Monterey Jack moldy

[curiouser_alice]

I made a nice Monterey Jack (my first) and greased and wrapped it.  After about 2 weeks it was pretty moldy, so yesterday I took it out, removed all the wrapping, and brined it for a couple hours, then brought it out to dry.
Today I'm getting ready to grease and wrap again.  The cheese itself seemed to be untouched, but I was worried the mold would get into the cheese if I didn't do something.  Going to microwave the cheesecloth before wrapping, hoping that will kill the mold spores.
Will this change my schedule?  I'm accepting the taste will probably be different but hoping it will be ready by the middle of January as originally planned.

[curiouser_alice]

What it looked like after removing wraps and brining

[Al Lewis]

No need to microwave your cheese ever, unless you want to melt it. When molds get on the outside simply clean them off with a mixture of white vinegar and brine or white wine and brine.  They are not going to harm the internal cheese as they simply form a rind of many colors.  Happens on a lot of cheeses. O0

[curiouser_alice]

Didn't microwave the CHEESE, just the cheesecloth.

[Al Lewis]

Good, you had me worried! LOL  Just do the wipes with the wine & brine once a week and it should stay great!

[nccheesemike]

Good advice from Al! I've done that too. You can also wax the cheese to protect it or as I often do vacuum bag the cheese too to protect it.

[curiouser_alice]

Here's what it turned out like
Not what I expected - as per usual
But very tasty.
It's much drier than I thought it would be.  Would this have to do with the storage?  Perhaps my humidity isn't high enough?

[awakephd]

Certainly the RH of the cave and the small size of the cheese are factors in drying. However, given that the cheese does not seem to have a dark, dry rind, and the interior of the cheese seems very dry, I'd probably start by adjusting your recipe - stir / heat less, cut the curds larger - to wind up with more moisture in the curds at molding.

[curiouser_alice]

Thanks!