Why cheese molds

Those microbes need oxygen to grow, so she also pierces each wheel with a long, thick needle during the aging process. That lets in oxygen and allows the mold to grow throughout the interior. The maker inoculates the milk with Penicillium candidum —the signature white mold we know from our favorite bloomies.

This mold along with yeasts like Geotrichum candidum forms that white bloomy rind early in the aging process. As it grows in, the maker pats it down to form the smooth, snowy coating we recognize.

Meanwhile, those microbes are ripening the wheel from the outside in, creating lush cream lines and developing buttery, mushroomy flavors we know and love. These are just two of the many, many, molds that hang out in and on cheeses. When it comes to natural rinds —which the maker allows to grow mostly wild with different molds—there are many, many more yeasts, and bacteria on rinds that range in color from brown, yellow, red, orange, grey, white, and blue.

These are all edible, but will have a strong flavor and aroma of the cheese cave in which the cheese has ripened. The microbes in mold-ripened cheeses need oxygen to live, which is why they should never be stored in plastic. Both Little Lucy Brie and Mountaineer have bloomy white mold on their rinds, at varying degrees. Photography by Grace Wilkey. But what about unwanted mold—the kind you find growing on that forgotten, half-eaten wedge you found in the back of the fridge?

Incidentally, the Grotto is great for this. For those new to blue cheese, we recommend starting with something on the creamy and mild end of the spectrum. Blue Cheddar : This Wisconsin original is a great way to expand the boundaries of your cheese tasting while keeping things familiar.

Gorgonzola was brought to Wisconsin by Italian immigrants where local cheesemakers quickly put their own spin on this timeless classic. Compared to blue, gorgonzola tends to be a bit milder and traditionally uses a different species of mold—Penicillium glaucum—to create its similar blue veins. Where blue cheese pushes the envelope, gorgonzola stays in its very delicious lane. Washed-rind or smear-ripened cheeses : They say it takes a village to raise a child; we say it takes an old cheese to raise a young cheese.

More commonly, cheesemakers simply rub a solution of carefully selected bacteria onto the young cheese during the aging process. Some cheeses are also cured in a briny solution while they age, which is pretty much an open invitation for a group of bacteria known as Brevibacterium linens to make that cheese their new home. As the bacteria settles in, it produces piquant odors and distinctive flavors.

Some washed-rind cheeses are soft, like limburger ; others are semi-hard or hard like montague. Saviour or Schroeder Kase Camembert, bloomy rinds are surfaced ripened cheeses known for their white rinds. These cheeses are coated with with Penicillium candidum during the aging process. This famous mold culture is responsible for the edible, white rind and contributes to the creamy interior texture of bloomy rind cheeses. Cheese is not mold nor is it the by-product of mold. Some cheese varieties like blue cheese have specific species of mold that are intentionally added during the cheesemaking process to enhance the flavor of texture.

The mold added to these cheeses can be thought of as a special ingredient. It depends on the cheese. Because fresh cheeses are high in moisture, mold can spread quickly and make the cheese unsafe to eat.

For aged or hard cheeses like parmesan , or cheddar , light surface mold can be dealt with by cutting around the moldy bit and removing it. Roughly an inch around and an inch deep is a good rule of thumb for how much to cut away. With the notable exception of fresh cheeses that are meant to be consumed shortly after they are made mozzarella , ricotta , queso fresco , etc. Science is cool! You know that thick white rind on the outside of a wheel of brie?

Penicillium candidum to be more precise. In a lot of ways, the job of the cheesemaker and the cheesemonger is mold maintenance —making sure the right kind of mold is growing in the right place at the right time and intervening when necessary. We want the cheese to look nice for the customers, and a lot of people are squeamish around mold, so if we see a fluffy column of mold or a few specs of blue growing on the cut side of a wedge of cheese, we slice or scrape it off.

So what to do about that pesky, maybe-less-than-yummy mold growing on the cheese in your fridge? Well, most of the time you can simply cut it off and go on living your life.