Hello all -
I'm into my summer beauforts; using summer paddocks. The first wheel developed something I've not seen before, little black dots - or so I thought - welling up from beneath, fairly well distributed over the surface. At first, I feared mucor cross-contamination from my tomme grise cooler - except the pattern was not at all the same, so fairly quickly dismissed that. At any rate, fearing the worst, I did my best to gently excise the dots away.
More have sprung up. I realize now, they're not black, but brown - and some reddish ones, as well, if my eyes aren't deceiving me.
Natural milk pigmentation? Micrococcae? I did find
this, which I thought was interesting:
...while the chromogenic propionic acid bacteria form red and brown spots
in Emmental cheese....
Though I don't believe p. shermanii migrates to the surface, as a facultative anaerobe, typically. Sailor, if around, any microbiological thoughts? Anyone?
While we're at it, Beaufort 2 at about 3 1/2 mos:
And my latest Summer Beaufort - just brined, dried and washed with its first wash: