Molds on Bandaged Cheddar

[Mousetrap]

I have several bandaged cheddars in the cave that I've treated with benign neglect and allowed the molds to grow.   The cheeses are about 4 lbs and are about 2 1/2 month old.  The cave is kept at 54 deg F with a humidity range of 75 - 80%.   I estimate that 95% of the molds are on the outer surface of the wrap.  The most predominant mold is a dark blue green with a very strong smell.  I'm not sure if I want that flavoring the cheese.  I recently tried a 2 year bandaged cheese that seemded to have a hint of the same fragrance and I can't say I really liked it.  I'd like to hold that mold back and let the others develope is there is a way.  I feel a  bit like the travelocity gnome wondering, "Am I going to die?"

[matnewman]

I can't really offer any advice but will be interested in what the more experienced members have to say as your picture looks a lot like my 7 month old bandaged cheddar.  It's a bit like a paint-by-numbers on acid!

[smilingcalico]

Personally, I like the addition, but everybody has preferences.  Your best bet is to unwrap, clean, and rewrap with a new bandage and plenty of lard, or whatever you used.  You might even want to put it back in the mold and press to get those new bandages a close and tight as the original. 

[Tomer1]

Perhaps soak your next cloth in pottasium sorbate and citric acid solution to control some of the molds?

[Mousetrap]

Thanks for the replies, I've been away the past two weeks so I'm just catching up now.  I took Smilingcalico"s suggestion to unwrap one to see what was beneath the bandage.  I carried the oldest one (4 months) outside where in a flurry of mold dust I peeled off the bandage.  Before and after photos are attached. To my surprise there was virturally no mold under the bandage.  The cheese however had a VERY strong mold smell.  Not the good kind but more like moldy newspapers from a flooded basement.  Cutting the cheese I found the center paste to be somewhat dry and but quite good, more aging needed.  The rind however was another story.  It literally took my breath away with a strong persistent aftertaste of mold that hung on for what seemed like hours.     Everytime I exhaled I was overwhelmed by the mold.  After cutting off about a 1/4 inch of rind the strong mold taste was gone.  I wax coated 1/2 the cheese and sent him back to the fridge/cave to ponder his misdeeds.

Since I haven't done this before I have no idea of what is normal.  I have seen photo's of the the cheddaring process where a fair amount of the rind is shaved away after unwrapping.  I don't know if this is for taste or appearance but it doesn"t make a lot of sense for a small 4 lb cheese.  I doubt the strong mold taste will lessen or transform into something good with time, my guess is that it will penetrate the cheese further.  To that end I am planning on unwrapping the other cheeses and shaving off the outer rind then either wax or rewrap again with lard and pressing.  Would recoating the wrapped cheeses with additional lard help prevent a rerun?  Although I may be wrong I associate the off taste and smell with the green mold which is the first mold I get on every new cheese.  On the swiss types, wiping with brine or vinegar stops it and allows a white mold to develope.

Wrapped & Unrwapped:

[fied]

With blue moulds on hard cheeses, both bandaged and unbandaged, a week or so before cutting I take them outside then brush off most of the mould. Sometimes I oil them then with a little olive oil, but that's just for presentation purposes.

[Tomer1]

I wonder how the commerical dairies handle it? do they affinage the cloth in someway to prevent mold grow?
I wonder if you can inoculate something desirable to grow on it.