Hi, I am having problems with two types of cheese.
First, I have waxed Manchego literally exploding on my shelf as I wait for it to age. I have used the Manchego recipe before with no problems last year, but after reading what I can here, I can only think of the cow milk being the issue. I have cleaned the kitchen and sterilise the equipment in boiling water before I make the cheese, but still it happens. This problem has happened to the last 3 manchego that I have made. We end up cutting the top/roof of wax off the cheese and eating it out of the 'bowl' of wax. I'm eating the cheese within 2 to 3 weeks of making because it blows up and splits the wax, and it has a lovely creamy texture with a beautiful taste to it. But I would like to eat the cheese at a later date and more aged too. The cheese has small holes in it, some larger than others, not all uniformly round. No off smells either. Aged in a slightly warmer temp 14-16C, maybe I should change that, but it didn't affect the cheeses I made last year in the same environment and temp. ??
(http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/oo128/jasrowy/DSC03526.jpg)
See how it is 'erupting' through the roof of the wax, I turned this almost daily after a week, and it still pushed through. This one was made 19 days ago, and started to swell at about day 15.
(http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/oo128/jasrowy/DSC03525.jpg)
(http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/oo128/jasrowy/DSC03524.jpg)
The other issue is a Monterey Jack recipe I tried for the first time, I used buttermilk I made myself from cream. The curds set well in the press and then I waxed the nice looking dry cheese. A few days later after turning twice a day the wax split in one place and what I guess is whey started leaking out. There is a bitter smell with the liquid coming out so I removed the wax and it's still sitting on a bamboo mat to dry out again. This cheese does smell somewhat sour, so I'm not sure if it's worth trying to fix or eat, before I throw it away,I will open it to see what the inside looks like. Anybody know why it started leaking? I haven't had this happen before.
(http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/oo128/jasrowy/DSC03530.jpg)
(http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/oo128/jasrowy/DSC03528.jpg)
Thanks for reading this, Rowena.
I had the same problem with a cheddar and a gouda, the gouda was pretty bad and the smell was terrible because it was 3 months old but the cheddar was just 1 month old and the smell wasn't that bad.
this is the link for my post with some pictures.
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,6985.msg50083.html#msg50083 (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,6985.msg50083.html#msg50083)
Let me know if you going to eat your cheese, and how it taste. I got rid of my two cheeses, because I didn't know what to do with them.
Thanks for replying!
I waxed the second sour smelling cheese, hoping it will not leak and taste okay. Will post a new thread when I open it.
I opened the first 'exploding cheese'.
(http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/oo128/jasrowy/DSC03532.jpg)
(http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/oo128/jasrowy/DSC03533.jpg)
We are eating it, and it tastes fine, very mild and creamy and full of holes of course. It melts quite well too, so not a total loss.
EDITED TO ADD;Just looked at your photos, my Monterey Jack had nowhere near that amount of liquid leaking out. More like a half teaspoon total, and the rest of the rind was quite dry after removing the wax. The photo above of the 'exploded' Manchego shows how nice and dry the cheese is, and it tastes good, just strange to have it blow up like that.
I think you are on the correct track in thinking you have a contaminant. You mentioned the milk but not what type it was. Are you using raw milk? Also what are you using for starter culture?
Wow thats a massive infection.
I had a similar problem in the past with a gouda cheese, but the holes weren't as big & the tastewas great!
Usually if it's a yeast infection or something it tends to have a yeast/off smell, but just like mine yours don't. What cultures did you use? Maybe it had alot of co2 that was released.
I think one needs to look as sterilising everything & Washing the cheesecloth with the hand & make sure that there is no soap/chemicals remaining in it. Could it be the temperature as well? It's difficult I guess to make a correct prognosis.