Solved Green color around cheese

[waknitz35]

I saw another post similar so I thought I would ask also. I made a batch of summer sausage and wanted to try adding HT cheese. It came out great, looked good when I cut the stick in half and tasted great too. It was a recipe I got at a locker. We cut the stick and tried it, then wrapped it up in freezer paper and put it back in the fridge. The next day I took it out to cut more off, there was green color around the cheese. I cut the first piece off, maybe two slices and in side it looked fine again, no green. After a few hours, or the next day the green rings were back around the cheese again. It seemed like the end where air got to it, it would discolor around the cheese. I did end up eating it with the discoloration, tasted fine and seemed ok. But did not look good at all, green meat doesn’t look appealing AT ALL. Any ideas on what would cause this? Could it be a reaction between the cure, beef, cheese and when air gets to the two? It was all beef, the recipe used country brown cure, a summer sausage seasoning, and a few other normal spices. The cure and seasoning was something I got from N*ua Fds, I believe it is close to or the same as the country brown sugar cure Walton’s sells. We used the same cure for ham, bacon, summer sausage, and ring bologna. I have added HT cheese to all pork ring bologna recipe with the same cure, no green in that. The only different ingredient between the summer sausage and ring bologna was the SS seasoning, and beef vs pork.

[Tex_77]

Sounds like their is oxidation occurring.

[waknitz35]

What can you do about oxidation? I would really like to try my recipe w/ECA and cheddar or hot pepper cheese. But when it turns green, it’s hard to eat. Just something in my head that says don’t eat green meat.

[dawg]

waknitz35
Tex is right about oxidation. I found another site that describes your same thing with bologna. I will post a couple of screenshots of those posts. (Hopefully it’s not against the rules, but if it is … Admin feel free to delete)

[waknitz35]

Thank you Tex_77 and dawg for the response. It does bring another question for me though. Do you think ECA would do the same thing? I thought I saw that the sodium erythorbate could not be used with the ECA. I would like to add ECA to my recipe so I get the added tang any way. The knowledge shared here is wonderful. I have been making sausage, ring bologna, and snack sticks for a while but the cure accelerants among other things are new to me. Since I started buying mainly from Walton’s and found meatgistics I am enjoying broadening my horizons and trying new things/products. The knowledge I have about making sausage I got from an old school women, she had run a locker for 42 years. She made her recipes and was not interested in trying new things at that point. The knowledge I got from her was wonderful, but I would like to take it to another level and try more things. It has turned into a hobby that goes great with my other one, beef, pork, and chicken hobby farm. I process my own hogs and poultry but don’t have large enough equipment to due beef yet.

[Jonathon]

Nicely done Tex_77 and dawg

[salmonmaster]

waknitz35 I had the exact same thing happen to me. Cut the summer sausage first day, next day green around cheese. That sausage had no ECA in it. No cure accelerator at all. Then I made a bunch with smooth acid, which is a combo of citric and lactic acid, which acts like a cure accelerator, and are antioxidants, no more green around cheese.

[waknitz35]

salmonmaster thank you, that answers my last question. Going to try my recipe with ECA and see if that gets rid of the green color with the cheese. Thank you again to Tex_77 and dawg also

[salmonmaster]

waknitz35 hopefully! If it does, please let us know. Just took a picture of my last summer sausage WITHOUT citric, or smooth acid, same thing. Yesterday was fine, into refer over night and it just started to change color around one piece of cheese at the top. The other green specks are green pepper.