Hi Everyone :)
I took out my cheeses the other day to inspect them all. Wow...I have never had so much cheese on the go before! They are all doing quite well, except...
...the Parmesan. After I cleaned it up the other day and got rid of all of the mould, it came back. So I cleaned it again and spread olive oil all over it. The large surfaces remained mould-free, but blue mould still started to form in the little cracks on the side of the wheel.
Grudgingly, I vacuum packed it. It was really supposed to stay in the ripening box until November, but I had to seal it early to try and save it. Hopefully it'll still have a good taste when I open it in February. AND hopefully the mould will stay away now! I'll have to keep checking it often.
My 6-month Cheddar started to develop some blue mould in the creases of the vacuum pack. I just removed it, cleaned it up, let it dry a bit then re-sealed it. It's important to check your cheeses often!
My Monterey Jack and my 9-month Cheddar both have this residue on the inside of the vacuum packs. I read that it could be one of two things: white mould forming or calcium lactate that is secreting from the cheese. Neither one is dangerous or will affect the cheese. I just have to wipe it off. If I see signs of blue mould forming though, I'll do the same as I did with my 6-month Cheddar. If it's really just lactic acid releasing from the cheese as it ages, I can leave it as is.
This is glorious! It's my Raclette cheese. I've been washing this cheese every other day for about 2 weeks now and it's already starting to develop its orange rind. This means the bacteria I used in the cheese (Brevibacterium Linens) is working! This bacterial culture will give the cheese the desired aroma and flavour - as well as a nice orange rind!
