Author Topic: Question about my Freaky Blue Cheese  (Read 5367 times)

Offline Aris

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Question about my Freaky Blue Cheese
« on: October 07, 2009, 04:47:45 PM »
When i made this cheese, i used a store bought Blue cheese as inoculant. Do you guys think the molds growing on my cheese are good molds? This cheese is 17 days old.

It has reddish brown, dark green, white and light blue molds. Why is it growing different kinds of mold?







linuxboy

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Re: Question about my Freaky Blue Cheese
« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2009, 06:56:42 PM »
The other molds are from the environment. Mold spores are everywhere right now and easily carried by dust particles in the air.

How does the cheese smell?

Offline Aris

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Re: Question about my Freaky Blue Cheese
« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2009, 09:12:37 PM »
The other molds are from the environment. Mold spores are everywhere right now and easily carried by dust particles in the air.

How does the cheese smell?
Thank you for replying.

It kinda smells like ammonia. Do you think my cheeses are safe to consume from the looks of it? And what should i do in the future to prevent other molds from growing on my cheese?

linuxboy

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Re: Question about my Freaky Blue Cheese
« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2009, 09:34:11 PM »
Ammonia smells are not abnormal. Geo or B. linens can cause it. If it gets to be putrid, or too strong of an ammonia smell, then it's no good. But even then you can usually salvage the inside and cut away the rind.

The only way to prevent mold is to have a sterile environment at every stage. Inoculate only with penicillin, and seal the cheese off from the air. If you want to avoid mold, seal the cheese somehow so it's not exposed to air. Most of us practice mold management rather than mold avoidance. That is, wash the rind with brine, or salt it, or if the rind is infected, wash with alcohol to kill surface molds and then rub down with salt.

Offline Aris

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Re: Question about my Freaky Blue Cheese
« Reply #4 on: October 07, 2009, 11:43:48 PM »
Ammonia smells are not abnormal. Geo or B. linens can cause it. If it gets to be putrid, or too strong of an ammonia smell, then it's no good. But even then you can usually salvage the inside and cut away the rind.

The only way to prevent mold is to have a sterile environment at every stage. Inoculate only with penicillin, and seal the cheese off from the air. If you want to avoid mold, seal the cheese somehow so it's not exposed to air. Most of us practice mold management rather than mold avoidance. That is, wash the rind with brine, or salt it, or if the rind is infected, wash with alcohol to kill surface molds and then rub down with salt.
Thank you very much for the informative post.

I dont want to prevent mold from growing since my cheese is a Blue cheese. I just want it to look all blue and no other molds growing. Anyway, i know a thing or two in mold prevention. My other hard cheeses never grew a single mold. I have a cheese that is over a month old and it never grew a single mold and its only wrapped in a heavily salted handkerchief.

linuxboy

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Re: Question about my Freaky Blue Cheese
« Reply #5 on: October 07, 2009, 11:51:26 PM »
With a store bought cheese, it's harder to get a pure culture. Here's what you can try:

Open up the cheese. Dunk it in at least a 70% alcohol solution for 30 seconds. Then rinse with water. Sanitize a few knives, and cut all the outer edges of the cheese to expose only the insides.

Before this, boil some skim milk, and let it cool down to about 90 degrees. take the inside of the cheese you exposed, and put it in the milk, then take a sanitized fork and mash up the cheese with the milk. Mash it up so there are no big chunks. Cover up the container so it is sterile, and leave overnight.

The next morning, dump the entire thing into the milk with your culture, and proceed as usual. At the end of the cheesemake after you remove the cheese from the mold, rub it with coarse salt. Then rub with salt every other day for a total of 3 times. Then age it in such a way as to expose the most surface area. Blue doesn't like damp, but it does like high humidity. Aim for a 90-95% humidity. 100% may lead to other molds competing.

That should help give you an active blue mold population. Inoculating the milk gives the blue a foothold so it grows quickly. Rubbing with salt helps to control other molds. Just remember with blue you need to be very sanitary. It's easily contaminated.

Offline Aris

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Re: Question about my Freaky Blue Cheese
« Reply #6 on: October 08, 2009, 09:51:58 AM »
Thank you very much again. I will definitely do what you said when i make my next blue cheese. In the meantime, i've cleaned all the bad molds and put iodized salt on the affected area on my blue cheese and see if the blue/green molds will take over.

vogironface

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Re: Question about my Freaky Blue Cheese
« Reply #7 on: November 04, 2009, 05:40:22 AM »
Aris,
This is an old post but I am curious if you were successful in rescuing your blue cheese.

Parselmouth

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Re: Question about my Freaky Blue Cheese
« Reply #8 on: November 19, 2009, 11:09:31 AM »
I made a stilton a month ago and have washed the rind a couple of times in salt solution to control the external moulds, here's what it looks like now. I am going to have to cut it soon as I have no patience.




Sailor Con Queso

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Re: Question about my Freaky Blue Cheese
« Reply #9 on: November 19, 2009, 03:49:05 PM »
Don't cut it before at least 60 days.

justsocat

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Re: Question about my Freaky Blue Cheese
« Reply #10 on: November 19, 2009, 05:27:03 PM »
Now I realise that the real name of Sailor is Patience :)

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Question about my Freaky Blue Cheese
« Reply #11 on: November 20, 2009, 06:59:51 AM »
It is looking very nice Pavel. Hang in there! Go eat some mozzarella nd save the stilton!