CheeseForum.org » Forum

Ok, so I have about 8 wheels vacuume sealed and in my cheese cave (refrigerator)  sitting at 55f and they are at various stages of aging but most of them over 6 months. The temp is regulated with a Johnson controller and has been working great.  Here is the problem....  about a month and a half ago my stepson moved into our basement and he friggen unplugged my cheese cave.  I just caught it today. The semi soft cheeses like Gouda and Havarti have melted and show off gassing in the bag which are now inflated... total mess ... the cheddars and other hard cheeses don't show any signs of issues....  no, I'm not in jail, and yes he is still breathing....   

Where do these hard cheeses stand?  I have moved the ones that appeared and felt fine to a cold fridge.
Thoughts?

I say, open the bags, let the cheese air dry for a day, then cut open test! Could be the warmer temperature has changed your cheese into Jarlsberg style!

Oh, my. Congratulations on your restraint ... though surely no jury would ever have convicted you?? (J/K!!!)

I agree with Susan - let the hard cheeses air out a bit, and give them a try.

Ken, I hope your blood pressure is ok after that episode.

I left 1 of my hard cheeses out in the open for 2 full days once, room temp here is around 30C by the way, and I put it back in the cave with quite unsignificant damage (it did not melt or attacked by mold).

I hope your cheese will be just fine, anyway now there's more reason to make more, right?

  A long time ago in one of the older posts one of the members here posted about how he left a cheese out on the back screened in  perched  for the whole month or so to see how it would age , I seem to remember that it was edible.

So,really it is going to be all about taste , but do not be too quick to judge it , give each cheese up to a few weeks to air out . I Recently had a bagged cheese that was nasty and sharp . I let it air out as cut up chunks  for a few weeks in the fridge and now it makes a okay grating cheese .  I had another that was intolerably bitter on the out side of the rind but the inside was reasonably good.

Also remember melting can totally change a cheese . So some of them might be usable for dishes that call for melted cheese.

I'd of shot him.  What temp were the cheeses at when you found them?

I feel your pain, Ken.  I have been off cheesemaking for the last few months because I went away for two weeks in August, and came home to find my caves unplugged because my son borrowed the power bar they were plugged into.  He took it the day I left, so all 3 caves were off during the two hottest weeks of the year. My 4lb havarti was a puddle of mold, and I was so discouraged that I couldn't even look at the rest.

What kind of hard cheeses did you have?  Have you tried any of them yet?

There seems to be a rash of sons with their brains on vacation

I've had a couple of failures recently with vacuum-bagged cheeses and that was without a son around inserting spanners into the works. In my case a Port du Salut and a Gruyere. I'm wondering if it is a problem with vacuum-bagging certain styles of cheese rather than the temperature.
I will be interested to hear if you redeem your cheeses.