I noticed my bandaged colby felt a little squishy, which I know isn't good, and I also spotted some cracks in the ghee, so I peeled off the bandages to face whatever I'd created. What I got was kind of a gooey, spreadable, not-as-good-as-I'd-hoped-for-but-not-horrible (some were saying it actually made a pretty good spread cheese) cheesy substance. :o What went wrong? I'd read about someone else's experience that was very much like this, where the cheese started oozing out, but I couldn't remember which post I'd read that on and couldn't find it again to compare. Take a look, tell me what you think and what can be done to avoid this.. interesting.. experience ;). (Notice my baby sister sitting on the table and watching intently.. she was so excited to see my results ;D.)
Now, the question is.. the other bandaged cheeses feel firmer, but the one that was more like this one in mold color might be a bit squishy.. it's hard to tell.. should I find out?
It looks to me like you have a yeast infection below the bandage, and the squishy is from the holes in your cheese, some holes ideas in our Wiki: Body Defects, Mechanical Holes (https://cheeseforum.org/articles/wiki/) article. How old is the cheese and what milk did you use/how safe do you think it was and does it smell yeasty like beer/bread or like butyric acid which smells a little like vomit?
What causes yeast infection and how do you prevent it? If the squishy was from the holes than how did the yeast infection affect the cheese? I was actually surprised to see the holes, because of all my cheeses this one looked the best when it came out of the mold, I thought. It seemed nicely knit together. The outside of the cheese (below the bandage) had a pretty strong alcohol smell, but on the inside it didn't smell bad, really. We spread it on bread and actually enjoyed it.
The cheese was 45 days old. The milk was fresh from our cows; I think it was perfectly safe to eat ;D. It tasted like a spread cheese some might work hard to make.. almost had a strong sharp cheddar flavor.. anyway, I'm glad it wasn't a complete waste.
Still confused, though! What do you think about the other bandaged cheese? Should I find out if it's going in the same direction or leave it and pray it doesn't?
These are my other cheeses.. the first one looks more like the cheese above did before I removed the bandages, but the second has a lot more brownish mold. It was also coated with less ghee than the other two because I'd melted it before applying it that time. They both have what my mom thinks is a blue cheese smell.. am I having the same problem going on with these guys, or will it be impossible to tell unless they start to feel squishy? Would I be able to somehow salvage them from getting gooey if I opened them now?
Have you checked the humidity on your cave. I think that is your main problem.
here is the link that might give you an answer about molds
https://cheeseforum.org/articles/wiki-cheese-surface-defects-mould/ (https://cheeseforum.org/articles/wiki-cheese-surface-defects-mould/)
That might be the case, though I'd probably have difficulty changing that in my current situation..
On a different note, in the link you gave, the solution is always to rub down with vinegar/salt mixture.. does that mean removing the bandages, wiping it down, and reapplying the wraps? Is it the same for a waxed cheese? I've read people say you can brush the mold off of a bandaged cheese, but my cheeses are sticky with ghee so I don't know how I could do that.