CheeseForum.org » Forum

Hi there!

I'm having a bit of a problem controlling the greyish mold covering my cheddar's in the cave. I've wiped it last week with vinegar, but still it returned.
What should I do to control this? Can I mix some of my yogurt preservative to try and control it or what is the best thing to do?
The humidity in the cave is a bit high I think as well. What is the right humidity for cheddar ripening?

PS. If I continue getting grey mold on my cheese & wipe it off, will it have an effect on my cheese?

Use natamycin if you want to control mold.

What are you using for the yogurt? Sorbate?

There's no single right answer for cheddar aging conditions. What style of cheddar and what conditions do you have?

I use Danisco's Zeroblow that is a mixture of natamycin and other stuff.
I have regular cheddar that I just cover in a layer of plastic emultion(pvc)
The humidity is currently at 85%.

That humidity is fine. Spray your wheels with 1500-2000 ppm Natamycin every 3-4 weeks to keep the mold in check. And in your coating, you can mix in 500-700 ppm to help.

I have never used Zeroblow, sorry. What is the other stuff? What percentages?

I's dave to get the spec sheet from Danisco, but will post as soon as I get it. Thnx for the advice.  I'll do that.

great, thanks. And yes, just wipe/brush the mold off it it shows up. And spot treat it if you want. You'll be fine, just keep it under control. Mold happens in caves, just how it is. Gray mold is not the most appetizing stuff.

Zeroblow (or zero blow) doesn't seem to exist on their website. Natamycin is very effective but usually really expensive. Many of my customers balk at the use of any antibiotics, so I use Potassium Sorbate. I mix 12 tablespoons of dry Sorbate per liter of purified water and then spray it on the wheels. Potassium Sorbate has a long term safety record and non-toxic profile.

I've been using Calcium propionate with mixed results. 1% is what was recommended to me spray on everything, walls, shelves, cheese.
This is a commonly used mold control in baking and animal feed. Any help welcome as my cave has some mold issues.

Joe, what do you mean by "mixed results"? The P Sorbate works pretty well with just one application.

I m having a similar issue but the mold is interior. I am careful to wipe the hard cheese with salt water every day but when I open the wheel there is mold inside and not sell-able.

Steff, I would guess that your pressing is insufficient and you have too much moisture inside the cheese. If you have a good pressing, the exterior will be smooth without any appreciable voids. Then if you manage your rind properly, without oxygen molds cannot survive inside the cheese.

Sailor,
The Calcium Propionate seems to control a black mold (that forms in specks) very well. There is an off white mold that we were controling with salt and vinegar but now neither methods are controlling this well any more. This mold, as it gets drier/older, seems to become a powder that comes off with a brush. Once the cheeses are more than 2 months this is no longer a problem( it doesn't form any more) but the black specks come back.

So far, none are problems that seem to make it into the cheese, it is more an appearance thing. This is probably due to teh fact that we are really working to get on top of controlling these molds which takes allot of labor.

Yup, you won't find it on the web as it's their own mixture in the lab here in Midrand  SA as the natamycin is very expensive, but it works great for yogurt and even cream. One om my client's bake cakes with alot of cream in and on it, so I add some zeroblow to it and it lasts up to a month without going bad.