Domiati stored in EVOO

[Leigh]

Hello. I'm new to the forum and have found it to be an excellent resource. This is my second attempt to get my first question posted! It seems I have yet to figure out the ropes, LOL

I live in the hot, often muggy, southeastern US, so my interest is in cheeses made in similar climates. Last year I made domiati for the first time and we liked it well enough to make more. My only issue was that it became saltier as time went on, because it is stored in brine. This year I decided to try what I do with my feta: brine it for two weeks and then try storing it in organic extra virgin olive oil. This procedure has worked extremely well for my feta. Today I was repacking the chunks of domiati to add a new batch (newest on the bottom). On the oldest chunks (made in July) is an unusual cranberry coloring.



I've read elsewhere that domiati will darken as it ages, but I'm not experienced enough with this particular cheese to know what's "normal." The cranberry color doesn't seem to fit any of the descriptions I've ready about the various molds affecting cheeses.

I used the domiati recipe from Jerry Issa's 19 Easy Ways to Make Cheese and Yogurt, with the exception of using kefir as the culture instead of buttermilk. The milk is raw milk from my own goats.

Any ideas?