Moldy orange butter. Why?

[email hidden] (Ken) wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I made some orange butter for a pot luck. It wasn't
finished off, so I brought the remainder home. Later, when
I wanted to use it at home, it had turned moldy, with
black, fuzzy mold in small spots. Does anybody have any
idea as to what made it mold?

The orange butter was just butter, honey (neither of which
mold), mace, and orange juice and rind. My guess is that
the butter did not mold, but the specks of rind did.
Anybody out there with more of a food-science or public
health background want to give me a more definitive and
educated answer than my guess?

Thanks,

Ken

I use salted butter infrequently. I only use butter on baked
potatoes and use margerine for most other butter uses. And
if I store the butter out of the fridge in a covered butter
dish... in a cupboard, so it spreads more readily, it gets
moldly after a period of time (best guess 2-3 weeks). So my
guess is that the butter in your orange butter is what
caught the mold.

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on
nothing but food and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

On 4 Apr 2004 20:20:51 -0700, [email hidden] (Ken)

Quoted message said:

I made some orange butter for a pot luck. It wasn't
finished off, so I brought the remainder home. Later, when
I wanted to use it at home, it had turned moldy, with
black, fuzzy mold in small spots. Does anybody have any
idea as to what made it mold?

The orange butter was just butter, honey (neither of which
mold), mace, and orange juice and rind. My guess is that
the butter did not mold, but the specks of rind did.
Anybody out there with more of a food-science or public
health background want to give me a more definitive and
educated answer than my guess?

Thanks,

Ken

It could very well have been contaminated with other food
items at the pot luck. People often pick up the nearest
serving utensil or use their own knife or fork, and the next
thing you know, there are crumbs or small bits of food in
the butter.

Boron

hahabogus <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (Ken) wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I made some orange butter for a pot luck. It wasn't
finished off, so I brought the remainder home. Later,
when I wanted to use it at home, it had turned moldy,
with black, fuzzy mold in small spots. Does anybody have
any idea as to what made it mold?

The orange butter was just butter, honey (neither of
which mold), mace, and orange juice and rind. My guess
is that the butter did not mold, but the specks of rind
did. Anybody out there with more of a food-science or
public health background want to give me a more
definitive and educated answer than my guess?

Thanks,

Ken

I use salted butter infrequently. I only use butter on
baked potatoes and use margerine for most other butter
uses. And if I store the butter out of the fridge in a
covered butter dish... in a cupboard, so it spreads more
readily, it gets moldly after a period of time (best guess
2-3 weeks). So my guess is that the butter in your orange
butter is what caught the mold.

I only use unsalted butter (and no margerine), and this was
stored back in the fridge once I got it home. I guess if I'm
very curious, I could leave a pat out for a while to see if
it develops the same type of mold.

Thanks,

Ken

"Ken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

hahabogus <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (Ken) wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I made some orange butter for a pot luck. It wasn't
finished off, so I brought the remainder home. Later,
when I wanted to use it at home, it had turned moldy,
with black, fuzzy mold in small spots. Does anybody
have any idea as to what made it mold?

The orange butter was just butter, honey (neither of
which mold), mace, and orange juice and rind. My guess
is that the butter did not mold, but the specks of
rind did. Anybody out there with more of a food-
science or public health background want to give me a
more definitive and educated answer than my guess?

Thanks,

Ken

I use salted butter infrequently. I only use butter on
baked potatoes

and

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

use margerine for most other butter uses. And if I store
the butter out

of

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the fridge in a covered butter dish... in a cupboard, so
it spreads more readily, it gets moldly after a period
of time (best guess 2-3 weeks).

So

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

my guess is that the butter in your orange butter is
what caught the

mold.

Quoted message said:

I only use unsalted butter (and no margerine), and this
was stored back in the fridge once I got it home. I guess
if I'm very curious, I could leave a pat out for a while
to see if it develops the same type of mold.

Thanks,

Ken

If it's Land O'Lakes it's very likely to mold. I finally
quit using Land O'Lakes because it molded so often. If
butter molds it's because it hasn't been rinsed enough.

Kathy

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I made some orange butter for a pot luck. It wasn't
finished off, so I brought the remainder home. Later, when
I wanted to use it at home, it had turned moldy, with
black, fuzzy mold in small spots. Does anybody have any
idea as to what made it mold?

