What's going on here?

[Mermaid]

What is this black spot on my cheeses? I've scrubbed it off before and it came back. I don't love how it looks.
The small wheel in the photo is only a few weeks old while the larger one is a few months old.

[Al Lewis]

That's a little unwated mold growth.  Use a white wine/saltwater brine or a little vinegar/saltwater brine to clean it off with a small stiff brush.  Then wipe them down every couple of days adn it should go away.  BTW  You have the exact same hydrometer/thermoter set I use in my cave.  http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=10288.0;attach=21947;image

[Danbo]

Some of my cheeses look excatly the same. I washed with salt water and vinegar and that stopped the spots. It didn't remove the exsisting spots but made them faint a little and they haven't spread.

[Mermaid]

Thank you both! Good to know. What kind of mold is it?

[Al Lewis]

Hard to say but it could be mucor or any other of a dozen household molds.  The important part is you caught it in time.  Use a small "toothbrush" type brush to remove the spots completely.  Then clean the entire cheese with a wine or vinegar brine.

[scasnerkay]

Some of my most flavorful cheeses have had some spots like that! I have scrubbed them with salt/vinegar when I see it and that usually stops the progression... Then on to dry brushing as the rind stabilizes after a few (variable) weeks.

[Mermaid]

Scrubbed with salt and vinegar solution yesterday. Is there a specific strength of solution recommended?

[Stinky]

I tend to just put a bit of water in a bowl and put just enough salt to act as an abrasive. But the mold is a standard one, and it ain't gonna kill you.

[Mermaid]

Not worried about it killing me - just aesthetic preference. I'm fine with some funk to my natural rinds but these darned brown spots really annoy me because they stain the rind.

I'm thinking of rubbing the newer spotty cheese with oil and paprika thinking it might cover up the brown spots? Thoughts?

Thanks for all your feedback! It's amazing how much you can learn from this forum - I've read all the cheese books but I finally feel like I am getting my questions answered!! great community here

[Mermaid]

Also this website has opened my eyes recently to adding ripening cultures to hard cheeses for rind formation. I read up a little bit about it and it seems very interesting. I.e. GEO then patting/brushing it down . Makes a sort of sheild from molds!

I'd love to know more about this if anyone is using that method . Maybe adding adjunct cultures to get a rind would help me with the brown spot issue? Maybe not?

[awakephd]

I'm curious to hear how the recent make with PC/Geo goes. I wonder if it is going to soften the cheese some, like a cam or brie.

What I am thinking I'm going to start doing more of is encouraging b. Linens -- when I have (unintentionally) gotten a layer of b Linens on a rind, it has discouraged other molds. It has also discouraged my wife, due to the smell -- but I quite like the taste it added -- only a mild amount of flavor, since I kept the Linens pretty limited.