CheeseForum.org

Defects - General, Surface

This webpage is divided into the following topics:

Colour - Black

Description

  • Black colour on surface of cheese.

Causes

  • Contamination by airborne Mucor or pin mould due to high humidity. Not dangerous, but visually unappealing. Wipe or brush off of cheese and rub rind with mixture of vinegar and salt. Lower aging humidity and ensure that area is clean and cannot harbor mould.

Colour - Brown

Description

  • Brown colour on surface of cheese.

Causes

  • Contamination by airborne mould due to high humidity. Not dangerous, but visually unappealing. Wipe or brush off of cheese and rub rind with mixture of vinegar and salt. Lower aging humidity and ensure that area is clean and cannot harbor mould.

Colour - Pink

Description

  • Pink colour on surface of cheese.

Causes

  • More common in Penicillium candidum (white mould) cheese when aging area's humidity is too high, reduce humidity.

Cracks

Description

  • Cracks in surface of cheese.

Causes

  • If natural rind, aging environment's humidity is far too low causing rapid drying and shrinkage of exterior of cheese resulting in cracks as interior of cheese shrinks minimally.
  • If making cheddared (tacked and milled) type cheese, curds may have become too cold causing uneven texture. Ensure stacked curds are kept warm. If straight out of press, to repair crack, seal the cheese in 65C / 150F water for 1 minute.

Damp Smelly Bottom

Description

  • Bottom of cheese is moist and smelly.

Causes

  • Not turning the cheese frequently enough enabling moisture to build and unwanted yeasts to grow.

Oily

Description

  • Surface layer of cheese is oily.

Causes

  • The cheese is too warm and fat is seeping out, store at cooler temperature.