The orange butter was just butter, honey (neither of which
mold), mace, and orange juice and rind. My guess is that
the butter did not mold, but the specks of rind did.
Anybody out there with more of a food-science or public
health background want to give me a more definitive and
educated answer than my guess?

Yep - I've noticed that oranges tend to get moldy much
faster than they used to.

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Ken) said:

I made some orange butter for a pot luck. It wasn't
finished off, so I brought the remainder home. Later, when
I wanted to use it at home, it had turned moldy, with
black, fuzzy mold in small spots. Does anybody have any
idea as to what made it mold?

The orange butter was just butter, honey (neither of which
mold), mace, and orange juice and rind. My guess is that
the butter did not mold, but the specks of rind did.
Anybody out there with more of a food-science or public
health background want to give me a more definitive and
educated answer than my guess?

The orange rind is a likely source, more so than the juice.

Honey doesn't spoil/mold because, as-is, the moisture
content is too low. Butter is about 15% water, so mixing
them together (with the orange juice) would create a sugar-
rich, moist environment.

--
to respond, change "spamless.invalid" with "optonline.net"
please mail OT responses only

Ken said:

I made some orange butter for a pot luck. It wasn't
finished off, so I brought the remainder home. Later, when
I wanted to use it at home, it had turned moldy, with
black, fuzzy mold in small spots. Does anybody have any
idea as to what made it mold?

The orange butter was just butter, honey (neither of which
mold), mace, and orange juice and rind. My guess is that
the butter did not mold, but the specks of rind did.
Anybody out there with more of a food-science or public
health background want to give me a more definitive and
educated answer than my guess?

Thanks,

Ken

Butter will indeed mould. Then you added more sugars in the
form of honey and orange juice. Only undiluted honey is mould-
resistant (not mould proof); once you diluted it with the
orange juice, it becomes a very good substrate.

How long did you keep the leftovers?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I only use unsalted butter (and no margerine), and this
was stored back in the fridge once I got it home. I
guess if I'm very curious, I could leave a pat out for a
while to see if it develops the same type of mold.

Thanks,

Ken

If it's Land O'Lakes it's very likely to mold. I finally
quit using Land O'Lakes because it molded so often. If
butter molds it's because it hasn't been rinsed enough.

Kathy

Kathy,

Good guess, it was Land O' Lakes. But I've never had it
mold on me in the fridge before. Maybe sitting out at the
pot luck for most of a day was enough time to get the mold
spores going, then they kept going once I put it back in
the fridge.

Thanks for all the responses so far everyone.

Ken

"Ken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Kathy,

Good guess, it was Land O' Lakes. But I've never had it
mold on me in the fridge before. Maybe sitting out at the
pot luck for most of a day was enough time to get the mold
spores going, then they kept going once I put it back in
the fridge.

Thanks for all the responses so far everyone.

Ken

I've been using Cabot and I can leave it out on the counter
until it's gone and I've never had it mold. The Land O'Lakes
seemed to mold in less than a week about half the time. It's
the only brand I've ever had mold.

Kathy

Ken said:

I made some orange butter for a pot luck. It wasn't
finished off, so I brought the remainder home. Later, when
I wanted to use it at home, it had turned moldy, with
black, fuzzy mold in small spots. Does anybody have any
idea as to what made it mold?

The orange butter was just butter, honey (neither of which
mold), mace, and orange juice and rind. My guess is that
the butter did not mold, but the specks of rind did.
Anybody out there with more of a food-science or public
health background want to give me a more definitive and
educated answer than my guess?

Thanks,

Ken

I would say it has to be the orange juice. The butter itself
wouldn't get moldy and probably neither would the honey. I
don't know if you've ever had oranges go moldy but it
happens to me frequently because I don't use them up fast
enough sometimes.

Kate
--
Kate Connally “If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead
already.” Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.” What if the hokey pokey
really *is* what it's all about? "][email hidden]

"Kate Connally" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If it's Land O'Lakes it's very likely to mold. I
finally quit using

Land

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

O'Lakes because it molded so often.

In my 57 years I have never seen moldy butter. And I and
my family when I was young always leave the butter out -
that is one stick at a time in the butter dish in the
cupboard.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If butter molds it's because it hasn't been rinsed
enough.

This makes sense. I would think that would be the only way
butter could get moldy.

Kate

I really got tired of moldy butter. I even called the
company and complained so naturally they sent me coupons for
free butter. I waited a month or so and bought that brand of
butter again and I still had moldy butter before I used up
the first stick. I threw the rest of it out. I'll never buy
that brand again.

