Blue Cheese Surface - Dry Powdery Blue/Green Mold

[Nickpb]

Hello everyone,
   After a couple of successful blue cheeses, my latest ones (2) have developed a greeny-blue mould which is like a fine powder. I can turn the cheese on its side and tap it and the powder falls off, just like talcum powder. The rind looks more or less normal underneath, but I am not sure if the powdery mould is safe or something to be avoided.

Any ideas?

Thank you.

Nick

[iratherfly]

Some strains of blue are more green (have you switched to a new brand or type of blue?)  It does sound a bit wierd that it falls off like that.  Did you salt the cheese properly and used enough starter bacteria and acidifying time?  If so, your cheese is probably safe as it generally protects it from pathogens. The mold however could be a contamination that happened during the make or the aging (did you sanitize everything and kept a clean working environment? Were there any pets in the kitchen during the make?). Lastly, it could come from your aging environment. Food from the fridge, bread crumb or yeast touching the cheese etc. That's how cave mold in introduced to cheese.  Where do you age it?