Author Topic: mold on natural rind cheese  (Read 1124 times)

P roqueforti

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mold on natural rind cheese
« on: January 24, 2015, 01:01:47 PM »
Hello everyone this is my first post here :)

So I've got my first ever attempt at a hard cheese aging in my basement. It is Parmesan. It's over a month old now, and quite moldy, even though I treat it every other day with salt and vinegar. My question is, shouldn't the mold growth be slowing down by now? Am I really going to have to wipe this cheese every other day for a year? It's so moldy I'm worried it won't be safe to eat. There are a few cracks in the rind and the mold is inside so I can't wipe it out. Is this normal, or should I scrap the cheese and try again?

Stinky

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Re: mold on natural rind cheese
« Reply #1 on: January 24, 2015, 03:51:38 PM »
I say cut the cheese and taste. If it tastes like mold, I know exactly what you're going through. It happened to me.

The humidity of its cave is too high. I suggest making a test cheese, and try cracking the lid of the box a little. If the humidity is too high, mold will grow uncontrollably, if it's too low, the cheese will crack. With experience, you'll find the fine line between the two. Mold will grow, there's no doubting that, but all you need to do is take a clean brush, and brush it off every day. After a few weeks, mold growth will have basically stopped.

Offline scasnerkay

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Re: mold on natural rind cheese
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2015, 03:59:13 PM »
Send a picture please!! Yes I would expect the mold growth to slow down. You may want to try using a dry brush instead of the salt and vinegar now. If there is a small crack with mold, how about seeing if you can gently clean that with a toothpick and then put some salt in it. But is it cracking because it is not humid enough? Or is it moldy because it is too humid? You can easily find a hygrometer on Amazon, and that will let you know how you are doing with humidity.
Susan

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: mold on natural rind cheese
« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2015, 04:09:20 PM »
They use robots to clean these things in some of the cheese caves of Italy.  They do take constant care.  You might try brining it again for about three hours and then clean off all of the mold.  Once it dries you shouldn't need to wash it.  If it does pick up a little mold then brush it off.  If you do have to wash try adding a little white wine to the wash.
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Offline awakephd

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Re: mold on natural rind cheese
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2015, 07:32:58 PM »
How large is your parmesan? Particularly if it is on the small side, you may have trouble with it drying out too much no matter what you do ... unless you (gasp) wax or vacuum-bag it. Yes, a sacrilege even to suggest for parmesan, but that's exactly what I did with my first, rather small (1.5 lb) parma. I cleaned all mold off (including getting it out of the cracks -- see Susan's or Al's suggestions above), then dip in very hot wax. (Be careful not to let the wax get hot enough to catch fire ... but you want it hot enough to help kill off any mold spores.) Throw it in the "cave" for a year.

Yes, wait a year. If you sample it at 6 months, as I did, you will be disappointed. If you try it at 9 months, you will think it kinda-sorta-maybe might be thinking about tasting like a parma. If you wait a whole year, or longer, magic will have happened. :)

By the way, I'm glad I did go ahead and wax that first parma -- it did not need to get any drier than it already was. I waxed it about six weeks old, and a year later the texture is perfect.
-- Andy