Process
Mould inoculation
A commercial mould culture applied to the surface before or after stuffing.
Published parameters
| Parameter | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Status | recognised by FSIS as a measure applied before fermentation to prevent undesirable mould growth and for flavour development | FSIS-GD-2023-0002 |
| If no culture is applied | the establishment must determine the hazards reasonably likely to occur and support the decision | 9 CFR 417.2 and 9 CFR 417.5 |
What the step is for
Occupies the surface so that undesirable moulds cannot, and contributes flavour.
A deliberate white mould is a hurdle, not a decoration. It takes the surface so that something else cannot have it.
FSIS is careful about the limits of this: colour is not necessarily an indicator of a bad mould, and a few types of mould produce mycotoxins. Where mould growth is desired for quality reasons and no culture has been applied, the guidance puts the burden on the maker to say what the mould is doing.
Hazards this step bears on
Instruments this step is measured with
Every parameter above is stated in a unit. These are the instruments those units are read with, and that is the only claim being made for them: they let you find out what your product is. None of them makes this step safe, none of them is required by any of the sources cited above, and this site does not tell anyone that a procedure works. Consumables, cures and cultures are deliberately not linked from a method page; they are on supplies.
Affiliate links
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Hygrometer and thermometer, logging
FSIS treats relative humidity as a critical operating parameter for cooking, and a drying room is a humidity-controlled space. A logged record is what turns a chamber into a process.
Parameter: FSIS-GD-2021-0012, relative humidity as a critical operating parameter
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Temperature and humidity controller
A drying schedule is a schedule of conditions held over weeks. A domestic fridge holds a temperature and destroys humidity.
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- $39.99
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- SENSTREE
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Regulatory citations are to the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 9, as in force on 1 January 2026. FSIS guideline citations give the guideline identifier; the documents are listed with their URLs on methodology.