Don't Panic - averted disaster !

[OzzieCheese]

Hi Ya'll.   Yes it's me again.   Finally back into the cheese fold this time for good..

This is post is more a description of averted disaster. 

Situation:  Went on holiday and left daughter in charge of the home with strict instructions not to leave anything turned on.  Unfortunately, as the cheese cave is on the same power point as the washing machine - well bless her heart she did some washing two days before we came home - and she turned off the washing machine !! And the cheese Cave !!

She didn't notice until the day we returned and a cheese cave full of Cheddars ranging from 3 months to 18months old all looked like this.

 

[OzzieCheese]

As you could imagine I was initially devastated.  Two years of work looked like it was going into the bin.  Disaster... Poor daughter didn't tell me at first but eventually she did.  Well, first up I was just going to throw them but we decided to turn the fridge back on and sleep on it.

The fridge is located in the laundry inside an air conditioned house on tiled flooring.  I don't know what thermal exchange rate is so I'm suspecting it was a gradual exchange over a couple of days.

In the morning I reviewed the murder scene to see what could be salvaged.  And I'm glad I did.  Closer inspection and tasting of a previously cut and re-bagged Cheddar potion revealed that the vacuum bagging has actually created a negative pressure inside the sealed bag - well I suppose that should have been obvious but, wasn't.   And the lines of yellow were a mixture of butter fat and whey. 

There was a stay of execution ...  the cheeses might yet live

The yellow butter fat tasted of butter and the whey - while tangy - wasn't rancid nor slimy so I presumed then that as they were hermetically sealed and have been for months without swelling that nothing could have got in to spoil them  and that all I have lost is some butter fat and moisture.

So,  what is the collective wisdom ?  Persevere,  re bag and continue on or cut my losses and start over ?

Mal

 

[5ittingduck]

I think you will be fine.
The cheese didn't loose form (melt) and It's unlikely the temperature in your cave exceeded the temp at which the cheese was originally made.  The culture will still be alive and the damage will be mostly cosmetic.
I have 6 or 7 cheeses in vac bags maturing at room temperature, and they are all looking fine (but, Tas, not Mainland, so my room temp is 18-20 where you were, what 25-30?). I saw a cheese program recently where they were maturing raw milk cheeses at room temperature in the Tropics!
My disaster went the other way and everything froze   The texture was wrecked (although the flavour survived), some of my cheeses I actually saved by melting them and reforming them.  Some worked really well, some went a bit grainy (I think I heated them a bit hard) but all remained edible.

[Gregore]

Another cheese makers child unplugs a fridge ,  hmmmm seems like the third or forth story here just like it in the last year.

I vote open and re bag.   

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Hi Mal. Good to see you back in the forum.
I'm a great believer in snatching cheesy victory from the jaws of fromage failure. I wouldn't be quick to bin them. Every cheese deserves a second chance!

[Boofer]

Yay, Mal's back!

Yes sir, dry it off and give it a new bag. I've had that residual whey in the bag in the past. Those early times that I ignored it and didn't remove the whey immediately resulted in a sour, pasty rind.

-Boofer-

[OzzieCheese]

Spent yesterday re-bagging them.  It was a bit messy but they seemed to have survived the process. It's good to be back and I plan to be more active in the area of Blues and Washed rinds as the days become cooler here in Brisbane.

Mal
 

[Al Lewis]

Glad to see you recovered old friend.  Would hate to see all of that beautiful cheddar gone to waste.  For any of you newbies out there this is THE guy to go to for info on cheddar and brie.

[OzzieCheese]

Thanks for the warm welcome back. I plan to add to my cheddar experience and hope you all can join me. I hardly know enough but i  Have learnt a lot more over the last little while about cheddar in particular how they age and the subtle points that make one taste different from another. I think the secret is all in the acid generation rate .... have wait for the next cheddar i open to confirm.  Glad to be back...

MAL