Red Mould On Roquefort

[amiriliano]

Hi all:

Made 2 roqueforts 3 weeks ago (first time). Pierced after 1 week and since then, have been keeping in my wine fridge, in a sealed container with mid 90's RH and at mid 50 F temps.

Today they have pink/ red mould on top and in the crevices. Can't really clean or brush (too moist) although I did take some film off with a clean towel.

Did a core sample: interior is pure white with blue veins. Taste was VERY bitter. At this point, per recipe, I covered in foil and stored at high 30's F for further aging.

Is this normal?

Thank you all!

[H-K-J]

My thought
Let er age, I'm sayin it will be fine, Keep an eye on it and smell it,
if it smells right jest let her go 

[amiriliano]

Thanks. Does roquefort usually taste very bitter when it's young?

Attaching a pic

[Schnecken Slayer]

It looks like it might be B Linens (which has a very strong aroma)

[amiriliano]

Should I continue cold aging?

[Bear and Bunny cheese]

  If it is B linens (which is likely as it is naturally on your skin) it will smell like ammonia for a while and then become neutral and or pleasant.  It is not a usual bacteria for blues though (more a washed rind bacteria) but it won't harm you.   

[Bear and Bunny cheese]

Keep it in your present environment but if possible get some air circulation going.

[amiriliano]

OK. Thank you. Presently it's in my regular fridge, wrapped in foil and inside a sealed tupperware container (trying not to smell up the fridge) - what should I do to increase ventilation?

[Bear and Bunny cheese]

Ok if you don't have humidity control in your fridge itself I would take it out of the foil, but keep it in the box closed.  Try to open it up a few times a day to give it fresh air. 

Consider for the future a humidity control system so that you can have lots of open air but still high humidity.  Like this one:

http://www.perfect-cheese.com/humidity-control-system

A member of our board sells these and they're cheap and very good.
Hope it works out well.  Good luck!

[Bear and Bunny cheese]

Also is the cheese on a mat or two?  Having circulation on the bottom of your cheese is very important too especially if there is any liquid at all on the bottom of your box.  If there is you'll want to get rid of it every time you open the box.

[amiriliano]

Thank you! I'll try those ideas.

Have you seen this? Any thoughts?

http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=37&products_id=377

[Bear and Bunny cheese]

Wow that`s a beauty!  Especially since it has temp and humidity control!  Cheap too.  You would still need a humidifier though.  Yep once you have temperature and humidity under control you can make any cheese!

How is the smell of your blue now?

[amiriliano]

I think you would plug a small humidifier into one outlet and the fridge into another

[Bear and Bunny cheese]

Correctamundo Amiriliano

[amiriliano]

Update: So I cut into one after several weeks of aging in tupperware, unwrapped in regular fridge. Every 2 days I opened the lid to air them out. It looks pretty, smells right but the taste is mild roquefort flavor + heavy super-bitter note. What's going on here experts?