I have a small plastic container in my fridge where I keep cheese. About a quarter-pound each or less of cheddar, swiss, mozarella and gouda. Well, it’s gone moldy. Multi-color moldy, it’s a fascinating combination of organic beauty and disgusting ick.
Is the cheese salvageable? Can I just cut off the outer layer and have edible cheese? Or, is it a hopeless cause?
And for future reference, what’s the best way to preserve cheeses? Should I dry them out? Salt them? Or should I make sure to eat them quickly enough?
In my experience, this is a hopeless cause. If there’s just a little mold, I think you’re fine cutting it off, but you have to cut deeper than you’d think to get rid of all the moldy taste (i.e. it’s not good enough to just shave off the mold itself). If it’s seriously moldy (as you describe), I’d just chuck it.
Mayo Clinic says it’s safe to cut the mold off some cheeses but some should be tossed.
They say to cut at least an inch away from the mold, and don’t let the knife touch the mold.
I’m getting good results by wrapping cheese in plastic wrap, then in a baggie. It’s keeping longer than when I left it in plastic wrap alone. Or maybe the cheese was just fresher when I bought it. Who knows?
If it’s an exotic or gourmet cheese, toss it, unless the amount of mold is miniscule. Otherwise the whole taste is thrown off, and frankly, in that situation there are spores all over the cheese unseen, waiting to start growing.
I just tossed one that looked less like cheese and more like a piece of a green angora sweater.
If it’s just a little, I cut it off. I usually end up tossing a good 1/3 of the cheese blocks we use because they turn too quickly. I guess we don’t eat enough cheese.
