Farmhouse Cheddar, Larded & Bandaged - Orange, Gray, & Black Molds

[Melissa]

Hi all, we are new cheese makers who have gone, maybe unwisely, right from ricotta to farmhouse cheddar (from Ricki Carroll's book). We've made a couple of batches so far, and they've been aging for five and four weeks, respectively. We have bandaged over a layer of vegetable shortening (which we understand can replace lard). Now we are worried, because there are a few spots of orange to gray to black mold on all four of the cheeses. Can we unbandage, wash, rewrap? age in some other way? throw it out (what we suspect you will say but are hoping for a different answer). Please advise.

[Brie]

If the mold is forming on the top of the bandange, then just wipe off with a salt/vinegar solution. If the mold is forming beneath the bandage, you can remove the bandage and wipe in the same solution, dry and re-bandage or wax. What is the temp and humidity of the aging area?

[SANDQ]

Hi there, I am also new to cheeses making and am following the Carrols book. I too have mold appearing on my goats milk cheddar, some on and under the bandage, the Carrols say the miniumum aging time for this cheese is 4 weeks. I am very close to the end of this 4 week period can I leave cleaning the cheese till then or is it best to adress the problem as soon as it appears? Also after washing and sterilizing the bandage can it be re-used?

[MarkShelton]

4 weeks seems like an awfully short time for a cheddar to age. I don't know if it's something about the goat milk or if there is some misinformation in Ricki's book. I have Ricki's book, and yes, it says 4 - 12 weeks, but I would be inclined to believe it should be 4 - 12 MONTHS, although all of her recipes seem to call for aging less than what commercial cheesemakers and other forum members would recommend.

I agree with Brie about the removal method. I would NOT throw it away. The only thing that I think would require drastic action (such as cutting off infected parts of the cheese and discarding it) would be a bad outbreak of "cat's hair" mold. Even that I'm not entirely familiar with, but if it were just small spots, scrubbing with vinegar or full strength brine would be my first remedy.

As for reusing the the bandage, I tried that once... threw it in the wash with bleach and then boiled it right before reapplying it, and still the mold came back. However, I'm not sure the mold is disasterous. It seems that molds on the surface of bandaged cheeses are normal, and while they shouldn't grow without bounds, they are generally tolerated, and they come off with the bandage.

[SANDQ]

Thanks for that Mark, you have made things allot clearer for me. The mold I have on me cheese, is blue in colour in small spots and very similar as that you would find on slices of bread, its not on all of them and not on the same place on every cheese. As for aging, I'm am producing this cheese mainly to sell, but as I am aware, and has also been pointed out by my potential customers, first impressions last. So when I do get this on the market it needs to be right! As you have said in the past Ricki's book is lacking in parts, so if you were producing your cheese to sell, how long would you let it age before realising it onto the market? with that and my 4 week old cheese with mold, you are saying remove the old bandage, clean the cheese, discard forever the old bandage, re-bandage and leave to age for a considerable time longer?

[MarkShelton]

If you're producing it to sell, I would age it, then remove the bandage, clean it up, and cut it into wedges to sell. That way, the customer doesn't have to see the crusty dead molds that have been lurking around.

Also, I would suggest you refine your cheesemaking skills with a reference book/source that is more reputable than Ricki's. Her's is good to get beginners going, but a little off from what a retail situation should go.

How are you going to sell your cheeses by the way? I think a farmer's market would be the best way for a small operation to start, unless you have herds of animals and are ready to lay out some serious cash to invest in commercial buildings and equipment.

[MarkShelton]

Oh I forgot about your other question! Cheddars are typically aged from 6 - 24 months before being sold.

And here is a picture of the the mold I was talking about:

[OudeKaas]

So, I am finding myself in a similar situation to others in this thread. About 2 weeks ago, I made a traditional cheddar and bandaged it, using vegetable shortening and pressing the bandage well (I thought) into the cheese.

Lo and behold, in the past few days, I observed spots of mold growing under the bandage, and in some cases the bandage separating a little from the underlying cheese. My 'cave' is at about 55 degrees, and I recently started measuring humidity to find it was only 50%. I've added more water and it's up to 70% or so now.

Anyhow, I removed the bandage and used brine-soaked cheesecloth to remove the mold, which was a very thin layer between the cheese surface and the shortening mostly. Mostly green, maybe a little grey and orange/rust color. Nothing seems to have penetrated the cheese at all.

So, my question really is - how long can/should I let the cheese sit before re-bandaging. It's been in the 'cave' for about a day now, naked, and I think it seems fairly dry. Would appreciate any advice or thoughts on strategy.

Also, I have lard now and when I re-bandage I think I'll use that.

Edit: No, I did not air-dry the cheese after pressing, just went straight to the bandaging and into the 55 deg. 'cave'. I see from some other threads that perhaps this may have led to shrinkage during aging, perhaps contributing to my current issues. Also, after 1 day the cheese I unwrapped developed significant cracks. I larded it all over and am in the process of re-bandaging.