I've never had any other brand mold, ever. The butter sits
on the counter in a covered butter dish year round.

Kathy

The orange peels and juice will mold. It sounds like that's
your problem.

"Ken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I made some orange butter for a pot luck. It wasn't
finished off, so I brought the remainder home. Later, when
I wanted to use it at home, it had turned moldy, with
black, fuzzy mold in small spots. Does anybody have any
idea as to what made it mold?

The orange butter was just butter, honey (neither of which
mold), mace, and orange juice and rind. My guess is that
the butter did not mold, but the specks of rind did.
Anybody out there with more of a food-science or public
health background want to give me a more definitive and
educated answer than my guess?

Thanks,

Ken

Ken said:

I made some orange butter for a pot luck. It wasn't
finished off, so I brought the remainder home. Later, when
I wanted to use it at home, it had turned moldy, with
black, fuzzy mold in small spots. Does anybody have any
idea as to what made it mold?

The orange butter was just butter, honey (neither of which
mold), mace, and orange juice and rind. My guess is that
the butter did not mold, but the specks of rind did.
Anybody out there with more of a food-science or public
health background want to give me a more definitive and
educated answer than my guess?

Why would you guess that the butter did not mold? Just
asking because I used to think butter never went moldy.
Turns out my family just ate the stuff to quickly. Since
living with my wife we use butter so infrequently that I've
had the stuff go moldy in the fridge.

How old was the butter? Was it salted? Was it left out of
the fridge? Being old, unsalted or left out will increase
the chance of mold.

Quoted message said:

Thanks,

Ken

--
Send e-mail to: darrell at cs dot toronto dot edu Don't send
e-mail to [email hidden]

Darrell Grainger said:

Ken said:

I made some orange butter for a pot luck. It wasn't
finished off, so I brought the remainder home. Later, when
I wanted to use it at home, it had turned moldy, with
black, fuzzy mold in small spots. Does anybody have any
idea as to what made it mold?

The orange butter was just butter, honey (neither of which
mold), mace, and orange juice and rind. My guess is that
the butter did not mold, but the specks of rind did.
Anybody out there with more of a food-science or public
health background want to give me a more definitive and
educated answer than my guess?

Why would you guess that the butter did not mold? Just
asking because I used to think butter never went moldy.
Turns out my family just ate the stuff to quickly. Since
living with my wife we use butter so infrequently that
I've had the stuff go moldy in the fridge.

In all my years of using butter at home and in foodservice,
I've never heard of commercial butter molding. I've kept
butter literally for months in a fridge and never had any
mold form.

Quoted message said:

How old was the butter? Was it salted? Was it left out of
the fridge? Being old, unsalted or left out will increase
the chance of mold.

I *always* leave butter out at room temperature in a
stainless steel butter dish. It sometimes sits for a couple
weeks that way. Never a bit of mold.

The only butter I've ever had get moldy was when I made
butter from raw, unpasteurized cream and didn't salt it. It
molded about 2 months later at cool room temperature. I was
told it was because I didn't rinse it as well as I should
have. Since then, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt per pound (about what
the commercial guys use) added and a longer rinse. No mold.

Pastorio

"Bob (this one)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > >>I
made some orange butter for a pot luck. It wasn't
finished off, so I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

brought the remainder home. Later, when I wanted to use
it at home, it had turned moldy, with black, fuzzy mold
in small spots. Does anybody have any idea as to what
made it mold?

The orange butter was just butter, honey (neither of
which mold), mace, and orange juice and rind. My guess
is that the butter did not mold, but the specks of rind
did. Anybody out there with more of a food-science or
public health background want to give me a more
definitive and educated answer than my guess?

Why would you guess that the butter did not mold? Just
asking because I

I've been out of town for a few days and just re-checked
this thread. Thanks everyone for your replies.

Regarding the questions about why I thought butter wouldn't
mold: I've never had it mold, and I use it very slowly, but
I keep it in the fridge. And friends who keep it out for
easy spreading don't have a problem either. So from personal
experience, I assumed butter doesn't mold.

Buy as everyone said, I introduce some sugar as honey and
orange juice, up the liquid content with juice, put in
orange rinds that aren't very sterile, then let it sit out
at room temp most of a day at a pot luck, and the mold
spores just have quite a party of their own at our pot luck.
Pretty simple science when you think about it.

Thanks everyone,

Ken