How to recognize that a hard cheese is mouldy?
I have a piece of comte (French hard cheese) open for some time (1 week or so). How do I recognize that it's moldy and therefore not good to eat? There're a thin non-connected layer flour on the piece of the cheese which makes it quite difficult to visually detect mold.
Best Answer
This is what the cheese should look like.
Edges on a cheese like this are referred to as the rind. Any white on there is fine unless it starts looking fluffy, even then you could probably just cut it off. The rind here and on many hard cheeses is a quite hard layer of dried cheese and protects the cheese inside.
If the yellow section of the cheese had mold on it that would indicate the cheese had become moldy after being cut or if there was a blue or green mold growing anywhere on this type of cheese. This would normally indicate the cheese had been kept badly. If your fridge is clean and dry wrapped hard cheese should keep a couple of months.
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How do you know when hard cheese goes bad?
Look for visual cues such as an extra slimy surface; dark, dry, and cracked areas in a hard cheese; or yellow splotches on a blue cheese (remember, unintended mold doesn't necessarily mean the entire wheel is done for). If the cheese is unopened, bloated packaging can also be an indicator.How can you tell if cheese is moldy?
If you see white on your cheese, don't just throw it away. Touch the white stuff to see if it's hard or soft. If it's soft, it's probably mold (and you can just cut it off of a firm cheese). If it's hard, it's a precious little colony of crystals, and you have hit the cheese jackpot.Is my cheese dry or moldy?
If you keep hard cheese any longer than three months, it may become dry and flavorless. If you find mold on hard cheese, it isn't necessary to toss it out. You only need to cut off the moldy piece \u2014 the rest of the cheese is still perfectly good to eat. However, when soft cheese gets moldy, you should throw it away.Can You Eat Mouldy Cheese? | The differences between good and bad mould
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Answer 2
to see if a hard cheese like comte is rotting, you can usually smell it but i assume you may not be used to the original taste. If it is really not good for eating, some moss will start to developp on, this will happen when it is kept in a humid place; if you are keeping the cheese in a dry place it will just become hard as hell and if it start to get cracks on the surface, the taste can be not so good.
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