I've been fiddling around with cheeses that are wax coated or have an easily recognisable surface flora, such as P.Candidum, P.Roqueforti or smear. But what I am really afraid of, is mixed rinds that (to my understanding) seem to have a pretty random mold/yeast population (e.g. cheddar and the like).
So, here are my questions/thoughts:
- When you make these types, do you aim to introduce specific species to the rind or just whatever it may pick up?
- Do you inocculate the cheese with these species or just trust that something will appear?
- If so, do you trust that these species will thrive and leave no room for anything else?
- Is it necessary / do you aim to recognise everything that grows on the surface?
- If not, maybe you just aim to recognise some of the non-harmless types?
In addition to the cheese making hobby, I am a very eager mushroom picker (anything self-sufficiency related really). In the mushroom world, it seems that the rule is always to only eat what you can recognise with absolute certainty. Since molds are mushrooms, I tend to believe that this is the rule in cheese world also. But am I right, or just being paranoid?
(Here in Finland, we have a saying among mushroom enthusiasts: "Make sure you know the most poisonous mushrooms. Only eat mushrooms you know." - wonder what that leads to.
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