Seeing mold on cheese does not always mean you need to throw away the entire piece. On hard cheeses, the rest can be eaten if you cut away at least 2.5 cm (1 inch) around and below the moldy spot. On soft and cream-style cheeses, however, discard the whole cheese if mold that is not part of the cheese appears.
Why is there a difference?
The dense, low-moisture texture of hard cheeses such as kashar, aged kashar, and Parmesan makes it difficult for mold spores and potentially harmful bacteria to spread deep into the cheese. For this reason, mold on the surface usually stays there. Soft cheeses, such as lor (Turkish whey cheese), cream cheese, and fresh white cheese, have higher moisture levels, which make it easier for mold and invisible bacteria to spread much faster inside the cheese. Visible mold may therefore have spread much farther than it appears. Blue cheeses such as Roquefort and Gorgonzola are an exception: their blue-green veins are made with a controlled mold culture and are safe to eat. To avoid confusion, distinguish the cheese's normal appearance from mold of a different color or texture that may indicate spoilage.
How should you handle moldy cheese?
If mold appears on a hard cheese, cut it off with a clean knife, leaving at least 2.5 cm (1 inch) around and below the moldy spot. Wash the part of the knife that touched the mold before letting it touch the remaining cheese. After cutting away the affected area, store and eat the rest of the cheese as usual.
How can you prevent mold from returning?
Wrap cheese in waxed paper or cheese-storage paper to limit its contact with air. This helps maintain its moisture balance and delay mold growth. Tightly wrapped plastic film may prevent some cheeses from breathing and have the opposite effect. Storing cheese in one of the refrigerator's coldest, least humid areas and checking it regularly also makes it easier to notice mold early.
Which cheeses are considered higher risk?
Opened packages of shredded or sliced cheese have more exposed surface area than a whole piece, giving mold spores more opportunity to settle. Wrapping these cheeses more tightly and eating them sooner is recommended. Homemade, additive-free cheeses generally begin to mold sooner than factory-made packaged cheeses because they contain no preservatives. Failing to wash a cheese knife after each use can also unknowingly transfer mold spores from one cheese to another. When cutting more than one cheese, wiping the knife between them is a small but effective habit. The rind of a wheel of cheese usually has more contact with air than the interior, so it is often where mold first appears; checking the rind regularly makes early signs easier to spot. Keeping cheese away from other mold-growing foods in the refrigerator, such as moldy bread or fruit that has begun to rot, can also somewhat reduce the risk of airborne mold spores from those foods settling on the cheese.
Comments (1)
Eski kaşarda köşede küçük bir küf gördüm, üç santim kadar geniş kesip attım, kalanı hiç sorunsuz yedik, ama krem peynirde aynısını görünce hiç düşünmeden hepsini attım.