Moldy cheese poll - Do you cut the mold off of cheese and eat it it?

[KIN]

Do you cut the mold off of cheese and eat the cheese (not the mold)??? :) Inquiring minds want to know!

[In The Great White North]

Of course.

 

It's perfectly safe and if you cut it off soon enough, it won't taste like it either.

 

Mold is in a lot of cheese on purpose, blue cheese jumps right to mind.

 

There is a Norwegian (I think) cheese whose name escapes me that is mostly mold. They age it about 20 years. It's a specialty for New Year's, according to my neighbors. Makes a perfect stinky cheese, to go with the book.

[clwcain]

Yup. Perfectly safe, often tastier than younger cheese.

 

And it is moldy by design I'll eat it without excising the mold.

[mcconnellboys]

Yeah, what she said. Now, I *did* throw out a cheddar in wax that had been broken open, then left for about two or three years in the fridge and the entire thing was blue mold....

[sleepy]

No way, I know the mold's not a big deal, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Mold = trash in my kitchen.

[Brindee]

Cheese IS mold, isn't it? Just part of it gets more moldy! :) Yes, we cut off the worst of the mold and eat the rest.

[mommylaw]

Um, it never occurred to me to cut the mold off of anything and then eat it. I'm absolutely shocked that it's the common thing to do. Who knew?

[greenwillow]

Of course we do! Hello?!? Cheese is like a million bucks a pound!! hehehe..... :)

Not that it often lasts long enough at our house to get moldy......

[GailV]

Of course.

 

It's perfectly safe and if you cut it off soon enough, it won't taste like it either.

 

Mold is in a lot of cheese on purpose, blue cheese jumps right to mind.

 

There is a Norwegian (I think) cheese whose name escapes me that is mostly mold. They age it about 20 years. It's a specialty for New Year's, according to my neighbors. Makes a perfect stinky cheese, to go with the book.

 

 

:iagree:

 

Unless, of course, it's that piece of cheese that accidentally got stuck way back in the back of the fridge and is now more mold than cheese, not by design but by accident ....

[percytruffle]

Um, it never occurred to me to cut the mold off of anything and then eat it. I'm absolutely shocked that it's the common thing to do. Who knew?

 

 

Well, moldly (hard) cheese is different than other moldy foods. I would not eat a slice of bread that had mold that I had cut off.

 

Here is some info:

 

Moldy Cheese

 

Moldy Bread, etc

 

I do eat hard cheese with the mold cut off, and of course moldy cheese in which the mold is intentional, but not other moldy foods.

 

Edited to add this link: USDA Mold Fact Sheet It's good to see our tax dollars at work doing something useful. lol

[Jenny in Atl]

You know the French (the cheese gods) laugh at American's, as we refrigerate our cheese, not allowing it to breath.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

What do they do about cheddar cheese that gets all flacid and slimy and greasy when it's left out. Do they like it that way?

[Pam H]

If this is a repeat, sorry

 

If its soft white cheese and moldy, throw it out. Hard, cut it off and eat the good.

[Sahamamama]

while he's eating a big chunk of cheese. :lol:

[Sahamamama]

Yeah, what she said. Now, I *did* throw out a cheddar in wax that had been broken open, then left for about two or three years in the fridge and the entire thing was blue mold....

 

 

Now THAT is gross.

[OH_Homeschooler]

Well, moldly (hard) cheese is different than other moldy foods. I would not eat a slice of bread that had mold that I had cut off.

 

Here is some info:

 

Moldy Cheese

 

Moldy Bread, etc

 

I do eat hard cheese with the mold cut off, and of course moldy cheese in which the mold is intentional, but not other moldy foods.

 

Edited to add this link: USDA Mold Fact Sheet It's good to see our tax dollars at work doing something useful. lol

 

Thank you for posting this. A line from one of the links: "It is not okay to eat mouldy food even after the mold has been cut off, as surface mold is more than what you see. It actually has hyphae or roots which can penetrate deeper into the food."

 

See, I'd heard that before but I could no longer remember the source and thus, I was not sure if it was true. But this is a good reminder that it's not often safe to just cut off the moldy part.

[Kay in Cal]

Well... some cheeses like Brie or Camenbert are supposed to have moldy rinds... they call them "bloomy". Those I eat. Blue cheeses obviously have mold all the way through. You eat those. Hard cheeses I cut off the mold, soft cheeses are then spoiled (like chevre with mold--bad).

[mommylaw]

Well, moldly (hard) cheese is different than other moldy foods. I would not eat a slice of bread that had mold that I had cut off.

 

Here is some info:

 

Moldy Cheese

 

Moldy Bread, etc

 

I do eat hard cheese with the mold cut off, and of course moldy cheese in which the mold is intentional, but not other moldy foods.

 

Edited to add this link: USDA Mold Fact Sheet It's good to see our tax dollars at work doing something useful. lol

 

Thanks, this entire thread is oddly interesting.

[TXMomof4]

When I was pregnant with ds, I spent the night in the er thinking I was in labor after eating some goat cheese that was....off. Not moldy, didn't taste bad, but boy it did a number on me. Now I'm super paranoid woman about cheese that might be a little funky. But cheddar with a little mold? No problem. Of course, we eat cheese like candy around here, so that hasn't happened in a good long while.

[Mel in K-zoo]

I used to work for Hickory Farms back when they had stores in the mall. Every morning we would go through the cheese, cut off the mold, and then wrap it back up for sale. I always just assumed that it was no big deal.

[Penny from Tenny]

We definitely eat it after the mold is cut off - that is if it every makes it to the moldy stage! Very rare around here.

:001_smile:

[Jenny in Atl]

What do they do about cheddar cheese that gets all flacid and slimy and greasy when it's left out. Do they like it that way?

 

Do the French eat Cheddar? I also see that as a British/Irish style. Yes, I would think it needs to be at a cooler temp ~40. I don't think any of them do well in the heat. :confused:

[nmoira]

Slightly OT. I was at my local Whole Paycheque today, and they were sampling some kind of goats cheese ($35 for a small round!) that was completely covered in fuzzy grey mould. It looked horrible, but tasted great.

[Kay in Cal]

Are you sure that it wasn't grey ash? That's a traditional way of finishing goat cheese....sometimes it has a grey thread running through it , or a swirl. A good cheesemonger (yes, that's the word) would be able to tell you, but a Whole Foods employee may or may not know that much about it.

 

This is ash:

 

So is this:

 

 

As you can see, the ash coloring can vary wildly. As far as I know there are no soft goat cheeses that have grey mold on them. But I'm a cheese eater, not a cheesemonger.

[nmoira]

 

Are you sure that it wasn't grey ash

That may have accounted for the colour, though it was more uniform that I remember seeing ash coated mouldy before. The rind on this cheese was fuzzy and fibrous, rather like fluffed up dryer lint. I'll check next time I go. It was expensive and boxed. Not sure where it was from; I usually only pay that kind of price for local artisan cheeses.