Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Good news: As I understand it, most molds that grow on cheese won't harm you. I cut off the unsightly bits and eat the rest of the cheese.
The bad news: the fuzzy gray stuff you see is the spores. They need to be on the surface so they can get on other stuff and grow more mold. The rest of the mold is under the surface and you can't see how far it goes. Yum.
Good news: As I understand it, most molds that grow on cheese won't harm you. I cut off the unsightly bits and eat the rest of the cheese.
The bad news: the fuzzy gray stuff you see is the spores. They need to be on the surface so they can get on other stuff and grow more mold. The rest of the mold is under the surface and you can't see how far it goes. Yum.
This is why you shouldn't eat soft foods like bread and strawberries if they have mold on them. Hard foods like hard cheeses and fruits and vegetables like apples or carrots are diffferent. Mold can't penetrate far into them. Just cut the mold off.
I'm pretty sure there is also the fact that aged cheeses are created by bacterial action - which is why the blue mold on bleu cheese can be eaten. Same with Brie, and some other cheeses of those types. Cheddar, and other aged "hard cheeses" have different bacteria. But those bacteria and molds that create the cheese inoculate against different, bad, bacteria.
Fresh cheeses, like cottage cheese, curds, or farm cheese, are just curdled milk. And that process usually uses a curdling agent (chemical, rennet or the like), which means that when it gets moldy, that's more likely to be bad than good.
Yogurt and kefir also use bacteria to alter them. While they keep longer than milk, as a result, if they get moldy, I'm not going anywhere near putting them in my mouth. I'll guess because they are wet they are more likely to turn bad. Cheese is very dry, in comparison.
Our ancestors spent centuries figuring out which particular bacteria or mold could safely be used to create an edible product. I have no issue cutting mold off the outside of a hard cheese, but I'm not keen on going the extra step, and acting as my own living laboratory to try something new!
Years ago
We’d have the 38lb wheels
Of extra sharp. 2 yr old. Cheddar cheese
On top of the deli. Counters.
Sometimes called rat or skunk cheese
These would often get mold on the edges some
Customers wouldn’t buy it until they saw
The mold ( we’d just scrape it off)
common knowledge says you can cut off molded part and eat the rest.... does it mean inside will always be clean?
In general, you only find mold on the outside of a cheese wheel as it is the only area that is exposed to air.
Blue cheese has mold running through the cheese because once the fresh curds have been compacted into the mold, large spikes are used to place holes throughout the cheese and a particular bacterium is introduced into these holes.
If you look at the last picture on this link, you will note that the mold is growing along where the cheese was spiked.
(Pictures from the Maytag Cheese Company, Newton, IA.)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.