3 Ways to Tell when Blue Cheese Is Bad - wikiHow (2024)

FAQs

How to know if blue cheese is spoiled? ›

Fresh blue cheese already has mold in it, which is typically blue or green in color. However, you want to pay attention to the color of the creamy part of the cheese. It's normally a white, beige, or yellow shade. If you notice that it's started to turn pink, brown, or green, your blue cheese has likely spoiled.

Blue cheese crumbles typically last up to a week after opening or within the printed expiration date on the package, whichever comes first. If unopened, they can last up to a month past the date printed on the package. Refrigeration extends their lifespan.

You'll notice mold growing on gorgonzola that has gone bad. Usually, it's fuzzy and a different color from the blue veins. On top of that, the gorgonzola will have a very strong foul smell (even more intense than usual) that will make you wince.

Penicillium Roqueforti is the blue mold bacteria we use in both Bay Blue and Original Blue. It is added toward the beginning of the cheese making process to the vat with the milk. This allows the mold spores to be equally distributed through the curds and thus the wheels of cheese.

Proper cheese storage is essential for maintaining quality and preventing foodborne illnesses. Blue cheese can be left out at room temperature for up to two hours. However, exposure to air and warm temperatures can expedite the growth of bacteria, affecting the cheese's safety and taste.

Blue cheese can go bad if it's not stored properly. If wrapped and refrigerated, blue cheese can last 3–4 weeks. Frozen blue cheese can last indefinitely, although freezing it may slightly alter its texture and appearance.

When it has gone bad, it will taste overly bitter or sour, or have a musty quality to it, like drinking water from a moldy pipe. And if a mild cheese all of a sudden has some character to it, don't assume you just aged your own cheese. Just throw it away.

No need to worry-it's common for naturally aged cheeses to develop a small amount of moisture inside their packaging and is common in our blue cheeses. The liquid on the outside of your cheese is just excess moisture, or liquid whey. Simply blot your cheese with a paper towel and enjoy.

Unopened Blue Cheese

An unopened package should keep its quality until the expiration date listed on the label and may potentially remain fresh for an additional 2 to 3 weeks if refrigerated properly.

But these crumbles can often go bad quicker than a large hunk of blue cheese -- about a week after opening. Look out for the same telltale signs -- fuzzy, grey-black mold spots, glistening yellow areas, and an ammonia-like smell -- and you'll be sure to enjoy your cheese worry-free.

Is moldy blue cheese OK to eat? ›

If you notice any green, grey, black, pink, blue or white moulds, your blue cheese is no longer safe to eat.” The best way to store blue cheese is to wrap it in cling wrap and store in the refrigerator. In this way, it will remain fresh for 3 to 4 weeks.

This semi-soft cheese gets its distinctive blue color (and equally distinctive smell) from the Penicillium mold introduced before the aging process and the bacteria that form as it ages. For people with a low moldy blue cheese tolerance, the smell has been compared to gym socks, ammonia, and barnyards.

These visible signs may include such colors as green, pink, or gray, and a texture that can be described as "fuzzy." If you smell the cheese and detect an odor that reminds you of ammonia, this is also a sign of spoilage. In both cases, you should toss the cheese.

Blue cheese is rich in calcium, which is essential for healthy teeth and bones. The cheese also contains other nutrients that may help promote immune, cardiovascular, and cognitive functioning. However, people should consume blue cheese in moderation due to its high levels of saturated fat, calories, and sodium.

Cambozola (Germany): As its name — a portmanteau of Camembert and Gorgonzola — suggests, this uber-creamy cheese with a fuzzy, bloomy rind features only a few blue veins, making it one of the mildest cow's-milk blue cheeses on the market. Aged for only eight to 12 weeks, it's sometimes marketed as blue brie.

With most foods, spotting gray veins with specks of blue mold accompanied by a quick whiff of ammonia means it's time to throw whatever it once was in the trash. But for blue cheese, encountering these signs means it's time to get out the crackers and start snacking.

Fuzzy gray or black patches of mold or shiny pink or yellow spots of yeast are indications that your blue cheese is past the point of no return. Cheese that is slimy or feels tough and dry has also likely spoiled.

Jut because something may have an off-putting smell, like blue cheese, doesn't mean it doesn't taste good. When consumed with other foods they may help mask the smell or it mingles with various other smells that it our senses don't register it as possibly unpleasant.

Penicillium: Odor: Varies, but often described as musty or with hints of blue cheese.