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GENERAL CHEESE MAKING BOARDS (Specific Cheese Making in Boards above) => EQUIPMENT - Aging Cheese, Everything Except Caves => Topic started by: Tiarella on August 12, 2012, 07:08:23 PM

Title: Share recipe for salt/vinegar brine for clearing mold?
Post by: Tiarella on August 12, 2012, 07:08:23 PM
I've spent hours reading here and it's lovely but I can't seem to find the recipe/proportions of salt and vinegar for cleaning mold off cheese while it's aging.  I think I've read that it's white vinegar I should use but does anyone use cider vinegar?  Pasteurized I presume?  So any recipes?  And more sources of info with photos of what to do when to aging cheeses would be great also.  Thanks!
Title: Re: Share recipe for salt/vinegar brine for clearing mold?
Post by: linuxboy on August 13, 2012, 01:39:07 PM
This isn't some super secret exact ratio. You're using a harsh (to the molds) solution to scrape down the surface and kill off the flora. The only rule of thumb I would follow is if you exceed 10% acidity in the vinegar, limit the contact time to ~5 minutes, else it will start eating away at the cheese too much. Beyond that, use whatever vinegar you want, and as much salt as you want. Generally, people saturate ethanolic (store white distilled) vinegar with salt and use that.

In terms of what you do, you scrub off the mold until gone. Make it look like new. This is like stripping paint off a door, trying to get it back to original shape.
Title: Re: Share recipe for salt/vinegar brine for clearing mold?
Post by: Boofer on August 13, 2012, 01:55:25 PM
If you have a really serious case of the blues or other infection, you may have to resort to washing and lightly brushing under cool running water. I had this problem with one of my makes and my normal treatment (as described by linuxboy) was outmatched. Following that cleanup, the cheese was dried off and its rind maintenance and aging protocol proceeded without incident.

I have a dedicated "cheese" brush for such occasions.  ;)

-Boofer-
Title: Re: Share recipe for salt/vinegar brine for clearing mold?
Post by: Tomer1 on August 13, 2012, 02:44:31 PM
Massive attack :)
Title: Re: Share recipe for salt/vinegar brine for clearing mold?
Post by: Tiarella on August 13, 2012, 03:22:31 PM
Boofer, is the "after washing" condition considered okay?  I still haven't figured out that kind of stuff.  I probably would have worried that I needed to take a power plane to that! 
Title: Re: Share recipe for salt/vinegar brine for clearing mold?
Post by: Boofer on August 14, 2012, 03:26:45 AM
Once I had the heavy stuff knocked back, it was back to the regimen that linuxboy voiced. Vinegar & salt does wonders to bring it all back into line. In some cases, if there's a deep crevice with the mold in there, I'll use a new, clean toothpick dipped in the vinegar & salt to gently tease the unwanted color out...and then dry it so the vinegar doesn't "pool" in the crevice.

The pictures are from a cheese that had this condition develop very rapidly. It wasn't a case of me going on vacation and forgetting about it. Conditions were just ideal for the infection at the time.

-Boofer-