Hi

I’ve only just started cheesemaking and have stuck to soft cheeses up to now but now I have a question about my first cheddar.

I didn’t have any cheese wax available so I bandaged it.  After a week or so it seems be be picking up mold aroundd the bandange some of it white and some black.  I knew it would pick up some mold but this seems a little soon and I don’t like the look of the black mold. Should I clean it off? 

And when the wax comes would it be better to take off the bandage and wax it?

many thanks

Claire

Use either a salt brine solution or vinegar to wipe the areas with mold.  Lots of cheddars are bandaged for aging so that should not be an issue.  Just clean the mold off and you should be good to go.

Here is a link to a photo essay on making bandaged cheese at New England cheese supply.  Scroll down and you will see the mold as it starts to spread.

http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/pg/23.html

If you got to this link at Ford Farms you can see inside their aging cave.  When you hit the link it will take you to Wooky Cave and it looks like a game site or something but be patient it takes a moment to load.  You will see rack after rack of molded bandaged cheese.

http://www.fordfarm.com/default.aspx?p=cave

Boy would I ever love to come back as a mouse in that cave.  If you look at their products you will see that they also sell a small bandaged cheese about the size that we make in their product line. 

I am not sure that I would wipe it off.  You should have lard along with the cheese cloth that you bandaged the cheese with and this should seal it up much like wax.  I have six bandaged cheedars aging and they have all types and colors of molds on them and i am letting them do their own thing (that dates me) If I sqeeze the cheese it has the right feel so they are not drying out too much.  I hve yet to taste them, however.  Good Luck.

How did u bandage it ? just gauze or added lard/salt ?

I bandaged it with lard/salt and gauze.  the mold was looking much more than those in the cheese cave so I’ve cleaned most of it off with brine and will wait to see what happens now.  many thanks

vinegar will be the most efficient, if u have it allready coated then the vinegar wont affect the cheese.

thanks.  I’ll let you know what happens.  I have a really nice looking gouda in brine just now.

this molds are natural , so not wipe it with salt,

see this

http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/pg/23.html

this mold will eventually dry off !!!

That is my understanding also. I have left the mold to do it’s own thing. At one month the cheeses were fuzzy as the molds grew and spread fast. Now at two months the molds form a mottled surface on each cheese with molds in dark blue, brown, and orange. It is the orange one that worries me the most..lol. 

No where in any instructions can I find mention of cleaning a bandaged cheese. In truth I am trying to figure out how Ford Farms makes their “Coastal Cheddar Cheese” and when I went to see their cheese cave (see link above)  I noticed that the do a whole lot of bandaged cheddar. Somewhere there is a film clip of a worker who is turning the big bandaged cheeses and when he picks one up to flip it you can see the ring that the mold spores left on the shelf. That would not be there if the cheeses were wiped.

Ben Gunn - 02 June 2008 02:10 PM

That is my understanding also. I have left the mold to do it’s own thing. At one month the cheeses were fuzzy as the molds grew and spread fast. Now at two months the molds form a mottled surface on each cheese with molds in dark blue, brown, and orange. It is the orange one that worries me the most..lol. 

No where in any instructions can I find mention of cleaning a bandaged cheese. In truth I am trying to figure out how Ford Farms makes their “Coastal Cheddar Cheese” and when I went to see their cheese cave (see link above)  I noticed that the do a whole lot of bandaged cheddar. Somewhere there is a film clip of a worker who is turning the big bandaged cheeses and when he picks one up to flip it you can see the ring that the mold spores left on the shelf. That would not be there if the cheeses were wiped.

no cleaning no wiping for bandaged cheddar , i agree, if u do so u will ruin it.
Coastal Cheddar is done when you age it for a very long time.