I am working on my first lactic-set bloomy rind cheese. I am using the recipe from Gianaclis Caldwell's book, Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking. I added Penicillium candidum (HP6 from Chooozit) and Geotrichum candidum (Geo15 from Choozit) to the milk. I am about a week into ripening at 95% RH and 53F. I do see mold growing, and there is definitely a strong aroma (earthy, mushroomy?) but there are two shades of color on the surface ... a bright white and a cream color. The white has the wrinkly surface, where as the cream is a bit smoother. Can anyone comment on the cream color mold? Is it the Geo? Thanks!
The wrinkle surface is geo for sure , can not say what the cream color is without a pic
You might want to leave the lid off or lower humidity some how to slow down the geo.
Ah yes. Pictures would be helpful. I have posted a few here.
I would say the cream color is the geo, and the white on top is the PC. But I could be wrong - it has happened once or twice before ... :)
If this is only a week old then the surface is too wet and probably the curd was too wet also. You need to get that surface a little more dry , or you will get slip skin . It should be that dry white color is very where by now .
I recommend a fan to help it dry out . If they do start to slip it is best to start to eat them