Have you ever seen white stuff on your jerky?
Sometimes you’ll see white powdery stuff on the surface of beef jerky, and sometimes it’s small white spots.
So, what is that?
It could be one of three things…
- Salt deposits
- Fatty deposits
- Mold
99% of the time, it’s one of the first two.
Salt deposits occurs when moisture on the surface of jerky evaporates and leaves the salt behind. It will look like a cloudy white color, almost like powder, except it won’t rub off. It’s also a common occurence with vacuum sealed jerky packages, where the vacuum draws the oil up to the surface of the meat, giving it a wet appearance. Once the package is opened, and the vacuum pressure is lost, the oil recedes back into the meat, and leaves the salt deposits on the surface.
Fatty deposits, or otherwise known as “lard”, is just fat that had been heated up during the dehydration process, and then cooled down, turning to a white color. The lard usually rests in the cracks and folds of jerky. The color will vary from white to yellow.
Mold can certainly form on jerky. You’ll know it’s mold by that all too familiar bitter taste. It will occur when the package has been compromised. During the package sealing process, sometimes a tiny piece of jerky gets stuck to the package, right where the seal is supposed to be, and prevents that portion of the seal from bonding. Some companies normally vacuum seal their packages, while others fill the package with nitrogen to kill the pathogens. Either way, with a compromised seal, it allows oxygen to enter. Mold will have that familiar fuzzy appearance, and will have a slightly blue tinge.
