[Cheese] Mold, good and bad

[Jack Schmidling]

Brian wrote:
> Jack,
> Need your help.  I asked this a few days ago but never heard anything.

Seems to me you received lots of responses.

> I have some black mold growing under the wax on my first cheddar.

If it seems to be penetrating, gouge it out and fill the hole with hot wax.

> I 
> mistakenly used thermophilic starter but it seems to have formed well. 
> Problem is, after 1 month I have noticed some black mold under the wax.  I 
> have cut out the bad spots and re-waxed.  Had to do that again today after 
> another week.  Is it a losing battle or should I just eat it now?

It is not likely to win any prizes if you did not cook it at the thermo 
temp and may not have sufficient acid for long term ripening.  It's your 
call but if it's eatable now you can eat it or sit on it and see what 
happens.

> Another thing, my Stilton is doing beuatifuly, my gorgonzola from 3 weeks 
> ago hasn't produced any mold yet.  Is it possible to resurect the mold on 
> this by making a mold "wash" over the cheese?

I think someone suggested stacking the two which seemed like a good idea 
to me.  Also, you don't really know what is going on inside unless you 
cut it.  I presume you punctured it properly to allow air in?

This stuff comes with experience and hopefully we learn from our 
failures.  I used to cut my cheeses in half after 30-60 days when first 
learning.  You can re-wax one half for long term and sample the other 
half.  Just cover the cut end with plastic wrap between samplings.

js

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