Author Topic: Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options  (Read 5858 times)

Annie

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Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options
« on: April 17, 2012, 04:32:33 PM »
It's really hard to do a search for dealing unwanted mold on cheese!

So I have a cheese which keeps getting mold on it. I have rubbed it with vinegar and wrapped it with a vinegar-soaked handkerchief. I cut out what's left after the rubbing...

What more can I do?

Thanks very much!

Offline Hande

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Re: Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options
« Reply #1 on: April 17, 2012, 04:59:50 PM »
Annie, you need to say how you ripen your cheese  :)
Where, what temp and RH %.

Hande

Annie

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Re: Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options
« Reply #2 on: April 17, 2012, 05:17:09 PM »
Annie, you need to say how you ripen your cheese  :)
:-[

Quote
Where, what temp and RH %.

Hande
I am ripening my cheese in a refrigerator which broke in such a way that it stays around 50 in it (!) I only know the humidity is Very Low because I haven't gotten a hygrometer yet, and wasn't sure how to humidify in there until about an hour ago when I put a dish of water in it. (I hope that's the right thing to do!)

And actually, this cheese got moldy before, a couple of times, and then the last time I cleaned it, I put it in a plastic bag that I squoze a lot of air out of, and then put in on top of some other cheeses to which I had done the same thing, and so I didn't notice the mold was growing and now it has a lot.



The thing that sort of confuses me is that sometimes people put mold on their cheeses on purpose, so maybe this is not the end of the world?

It could be worse: it could be casu marzu!

Thanks so much for your help :D

Offline Hande

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Re: Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options
« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2012, 06:28:55 PM »
Annie, I think you can try Paracoat / cream wax.
It's easy to use, first coat your up head your cheese ( over 50%) and put your fridge over night.
Next day coat rest of your cheese. If you want ripen long time, coat more layer.
Cream wax is great, it allow "breath" your cheese, and have some feature to prevent mold growth.

https://www.dairyconnection.com/commerce/catalog.jsp?catId=8

http://gnltd.co.uk/goat-nutrition/cheese-making-products/cheese-making-waxes-coatings/yellow-cheese-coating-for-cheese-making.html
I have been use that for succes  :)

Hande

« Last Edit: April 17, 2012, 06:36:01 PM by Hande »

Annie

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Re: Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options
« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2012, 06:37:45 PM »
Annie, I think you can try Paracoat / cream wax.
It's easy to use, first coat your up head your cheese ( over 50%) and put your fridge over night.
Next day coat rest of your cheese. If you want ripen long time, coat more layer.
Cream wax is great, it allow "breath" your cheese, and have some feature to prevent mold growth.

https://www.dairyconnection.com/commerce/catalog.jsp?catId=8

http://gnltd.co.uk/goat-nutrition/cheese-making-products/cheese-making-waxes-coatings/yellow-cheese-coating-for-cheese-making.html
I have been use that for succes  :)

Hande

Hande,
Thank you so much! I knew people put wax on their cheeses, but I thought it was only some types that they did that with.

Hopefully this will be all I need for success ;)

Offline Hande

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Re: Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options
« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2012, 06:58:50 PM »
Yes I hate that regular wax, I mess with that everywhere >:D
With cream wax you can spread it your cheese with on hand ( with disposable glove ).

Hande

Tomer1

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Re: Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options
« Reply #6 on: April 17, 2012, 07:22:39 PM »
Putting cheese in (non vacuumed) plastic bag is a bad idea. been there done that :)    I even larded it as an extra step but it didnt make any difference. got a really strong yeasty-stinky edam that way. 

You get surface moisture+oxygen+no air circulation=perfect for mold and yeast growth. 


Another option other then cream is heat shrink bag such as
http://www.cryovac.com/en/cheese_dairy_packaging.aspx
   

Annie

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Re: Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options
« Reply #7 on: April 17, 2012, 07:42:56 PM »
Putting cheese in (non vacuumed) plastic bag is a bad idea. been there done that :)    I even larded it as an extra step but it didnt make any difference. got a really strong yeasty-stinky edam that way. 

You get surface moisture+oxygen+no air circulation=perfect for mold and yeast growth. 

OK, I see what you are saying about the environment. I did it because the cheeses were getting so dried out :(

Quote
Another option other then cream is heat shrink bag such as
http://www.cryovac.com/en/cheese_dairy_packaging.aspx
 

I think that would be great :)

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options
« Reply #8 on: April 17, 2012, 07:47:19 PM »
Those heat shrinking bags still need to be put in a commercial vacuum sealer first. Then you shrink the bag to make it more presentable for retail.

Tomer1

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Re: Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options
« Reply #9 on: April 17, 2012, 08:12:13 PM »
This is the commerical brand, there is also one which doesnt require vacuum.

Tomer1

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Re: Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options
« Reply #10 on: April 17, 2012, 09:38:37 PM »
This is a private video on Vimeo


Run it to the end (10:00) , there you can see the product being used.  Its sold for around 1$\pc for 60X23cm bag.
Obviously designed for blocks...

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options
« Reply #11 on: April 17, 2012, 09:55:32 PM »
Very nice video. I like the bags too.

Caseus

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Re: Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options
« Reply #12 on: April 18, 2012, 04:59:59 AM »
That was a cool video.  And I like those bags too.

Annie

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Re: Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options
« Reply #13 on: April 18, 2012, 03:18:02 PM »
Today I am going to clean out my whole "cheese cave" fridge and reorganize it, wiping it down with vinegar last to get rid of any possible mold spores that may be hanging around, and re-organizing the cheeses.

As well as making 2 batches of "easy" cheese due to a sudden influx of a tremendous amount of milk!

This weekend I will be able to get a hygrometer and many some itty-bitty thermometers since the temps vary so wildly in the fridge. And some boxes to use as cheese caves, altho I realized that the drawers in the bottom of the fridge can be used that way too :)

I saw a picture with the cheeses upright (or on their sides, don't know quite how to put that), and that will help keep things from getting too crowded.

Thanks so much for all your help: I would soooo have given up altogether without it!

Tomer1

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Re: Natural Rinds, Unwanted Surface Mold - Sealing Options
« Reply #14 on: April 18, 2012, 05:50:14 PM »
Bleach will be more effective then vinegar if you want to sanitize it.