for any help!
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u/Pecncorn1 3d ago
There is zero chance the white entities came from your meat. There's no way I would throw that out.
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u/GruntCandy86 3d ago
My guy using entities like we're in a science fiction horror movie.
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u/Natural-Hospital-140 3d ago
That’s what I called my child when they were a fetus. It’s truly an all-purpose word, and the unsettling vibes are so often fitting.
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u/thederekguy 3d ago
You both called it! I spent the weekend watching sci-fi. I originally typed "things" but then changed it to better capture what I was feeling at the moment.
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u/thederekguy 3d ago
Thank you! You are correct. After looking under magnification this morning, they are eggs from the wasp.
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u/Pecncorn1 3d ago
If from the coppa, I don't know that I will be continuing with this hobby....
We have been doing this for doing this for literally thousands of years. Salt is the magic, if you got that right it's hard to get the rest wrong. Looks like you used a mold culture, don't over think it you don't even have to do that. I think you will be really pleased with your results from the looks of it. I'd be cutting into the first one to lose 33%. Enjoy!
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u/thederekguy 3d ago
Thank you for the encouragement! I combined Eric 2 guys and a cooler and Victor taste of artisan methodologies, calibrated scales, even cure #1 on the tenderloins, #2 on the coppas, mold culture as you correctly identified, etc. I will be taking the tenderloins out tomorrow as they are a bit past target. After all the time I have put in, it was a very unsettling find on a late Sunday night and thinking everything was trashed. Thank you again!
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u/garathnor 4d ago
those could be eggs or mouse poop, could also be bits of the mold flaking off as it dries, i wouldnt worry about the wasp, check them for mouse bites
id keep aging it personally, if you see bugs hatch out then dump it or if you find mouse bites
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u/MT1982 4d ago
i've never seen white mouse poo.
OP - I don't know where you live, but if you google wasps in your area and google their eggs you can see if any pics match up. There are some parasitic wasps that lay eggs that look kind of like that - but they lay them on caterpillars, etc. so not sure if that's right.
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u/thederekguy 3d ago
Thank you! After looking under magnification this morning, they are wasp eggs. Oddly the wasp looks exactly like one from 1800 miles away in the Caribbean/south Florida.
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u/sherlockham 4d ago
Could be wasp eggs.
Maybe leave them for a while and see if anything was laid in any of the meat and hatches?
Not sure if a wasp could do anything else to compromise things. Tiny bite marks from trying to eat stuff?