Scared to try my first cheese

[lauravanb]

My first cheese (a Monterey) has been aging for 2 months now. So I could try it any day, but I'm scared because the recipe I used didn't even mention sterilizing equipment (it probably assumed the reader knew). And it was my first time so I hadn't learned about that aspect of cheese making yet. So everything I used was clean but not sterilized or even disinfected. I generally wash my hands a fair amount while cooking but I know that now I'm much more careful. I am very nervous about trying this cheese. I've read that some of the most dangerous pathogens are undetectable in the final product! Am I being paranoid? Would you try it if you were in this situation?

[wattlebloke]

Dear Laura, in answer to your ques: yes, and yes. As in, yes you are being paranoid, and yes, I would try it, but then I'm not an anxious person. Sadly, I'm in Australia and it would be confiscated by our Customs officers, or I would suggest you send me a piece to test
Edwin

[awakephd]

Hmm ... maybe some more-experienced folks will chime in, but I think the major pathogens that could be a concern provide evidence of their presence -- e.g., "blowing" (lots of gas production), off-smells, etc. I wouldn't hesitate to try a bit and see how it goes.

[Stinky]

To quote a friend, "It is best to be comfortable when making any choices that relate to safety. Harder cheeses such as Monterey generally do not possess the characteristics (such as high moisture) that make pathogens happy. As a result, the risks are not high of pathogen survival. The aging time helps to reduce possibilities of pathogen survival, because starved of hospitable conditions, pathogenic microbes die. That said, it's up to you. People have been living well eating cheese that has had much worse hygiene practices. Without testing there's no 100% way to tell."

The thing is, yes, there are pathogenic bacteria everywhere, and yes, you technically can't tell when some of them are there by looking at them. However, the age, acidity, and salt combined make it a hostile environment for said bacteria.

I'd eat it, for what it's worth. 

[Frodage3]

I agree with Stinky. This hobby pre-dates germ theory. When I made my first cheese in 2014, I sliced off a thin slice, smelled and then ate. When I woke up the next day, I decided to have a slice twice the thickness. Etc, etc. Enjoy!

[lauravanb]

OK thanks! Sometimes I just need someone to tell me I'm being silly! I'm a nurse and I work in the operating room so I have great respect for sterile technique and what one bacterium is (theoretically) capable of... But this is cheese, not surgery! I feel better now and will try it!!

[Al Lewis]

If your lack of sterilization had affected your cheese you would have known it by now.  It would invade and destroy the curd in the early stages of aging.  I run everything through the dishwasher with a cup of chlorine bleach and a "sai rinse" high temp cycle and things come out just fine.

[Stinky]

If your lack of sterilization had affected your cheese you would have known it by now.  It would invade and destroy the curd in the early stages of aging.  I run everything through the dishwasher with a cup of chlorine bleach and a "sai rinse" high temp cycle and things come out just fine.

Not necessarily, or the public would not have been hit with occasional pathogen scares from certain cheeses.

[Gregore]

Numbers wise 1 germ does not stand much of a chance,  as you put into your fresh milk a million or a hundred million bacteria when you added your culture .

Not to say that it is impossible to get something bad in there , but the bad ones that can live in a high acid environment are very few .

[olikli]

The most dangerous risk are probably listeria. They keep popping up because they don't spoil a cheese visibly. But I doubt there is a big risk even if you don't go to greath lengths sanitizing everything, as long as it's "clean".