Black mold in Crottin de Chavignol

[qasimkhan]

I'm a novice cheesemaker here with my fifth cheese in the cave refrigerator now.  It's a Crottin de Chauvignol.  I've had it in a cave refrigerator for 7 days now.  It has had good white mold developing on the rind from the Geo that I added.  But now black fuzzy mold is overtaking it.  I have four little cheeses and want to age them for 8 days, 2 mo., 4 mo., and 6 mo. to see how the flavor develops.

How can I rescue the cheese?  I tried brushing it with a basting brush, but the mold didn't come off.

What did I do wrong that is causing the black mold?

Thanks,
Steve

[Fritz]

Hi Steve... We didn't catch at what temperature you kept your Crottin at...

Based on the parallel lines pattern on your cheese, I'm guessing you placed them directly on the bamboo mat. From my experience, those mats are festering sources of non food molds. If using bamboo mats, they are best replaced regularly when wet, and/or use cheese mats on top of the bamboo mats for your cheese to mature on.
Hope that helps.

[qasimkhan]

Fritz, thanks for the advice.  Yes, I have been drying and ageing them on a bamboo mat.  So I should get some plastic mats instead?

The ageing temperature has been a problem.  I just got a new refrigerator, so I kept my old one for a cheese cave.  But the warmest temp I can get is 43F.  I was trying to regulate the temp to 48-52F by unplugging it and plugging it back in but a couple times it went into the 60sF when I forgot to plug it back in.  Perhaps that contributed to the black mold?  Clearly I have to get some kind of temp controller for the fridge.

Can I save the cheeses?

[Fritz]

Aaaahh.. I think you can already see your issues.
Yes the food safe plastic cheese mats would help. And yes a temperature controller is invaluable for cheese making if you aren't using a proper wine fridge. 55*/12 C is your friend most of the time. One thing I can share is: successful cheesemaking requires steady temperatures during the make... Once properly aged, cheese may be put in a cold fridge.

Attention to details of the recipe, and following process makes for successful and delicious cheese

[Bernardsmith]

If the problem is temperature control then you might want to check out a fairly inexpensive device called an ITC -308 Plug and Play temperature controller (made by Inkbird).  You plug your fridge into this device once you set the temperature (say 50F). The device with its temperature probe will switch the fridge on when the temperature rises about 2 degrees above the set mark and then switches it off again once the set temp has been hit. Brewers use this device when lagering or when they want to brew a beer at low temperatures. The device costs about $25 - $30 . I have been using it for a few months in a dorm room fridge that I have converted to my cheese cave.

[Duntov]

I'm guessing you placed them directly on the bamboo mat. From my experience, those mats are festering sources of non food molds. If using bamboo mats, they are best replaced regularly when wet, and/or use cheese mats on top of the bamboo mats for your cheese to mature on.
Hope that helps.

I couldn't agree more.  I stopped using them and have had far fewer problems. 

[qasimkhan]

Thanks for the suggestions on the temperature controller and the bamboo mats.