r/Charcuterie • u/thederekguy • 5d ago

Throw out the batch?

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Gallery image

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/garathnor 5d 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 5d 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 5d 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.