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Pink Rind

Started by Raz21, April 02, 2018, 10:32:35 AM

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lota

Hi Raz!
I think we have a similar problem (maybe). My pressed cheeses are also developing a pink sticky rind but, the most important, it smells bad as yours. It's not like "smelly socks", it's a rancid smell.
I also have the too humid cave problem, but I guess there's something more causing it. I'm getting some help in a post I opened.
Did you find a solution? Did you discover what can cause it? Are vinegar washes helping you?

Gregore

drying  the surface is the best thing to do , a small fan inside the cave or take it out for a few hrs per day and run a fan towards it , use your judgement as to wether it is drying to fast or not  , try to shoot for 2 or 3 days .

Vinager is just more wetness .

lota

Thanks, Gregore!
I will follow this recommendations. Vinegar has helped though, to eliminate this rancid bad smell

Raz21

The pink rind is due to high humidity. The bad smell can be yeast.

What I did to reduce this:
•   Sanitized the cave
•   Added wood boards in the cave
•   Brushed all the cheeses to remove the pink surface from the cheeses
•   Washed the cheeses with saturated brine for a few days and then reduced the brine to a 20% salt brine. Then reduce the brine until you find the lowest salt content at which the rind stays stable. If you make swiss cheese with propionic, it will be challenging to reduce the mold without affecting the development of the propionic bacteria. Propionic is very salt sensitive.
•   Reduced the RH so it will always be below 90% RH. The humidity will be chosen depending on the cheese rind that you are trying to develop.
•   Always keep an eye on the cheeses.

Without populating the cheese rind with the yeast/mold and bacteria that you would like to grow (for example geo with b. linens) it is quite complicated to control the exact microorganism that is developing on the rind. I still need to experiment with this.

Experimenting is the best way of understanding which options work the best.