Author Topic: Havarti dirigible  (Read 1334 times)

Offline Andrew Marshallsay

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Havarti dirigible
« on: August 29, 2014, 09:37:25 AM »
Two firsts with this one: My first havarti and my first blown cheese.
I had suspicions about it for a while but they were confirmed today, when I opened the cheese. It smelt Ok so I tasted it and it tasted good -mild and slightly nutty.
The question is, to eat or not to eat? There seem to be two schools of thought on this. One is "feed it to the chooks." The other is "Enjoy."
Can anyone tell me if there is risk with eating a blown cheese like this?
- Andrew

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: Havarti dirigible
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2014, 01:22:20 PM »
The Clostridium responsible for late blowing is not pathogenic.

Spoons

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Re: Havarti dirigible
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2014, 01:07:21 AM »
I would have thought that the early addition of salt in the whey would most likely make havarti immune to the late blowing problem. Apparently its not enough to keep it at bay.

Thanks for sharing Raw Prawn. It's posts like these that help us learn a little more.

I once ate a gouda that was affected by late blowing. The taste, texture and smell were pretty good. As Ed says, it doesn't cause disease. Don't know if it can make you sick though. I didn't get sick.

I agree with you that the published books tell you to feed it to the pigs, and then there are others that tell you that it has no ill effect. Conflicting takes on the subject.
« Last Edit: August 30, 2014, 01:12:47 AM by Spoons »

Offline Andrew Marshallsay

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Re: Havarti dirigible
« Reply #3 on: August 30, 2014, 12:52:04 PM »
Thanks Sailor, Eric.
That's pretty reassuring. My wife and I have both tried a little with no ill effects. I'll keep eating it in increasing amounts since it seems unlikely that there should be any problems. Perhaps I'll just pass it off as a Swiss.
As to the salt, the added wash water was only about 0.2%, and that is less than 50% of the whey, so I suppose it is not a surprise that it wouldn't knock out the Clostridium spores.
- Andrew