Why Do I Get Mouldy Cheese?

I suggest not taking it out of its wrapper until you need it. Then cut off what you want without touching the block, and replace the zip packet in the fridge. I keep mine in the middle but I don’t think it matters where exactly.

Have you checked the temperature of your fridge?

It could be the same knife transferring mould spores, or even a knife which has just been used to spread butter or jam.

You could ration yourselves to one variety of cheese per meal - cut with a clean knife.

Thanks to everyone who replied! We have several different cheeses on the go at the same time, so I am wondering if the same knife has been used for every cheese? Hints and tips gratefully received, and I am on the case! I knew you'd know!

To try to answer the question, "Why . . ?" I would say that if you are buying cheese in a sealed wrapper, it would have started off sterile, unless there was lack of care when it was packed. The mould spores that started off the mould must have come from somewhere outside that wrapper, that is from fingers, from the knife that cut slices from it, from the container in which it is stored, from the air surrounding it when it is out on the table or worktop, or from the inside of the fridge.

Th solution is to keep it in the wrapper as much as you can, unless you are cutting off enough for immediate use, or to use within the next few days, and to avoid even brushing a bare hand against it. Always use a clean knife and don't leave it out in the open any longer than necessary, return it to its closed container or the rezippable wrapper in which it was bought.

If it was bought from the counter, and cut from a large piece, perhaps someone's fingers had touched it? I would only buy small pieces from the counter, which would be eaten very soon, before any mould had a chance to spread.

Incidentally, cheese can be frozen if well wrapped. Hard cheese may crumble when defrosted, but that doesn't matter if you are going to cook it or grate it. Soft cheese is usually OK.

Stillwaters

I pretty much never get mould on my cheese - I leave it in the wrapper and squeeze what I need out from the unopened end, then grate or slice it whilst holding the rest of the block in the wrapper - then I shake the cheese back into the wrapper - in this way, my fingers never touch the cheese = no mould :-)

Ditto in our house! I also wrap the opened pack of cheese in a home made wax wrap. No mouldy cheese here!

I have a cheese box from Lakeland with a filter in the lid keeps cheese beautifully fresh for ages.

I'm a veggie and a bit of a cheese freak! It doesn't have an opportunity to get mouldy in my house. Cheese I use for cooking (usually mature Cheddar) comes in a big block and is grated on the Magimix grating disk and saved in the freezer. I take out as much as I need. Cheeses like Stilton, which I don't use in cooking, I buy in smaller quantities and ... well, I eat them.

Cheese has to sit for a very long time, even opened, in this house before it grows mould. I open the pack, it gets put into a Lock & Lock In the fridge and it’s fine to the last scrap.

I never have mouldy cheese. Like some others, I leave it in the original wrapping, stored in a plastic box. Usually kept on second shelf in the 'fridge.

I take mine out of the wrapping and keep it in a large loose-lidded cheese box.

To be fair, cheese gets eaten so fact in this household it doesn't have any time to grow mould.

I second the "no fingers, no mould". We think our fingers are clean, but the least touch on the surface of the cheese leaves fingerprints of bacteria that turn green.

I buy quite a big chunk of prepackaged strong cheddar, which I don't open until I am ready to start it. The inside of the packaging is sterile until it is cut. I cut the wrapper outside the "zipper" and hold the cheese through the packaging while I cut off enough for the next few days to keep in a plastic box, then fasten the wrapper on the rest, without touching the cheese directly at all. When I need more, I repeat the process. It keeps for weeks.

I too leave mine in the wrapping it usually last 3/4 wks with no mould.

I pretty much never get mould on my cheese - I leave it in the wrapper and squeeze what I need out from the unopened end, then grate or slice it whilst holding the rest of the block in the wrapper - then I shake the cheese back into the wrapper - in this way, my fingers never touch the cheese = no mould :-)

Mine lives in the door about half way up the fridge, left in the original packaging as we use it, just cut a piece off and fold the wrapper over. Keeps for 2 weeks sometimes 3.

Just cut the mould off and use the rest. It is natural for it to grow a rind.

Do you leave it in the supermarket wrapper until you are ready to use it ? If so perhaps you are buying too big a piece for your needs. Mine stays in the wrapper until I need it and then I eat it within the week . I have only had mouldy cheese if I have left it out of the fridge for too long