Newly made cheddar molding

[BeeFarmer61]

 I just made a cheddar cheese last Thursday, and set it out to dry... I forgot to check it yesterday, but Sunday it was fine, today it has some hairy mold, and blue spots scattered around it. This is my third cheese and I never had one do this before. What can I do with it, can it be cleaned, is something wrong with it? I wondered if it had too much moisture?

[Lactosetolerant]

Hi beefarmer. I was curious what happened with your cheese.  My first cheddar had a few mold spots inside the vacuum seal bag.  I took it out and wiped it with vinegar and sealed it with a fresh bag. I see a few more spots.  I did the wiping and rebagging again.  I may as well keep aging it.  Curious what happened with yours. 

[BeeFarmer61]

 It had a hairy mold on the outside, and a blueish mold under the skin...I trashed it. I think it had too much moisture in it...I need a better press.

[Lactosetolerant]

Better safe than sorry. That’s disappointing though.  I have a Dutch press but it’s so big (I already owned it, bought it 20 years ago but never used it!).   I’ve seen videos where people use a clean food bucket and put the mold inside on a grate then put flat weights on top of some spacers. I think I’d go that route if I needed to, then everything could store in the pail. The Dutch press is very big to store. 

Have you tried another batch?   I just made a cheddar yesterday, my second.  It’s still pressing (still hasn’t fully knit).