First cheese help need!!

Hi,

I'm new to cheese making and currently making an american style cheddar from a recipe in a book every thing seemed to go ok with the making and pressing of the cheese, it was then allowed to dry for a couple of days before being placed on a drying mat inside a plastic container and placed in the refrigerator to age about a week ago. I have checked it and turned it everyday after about 3 days a small amount of mold appeared on the surface and this was removed and the cheese washed with brine (as per the book) allowed to dry before going back. Today I opened the plastic box to turn the cheese the smell that came out of the box was dreadful, it smelt like old socks!!! and a small amount of mold was present again.

Being new to this I don't know if this is normal or has something gone wrong, any help you can give me would be great appreciated, so thanks in advance.

Temperature inside the box is 13.5 Centigrade and humidity is 71%

Hm...When in doubt, turn to Google. What I'm seeing is that a little mold is normal and can be solved by wiping it down with a rag and heavy salt water. Also, if the mold gets out of control and grows all through your cheese, that can be a sign of a problem with the curds being too dry before pressing, not enough weight during pressing, or not being pressed long enough. You might check out this website, which seems to be all about cheesemaking: http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/pg/245-FAQ-Aging-Cheese.html

THanks for the reply, the mold seems to be under control now but it's the smell thats worrying me, I can't find anything about it when I google it

If your cheese regularly gets lots of mould inside its container, sterilize the container again. You can also buy some Natamycin such as Natamax. Its a natural antibiotic that can be sprayed on cheese surfaces during its ripening stage in order to prevent bad moulds from forming and spreading.