Cheesemaker Hygiene

[wharris]

I think we all are on the same page when it comes to cleaning and sanitizing our equipment.  We clean and scrub and rinse with chemicals designed to prevent contamination of the next vat of cheese-milk with some form of bacteriophage.

But lately, I wonder if *I* am the weakest link in my sanitation story. I take basic precautions like washing hands with Easy Clean or Straight A, but I do not shower in Star-san, I do not wear a hair-net, I wear shorts and a tee shirt,  and my hands are quite often directly in contact with milk, and curd.  I am quite sure that somewhere, some how, there is a hair or two right now,  aging in a wheel of cheddar or gouda.

I have similar thoughts about my house.  My central air is not sanitized, nor hepa filtered.  And who really knows what microflora are alive in my wine fermenting room (doubles as cheese room). I use RC212, Bacchus and others extensively there.  And again, Since we are all friends, I will further admit that  I have been known to use my fingers to pick out a "floaty" or two from my milk that seem to just appear randomly.

So,  I was wondered what others did to address these basic sanitation issues.

[LadyLiberty]

I think we all are on the same page when it comes to cleaning and sanitizing our equipment.  We clean and scrub and rinse with chemicals designed to prevent contamination of the next vat of cheese-milk with some form of bacteriophage.

But lately, I wonder if *I* am the weakest link in my sanitation story. I take basic precautions like washing hands with Easy Clean or Straight A, but I do not shower in Star-san, I do not wear a hair-net, I wear shorts and a tee shirt,  and my hands are quite often directly in contact with milk, and curd.  I am quite sure that somewhere, some how, there is a hair or two right now,  aging in a wheel of cheddar or gouda.

I have similar thoughts about my house.  My central air is not sanitized, nor hepa filtered.  And who really knows what microflora are alive in my wine fermenting room (doubles as cheese room). I use RC212, Bacchus and others extensively there.  And again, Since we are all friends, I will further admin that  I have been known to use my fingers to pick out a "floaty" or two from my milk that seem to just appear randomly.

So,  I was wondered what others did to address these basic sanitation issues.

Wayne, I have a dog and a cat. We raise alpacas. We raise chickens.  Thom brews beer!  My kitchen isn't always immaculate.  (ha!) But we do sanitize all of our equipment and cooking surfaces. 
And I wash my hands, wear a clean apron and pull my hair back.  But if I had to be in the gear that they wear in the cheese factories in my home, I wouldn't do it.  (though I'm glad they do it there!)
I guess that's part of the charm of doing it at home.  And think about it really, the farmer's wives who did this before it became this "hobby" didn't even have Star-san.  They probably just used very hot water.

[Cartierusm]

I should wear a hair net.

[valereee]

I've been working on sanitation.  For this last batch of Farmhouse Cheddar, I put thru the dishwasher on "sanitize" anything that could go into the dishwasher, boiled anything that was stainless but couldn't be dishwashed, and steamed my thermometers, cheesecloth, and wood follower.  I pulled my hair back, and I washed my hands every time I was about to do a new step.  Then as I was removing the cheese from the press to rewrap it, I realized I'd set the follower down on my counter.  I'd earlier wiped the counter with lysol, but it did make me wonder just how perfectly sanitary we can be in a home kitchen.  And at what point we start to get diminishing marginal returns from taking yet another step in sanitation.  I could, for instance, have boiled a tray to use to unwrap/rewrap my cheese so that I'd be setting the follower on a sanitized surface. 

And of course, every single cheese I've ever made, I've found an animal hair pressed into the surface when unwrapping after one of the pressings.  Every single one.  I pull it out and rewrap the cheese, but honestly, with two cats and a dog who spend considerable time underfoot in my kitchen, is it really likely I'll ever actually have a completely sanitary process? 

[wharris]

I hear you on the animal hair.

For this reason, most large cheese plants seem to have adopted enclosed and covered vat process.  The cheese does not see the ligh of day untill pressing.

Not sure that I would recommend lysol as a surface prep for Cheese prep.  That is rather smelly.

[stuartjc]

I'm with LadyLiberty: take the basic sanitation steps of cleaning surfaces, wash your hands, pin back hair, and don't sweat it.

By the way, white vinegar is just as effective at sterilising surfaces as bleach, but you don't have to worry about the bleach taste affecting anything!

