Author Topic: Artichoke smell in wine fridge/cheese  (Read 1737 times)

mspieg

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Artichoke smell in wine fridge/cheese
« on: March 24, 2012, 10:55:10 PM »
Hi,
I have goat's milk geotrichum/penicilium ash coated molded cheeses, and mixed cow/goat robiola style geotrichum molded wheels in my wine fridge. Recently I've noticed that the fridge, and some of the wheels (mostly the robiola) have a mild but distinct vegetal, artichoke'y smell to them. It's not entirely unpleasant but it's definitely new, and not a smell i would normally expect or associate with the cheeses I'm making. Is this a known defect, and is there something I might be doing/not doing that could be causing it? I have made these recipes in the past with good results and no occurrence of this particular smell.

The environment is a 16 bottle wine refrigerator, with racks up top for cheese and bottom shelves for trays of water (frequently cleaned and changed), temp at around 52-54ºF, 80-85% humidity (I'm trying to get humidity above 90% but that's proven challenging).

thanks,

Matt

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Artichoke smell in wine fridge/cheese
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2012, 11:26:09 PM »
Give them and your fridge some fresh air.

mspieg

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Re: Artichoke smell in wine fridge/cheese
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2012, 01:17:47 PM »
So you think it's an issue of air circulation? Is this a smell that you've encountered?

thanks!

m

mtncheesemaker

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Re: Artichoke smell in wine fridge/cheese
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2012, 02:14:28 PM »
I've had a ripened cheese give off a distinctive cabbage smell. It dissipated with airing out. Someone (LB?) Said that it was associated with a particular strain of a ripening mold. (I'd have to search for it to remember the exact facts.) We ate the cheeses; it wasn't in the taste.
Pam

mspieg

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Re: Artichoke smell in wine fridge/cheese
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2012, 02:17:30 PM »
Thanks Pam! Good to know. The smell is kind of cabbage-y come to think of it, kind of like cooked cabbage, or cooked artichoke. I'll give the cheese an airing and scrub out the wine fridge and see if that helps.

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Artichoke smell in wine fridge/cheese
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2012, 06:02:57 PM »
Air is very important to these cheeses!

mspieg

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Re: Artichoke smell in wine fridge/cheese
« Reply #6 on: March 26, 2012, 04:48:47 PM »
@Deejay, yes indeed it is. There's a fan in the fridge and I hadn't seen this issue previously, so I was hoping circulation was adequate, I make sure to not crowd the cheeses, and keep air circulation open as much as possible, I used to have solid shelves but found that limited air flow, so replaced them with wire racks. I may have to look for ways to increase it further now.

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Artichoke smell in wine fridge/cheese
« Reply #7 on: March 26, 2012, 10:35:27 PM »
Just open the door everyday for a few minutes to air out the cheeses with lids open. I even do that with my sausages. The more you have in there the more they need air. Mold cheese really need air!