Mold Removal Before Waxing?

[steve5000]

I was wondering if i could ask you guys some advice.  I'm a newbie at this and as you can see this is my first post, so I'll start by saying hello, I'm Steve!

My question is regarding removing the mould from my cheese before I wax it.  My cheese is a week old now and has dried nicely.  It's time to wax it but I'm having trouble removing the mould with cheesecloth and salted water.  Its a nice looking white mould.

My question is how can a remove the mould without damaging the cheese?  I was thinking about using a new nail brush.  Would this be too abrasive?  I'm making a cheddar.

thanks!

[Boofer]

Hi Steve! Welcome.

How extensive is the mold? Any pictures available?

Depending on how much mold there is and how deep it extends into the paste, you may not be able to avoid some damage to the surface of the cheese. If rubbing gently with salt and vinegar isn't effective, you may try the side of a toothpick to gently scrape off the mold. If there are crevices, the toothpick can clean those too. Be gentle. Use the vinegar to moisten the area. When it's cleaned, sprinkle with some cheese salt. "Salt in the wound" as the saying goes.

A lot of times a clean-looking cheese will develop mold under wax so it is very important to ensure that you have removed all the mold before waxing. And the cheese should be DRY when you wax.

Good luck.

-Boofer-

[berrys66]

Does the high temperature of the wax not provide some level of sterilization of the surface? When I wax the first coat goes on at a temperature of 120C/248F, second coat at 95C and third coat at 85C.

[Boofer]

You'll find that the wax doesn't penetrate that deeply into the surface, so even if there was some sterilizing benefit to the wax temperature, there would still remain surface fissures or pits that could house mold spores. The key is to provide a clean, dry cheese surface for the wax. It helps to achieve that by wiping the surface with vinegar&salt and then drying it off.

Definitely, if you see mold before waxing you should remove it.

-Boofer-

[zenith1]

The waxing is a good way too help sterilize the cheese surface. Unfortunately it can be dangerous(paraffin vapors are very explosive) and it is difficult to maintain the temperature in the wax that would be needed to do the job(wax at that temperature is a hazard as well). The main point is extreme caution if your going the wax route and hoping to have a clean rind. You would still need to ensure that you have removed all mold that you can before waxing.

[tananaBrian]

This might be a dumb question, but can't you just kill the mold before you wax it?  I would think a brief wash with chlorine water would kill the mold, then follow with vinegar/salt, dry thoroughly, and wax.  I don't know if chlorine is used for this in cheesemaking or if it hurts anything or not, but it does kill mold.  Seems like a short exposure to chlorine shouldn't hurt the mold any to me...

Brian

[MrsKK]

no, you really don't want to put bleach directly on cheese, as it could absorb some of the bleach.  Nothing I'd want on an edible product.

It will also kill off the beneficial organisms in the cheese and could affect your final produt that way.

[zenith1]

I  agree with MrsKK- I would not use bleach. The best you can do is a saturated brine rub to remove the mold, or perhaps a salt vinegar rub.

[tananaBrian]

If the main risks are edibility and possible destruction of beneficial microorganisms, then I think there is little to any risk at all.  The bleach solution is weak, it's removed and rinsed off and the cheese dried (chlorine evaporates) before waxing.  I don't think the cheese could absorb much if any chlorine from this process in just the few seconds that it would be exposed to the solution.  And once waxed and aged, I'm betting that any losses of microorganisms on the surface of the rind would likely re-populate from those within the cheese.  Tell ya whut... if I have a mold-ripened cheese with some stubborn to remove mold, then I'll try the chlorine process prior to waxing mine and will post back here about the results.  It's just cheese ...    Being a newb and nowhere near this stage of the game however, it might be awhile.  I wonder if any such process exists in the commercial end of things ...after watching Food Inc. and working for several summers in canneries and watching all the caustic solutions and chemicals that our food gets exposed to, I'm betting that someone somewhere is putting something on the molds of cheese prior to packaging.  Hmmm..... 

Brian

[zenith1]

Food Inc. is probably a big reason why we grow our own vegetables, raise our own beef(goats,sheep) drink our own milk(or the neighborhood farmer's), and make our own cheese from locally obtained milk. To get away from consuming the garbage that is being introduced into our food stream(including bleach).

[Boofer]

if I have a mold-ripened cheese with some stubborn to remove mold, then I'll try the chlorine process prior to waxing mine.

Maybe there's a bit of confusion here. There's mold...and then there's mold, yeast, and bacteria. The first character is an ambient mold lingering in the make area for an opportunity to eat something.... Oh, look, CHEESE!!!

The latter category is a cultured mold, yeast, or bacteria that we intentionally put into or onto our cheese. I certainly don't want to douse my cheese with bleach while I'm doing my laundry.

It's just cheese ...

Wow. Just cheese. I'm not sure there are a lot of folks here who would agree with that after they've invested money and time (6 hours for the initial make and then many more tending to the cheese, flipping it, rind-washing it, and maintaining it at the correct environmental conditions.

Thanks, but no. I'll stick with natural cleaners: salt, vinegar, vigilance, and elbow-grease.

-Boofer-

[tananaBrian]

if I have a mold-ripened cheese with some stubborn to remove mold, then I'll try the chlorine process prior to waxing mine.

Maybe there's a bit of confusion here. There's mold...and then there's mold, yeast, and bacteria. The first character is an ambient mold lingering in the make area for an opportunity to eat something.... Oh, look, CHEESE!!!

The latter category is a cultured mold, yeast, or bacteria that we intentionally put into or onto our cheese. I certainly don't want to douse my cheese with bleach while I'm doing my laundry.

It's just cheese ...

Wow. Just cheese. I'm not sure there are a lot of folks here who would agree with that after they've invested money and time (6 hours for the initial make and then many more tending to the cheese, flipping it, rind-washing it, and maintaining it at the correct environmental conditions.

Thanks, but no. I'll stick with natural cleaners: salt, vinegar, vigilance, and elbow-grease.

-Boofer-

Heheee!  I knew I'd get a response to the "just cheese" remark!  Sorry folks ...I was having a bit of fun!  I too wish to stick with the natural cleaners, vigilance, and elbow-grease ...but I might try the bleach experiment once to see what it does.  If it were a good thing, you'd have already heard all about it by now, so I assume it's not.  But I'm willing to lose something in order to answer a question as well.   

Brian

[zenith1]

I'll admit it first Brian-you got me!

[tananaBrian]

I'll admit it first Brian-you got me!

(Sorry...  )

bd

[cheezwhizz]

  Im with you Brian...It " is " JUST cheese!!!. Thats why when i wanna kill that pesky mold, i brine with a 50/50 mix of H2O and GASOLINE....ive never had this mold problem you guys talk about!!! 

   Seriously.. I think you might be on to something. I  think I read Sailor puts a couple drops of bleach in his "saved" brine solution to keep it sanitary. chlorine bleach breaks down very rapidly and if diluted with enough water it wont hurt you. ( drinking water? )... But with that said I think you can control the mold with a few drops of water(chlorinated) and a good sprinkle of salt rubbed into the rind...if you give the bleach thing a try, please get back to us and let us know how it worked out...if we dont hear from you again ill know not to try it...