Mold, Mauve-Brown - Name?

[george]

Riddle of the day - what is this mold?  I've never seen anything like it before (in person).

It first appeared in a few blocks of mozzarella from a guy in Pennsylvania.  It looked like dirt on the surface and embedded in some of the cracks in the block.  For various reasons that you do NOT want me to go into, I ended up tossing all the mozz because I was afraid of it.  When I asked about it, the guy talked to his cheesemaker and came back to me with "they think it was from the brine".  They said it was on some blocks, but not others, but no one else had mentioned it, either, besides me.  So that 'tis a puzzlement.

Well after the mozz was tossed, it appeared on the cut end of a block of cheddar from the same guy.  Don't think it would have transferred in my own fridge, since the mozz was all vacuum-sealed while in that fridge, and never got near the cheddar when it was opened.  Obviously there was some contamination going on at the cheesemakers, but I still don't know what it is.

Now it's appeared on a couple of cams (they are about 5 weeks old at this point - and it's been a couple of months since I tossed the other cheeses) - but only on two of them.  The other two from the batch are perfectly fine.  Huh?  When it first appears, it really does look like a smudge of fair-to-middlin dirt.  As it spreads, sometimes it starts to take on a dark reddish minor little tinge (or maybe that's just the result of fluorescent lights rather than natural light, I'm not sure).  I've not noticed any particular smell to it, so it's nothing as simple as b. linens (which I would have recognized anyway).

So ... name that mold!!!

[george]

Anyone?  Bueller?

[susanky]

I wish I could help.  But thought I would at least break the silence.  I haven't a clue.  I'm going to have to send a culture of that to the lab!   But will also be anxiously awaiting the answer.  On the edge of my seat!
Susan

[linuxboy]

No way to know easily without at least examining morphology under a microscope.

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

On a reading somewhere, it was talking about the Mucor Molds that is described appearing as yours.

[darius]

Looks kinda like the mold I got on 2 of my early cheese rounds... I thought it was maybe rust (or some reaction) from the supposedly stainless steel grid I used for draining.

Be interested in finding out what it really is...

[Sailor Con Queso]

I wouldn't worry so much about exactly what it is, but how to control it. Molds can really get out of control if you let them, so I would sanitize everything involved including your cave to nip it in the bud. And then look at improving your sanitation and rind management procedures to KEEP it away. Lot of discussions throughout the forum.

[george]

Well, at least I'm not the only one that's at least seen it now!  I guess the puzzlement will continue.

I did clean everything up and re-sterilize all, including the cave surfaces, shortly after I discovered it on the cams (before I posted the question), so I'm okay there.  With the exception of the cams and a few Stiltons in progress that are in their own mini-caves, everything else in the cave is vac-sealed anyway, so I guess I'm relatively safe for now.   

Thanks, all!