[LadyLiberty]

I'm with LadyLiberty: take the basic sanitation steps of cleaning surfaces, wash your hands, pin back hair, and don't sweat it.

By the way, white vinegar is just as effective at sterilising surfaces as bleach, but you don't have to worry about the bleach taste affecting anything!

White Vinegar is excellent!

[chilipepper]

I have been contemplating the same issues in my process as well.  I do sanitize everything possible and for the quick and dirty sanitizing I have a spray bottle with straight alcohol in it for the quick spray down sanitizing. 

Over the past few days I have made a stilton and a couple of camemberts (I know I need to post my records) and that lends a whole new dimention to not cross contaminating these two different molding cheeses.  I'm needing to flip both at least daily and the stilton more often.  It is kind of a pain to keep washing your hands and then flip one, then wash, then close that container, wash again then open and flip the other, then wash again, then close the container of the other, and repeat!  And at this point neither are actually visibly growing mold they just have the potential (culture) in waiting!

Other than the cross contamination with the direct contact of the cheese itself you also have the issue of proximity to the other and keeping the right mold growing on the proper cheese.  Could prove to be a challange!

[stuartjc]

I'm with LadyLiberty: take the basic sanitation steps of cleaning surfaces, wash your hands, pin back hair, and don't sweat it.

By the way, white vinegar is just as effective at sterilising surfaces as bleach, but you don't have to worry about the bleach taste affecting anything!

White Vinegar is excellent!

White vinegar is also a lot more environmentally friendly than bleach 

[wharris]

Hmm..

Ethyl Alcohol
White Vinegar
Lysol

I think all would probably work, but wouldn't they all require a rinse afterward? (one could make the argument that the alcohol would eventualy evaporate.)

I keep a bucket of easy-clean solution around to dip hand and stuff on cheese days.  Claims to be a no rinse cleaner. 
I put my pH meter in the solution one day and it was pretty harsh, around 9-10 (very base) if I remember.
So, perhaps i should not be doing that.  I really don't know. (Bleach is around pH 12)


My goal is to finish building out my cheese room with tile floor/walls and hopefully someday a drain in the floor.
Not sure what to do with the ceiling though.

[wharris]

The though occurs to me about bleach. 

I seem to remember that very bad things happen when you use clorine-based bleach around acids like vinegar.  It makes chlorine gas.

Since many of us also brew or ferment as well, there exists a high likelyhood that many of us have malic/citric/tartaric acids laying around. 

I think i will pass on bleach for Stuart's green reasons, and it just sounds a bit dangerous.

[chilipepper]

Wayne, the ethyl alcohol indeed does evaporate prior to contact and even if not would evaporate in short order if remained on your hands.  I do agree with the chlorine gas being bad!   Plus, I don't believe stainless likes any kind of prolonged contact with chlorine either.

Do you know what the contact time for sanitization is with the Easy-Clean product?

[wharris]

Good question.  I don't know.  I will google for it as time permits here. (At office)

[Cartierusm]

OK people. Although all those things are good I'll have to chime in here and agree with Wayne. My feeling is if it's not all right to be in direct contact with food it's not good. Lyson, Bleach, Bad. It will leave a taste and some nasty chemicals. If you're using Isopropyl Alcohol or any other alcohol for that matter I believe it will only kill staff infection, but not much else. I believe in the 80's they debunked it's sterilizing power. The only product I know that is food safe and won't or shouldn't raise the PH if it's used right away (read: still wet) is Star San. Make up a bucket and as long the PH is 3 or below it's still active. I have a bucket made up a few years ago, air tight bucket mind you, and it still works. Star San works in a few minutes contact and can be used still wet it won't affect taste of beer or cheese it's just an acid base, a natural acid base. Works great and no headache.

[chilipepper]

I too totally advocate the use of Star-San.  However, as Wayne said we don't take a bath in it so how can we properly sanitize our hands that will come into direct contact with the ingredients. I noticed John had a jug of hand sanitizer in the back of one of his pictures.  This would probably be suitable but it is mostly alcohol as well.

Obviously this doesn't address the 'foreign' particles (hair, skin cells, pet dander, dust, etc.) that may be floating around your cheesemaking space.  We can't practically have a clean room or completely sterile room so we just need to observe some best practice principles.

I guess the key is to just minimize as much as possible and then call the rest character aides!