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You are here: Home / Workshops / 4 Sanitization Secrets Every Home Cheesemaker Should Know

4 Sanitization Secrets Every Home Cheesemaker Should Know

05/10/2013 By Gavin Webber 9 Comments

Cheese making at home is fun and a rewarding hobby, so why would you want to spoil things by being lax with hygiene?  Have you ever asked yourself these three questions?

  1. Why is my cheese looking bad?
  2. Why does my cheese have an off smell?
  3. Why do I felt sick after eating my cheese?

Well if you have ever thought this, then chances are that you need to be more diligent with your sanitisation techniques before and during your cheese making process.

Let me share four simple rules that I use to sanitize my cheesemaking equipment before every session.

4 Sanitization Secrets Every Home Cheesemaker Should Know

1.  Wash your hands! – Often we touch the milk, curds, and whey during the cheesemaking process, so we must ensure that our hands are thoroughly clean. Soap and water is one of the easiest way to remove bacteria from our hands.  Just make sure you get under your nails, clean under any rings that you cannot remove, and wash the back of your hands as well.  You would be surprised to find that many people don’t remember this simple step.

2.  Boiling – Boiling is a great way to kill bacteria that may be lurking on some of your equipment.  At the start of each session I fill my cheese making pot with roughly 1 litre (1 qt) of water, place in my large stirring spoon, whisk, curd knife, sushi mats, dairy thermometer, and cheesecloth.  Then I bring the water to a boil and keep boiling for 15 minutes, not a minutes less.

3.  Sanitizing – A weak bleach (sodium hypochlorite) solution is the preferred method of sanitization for things that cannot be boiled.  Other plastic items and your colander can either be soaked in a Milton solution made up in accordance with the instructions on the bottle, or in a weak household bleach solution.
Mix up 40 ml (2 Tablespoons) of liquid household bleach (4% to 6% available chlorine) to four litres (1 gal) of potable tap water and soak all your equipment for 5 minutes. Remove and rinse well with cold potable water. You can also wipe down any work surfaces and your sink with this solution to ensure a clean environment.

4.  White Vinegar (5% acetic acid) – Alternatively, for a more eco friendly method, you can fill a trigger bottle with white vinegar to spray your work surfaces and sinks if you do not wish to use bleach. You can also spray your hands with vinegar before handling any curd or pressed cheese to avoid mould and yeast contamination.  Just be aware that vinegar is not as effective at killing anti-biotic resistant bacteria as a bleach solution is.  Which is okay, because most antibiotic resistant bacteria are found in hospitals, and not your kitchen!

So when you start your cheese making session with a clean area, hands, and tools, you stand a better chance of producing a superior cheese.  The last thing you want to do is risking the health of your friends or family.

Following these 4 sanitization secrets will put you one step closer to that perfect cheese!

Warning: Do NOT mix bleach and vinegar as it creates chlorine gas.  Use them in separate bottles as per Dawn’s advice in the comments below.

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Filed Under: Workshops Tagged With: Sanitisation

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About Gavin Webber

Gavin Webber is passionate about home cheese making. He loves to make cheese in his spare time and shares the techniques, videos, podcasts, and recipes with his fellow curd nerds!

Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Comments

  1. Mike Price says

    24/03/2023 at 21:28

    I use StarSan for brewing and sanitising cheese moulds. Never had a problem.

    Reply
  2. Jim Thomas says

    21/03/2015 at 18:07

    Will it not be beneficial to hire the trusted services for cleaning the home affordably? Well, you may click Cleaningservicescapetown.com and see how easily they provide a newer look to your home.

    Reply
  3. Lorraine Mclaughlin says

    19/01/2015 at 16:05

    Can potassium metabisulphite solution (I use in winemaking) be used to sanitize cheese equipment?

    Reply
    • Cheeseadmin says

      20/01/2015 at 10:12

      HI Lorraine. I am an avid home-brewer and use the same stuff. I believe you could use it, however I would rinse everything in fresh water afterwards. Otherwise the starter culture will be killed off before they even have a chance to develop.

      Reply
    • Lorraine Mclaughlin says

      23/01/2015 at 16:17

      Maybe I should use Star San. Seems to be touted in many cheesemaking sites. Don't have to rinse it after applying. I do like the vinegar idea you presented. Not keen on bleach. Thanks! (I'm brand-new to cheesemaking.)

      A second question: cleaning cheese cloth. I've been hand washing with dish soap, rinsing, and popping into the dryer. OK?

      Reply
  4. Dawn says

    08/10/2013 at 00:18

    Mixing bleach WITH vinegar creates chlorine gas. They should never be combined. (Same goes for bleach & ammonia.) Have you tried using two separate squirt bottles? I'm on the cheese MONGING side of things, and I use two separate solutions.

    Reply
    • Cheeseadmin says

      08/10/2013 at 00:47

      Hi Dawn. Good point, and my mistake. I shall amend the post to reflect this warning.

      Gav

      Reply
  5. Cheeseadmin says

    06/10/2013 at 02:37

    Hi Jessie. Yes, "she'll be right" will not cut it. Vinegar is great for this purpose. Wikipedia states that H2O2 can be used as an anti-bacterial.

    Gav x

    Reply
  6. rabidlittlehippy says

    05/10/2013 at 23:28

    This is the area I am ost nervous about when it comes to making my cheese. I tend to be a little on the "she'll be right" side of things. Not going to cut it for cheesemaking is it?
    I'm glad to hear vinegar will do the necessary as I don't like the idea of bleach although I have a powdered oxygen bleach (Eco-Ver) that I would think wuld work and I wonder if hydrogen peroxide would work too?

    Can't wait to begin curd nerding. 🙂

    Reply

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