# Holey Cheese



## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

I made some jack cheese and some cheddar this past weekend and when I cut into both batches they had tiny holes (like havarti). Also the jack cheese had a bad flavor not goaty but bitter. So did it get some kind of bad bacteria? For the jack I used buttermilk to culture it and for the cheddar I used meso DS from New England cheesemaking.


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## Sheryl (Oct 27, 2007)

I made some feta (my first try) once, andwhen I cut it open, it looked kinda like a sponge....with the holes or sorta like swiss cheese. I read in my cheese book that this is not good and to throw it away. Especiall if the holes look like a sponge. There has been a bad bacteria introduced into the cheese somewhere in the process....in my case, a man who never washed his hands would pat the bag while the whey was dripping out! I would boil all my utensile and wash my press or whatever equipment I am using in boiling water. And try again?

Good Luck, I am no expert when it comes to cheese.

Sheryl


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

sounds like you got some bad stuff in there I wouldn't eat it


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## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

Alright thanks. I didn't want to kill my family with the cheese from you-know-where


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

Thought this was pretty good advice from FiascoFarm

"My cheese it spongy and has little holes in it."

Are the holes irregular shaped or are they perfectly round like little tiny Swiss cheese holes?
The irregular shaped holes are perfectly normal and the cheese is OK to eat.
If you have the tiny, round, "Swiss cheese" holes or the cheese is "spongy", this means the cheese has gotten contaminated at sometime while you were making it (by some sort of yeast or bacteria). This is not a good thing and you should probably not eat this cheese. Next time, make doubly sure all your equipment is sanitized.


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