Author Topic: Love those baby blues!  (Read 4664 times)

scubagirlwonder

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Love those baby blues!
« on: October 30, 2012, 08:28:59 PM »
Just took my 4 day old Stilton-style blues out of their rings, filled in the nooks & crannies and smoothed to beautiful blue perfection! Now the hard part starts....WAITING!! Off to the cheese "cave" they go for a 90-day slumber to turn into moldy, creamy, ugly, tangy, yummy, cheesy goodness!

Here's a couple pics: One right out of the molds, and one after I started smoothing them out...

Offline H-K-J

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Re: Love those baby blues!
« Reply #1 on: October 30, 2012, 08:47:38 PM »
NICE JOB!!! looks really nice ;D
are you not going to leave out at room temp for a few day's?
I usually leave them out for 5 days (in it's ageing container) at around 70 deg F
As they say to each his (or her) own, very nice smoothing job also, good luck on the waiting ;)
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scubagirlwonder

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Re: Love those baby blues!
« Reply #2 on: October 30, 2012, 10:54:48 PM »
They've been at room temp the last 5 days, do you usually leave yours at room temp after smoothing? Bet you see some beautiful mold form in that time! I use Pav's "Stilton" recipe and have had good success with molding the curds and leaving at room temp for 4-5 days (flipping a couple times each day), then removing from molds, and smoothing the surfaces, then into the cave....always good to hear other methods though!

linuxboy

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Re: Love those baby blues!
« Reply #3 on: October 30, 2012, 11:01:16 PM »
More than 4-5 days and you're starting to risk overly rapid yeast development on the surface and some runaway blue-based breakdown. Depends on the salt levels and pH, too. I find that it's very strain specific. I like to give it good life for the first 5 days and then chill it down and let the rest happen slowly. More nuanced and better flavor development that way. If you are going to elevate the temp and accelerate it, I would do 5 days at room temp, then move to 50F for 4 weeks, then to 60F for 3-4 weeks, then 45-50F for 1-2 weeks before eating.

Offline H-K-J

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Re: Love those baby blues!
« Reply #4 on: October 30, 2012, 11:22:42 PM »
I do leave mine in the mold flipping x-amount of times for five days, take it out and smooth, place it in the ageing container then into a dark warm area for another 4 to 5 day's then off to the cool area (50-55F 90% RH) and age, it's worked so far but am always looking for other ideas :)
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bbracken677

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Re: Love those baby blues!
« Reply #5 on: October 31, 2012, 09:13:58 AM »
H-K...so you leave yours out at room temp for 9-10 days altogether?

How much blue do you have showing when they go into the cave?

Offline H-K-J

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Re: Love those baby blues!
« Reply #6 on: October 31, 2012, 02:39:56 PM »
I believe this is a pic of it the day I put it in the cave at the lower temp
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Tomer1

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Re: Love those baby blues!
« Reply #7 on: October 31, 2012, 07:34:22 PM »
Very nice smoothening!

Offline H-K-J

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Re: Love those baby blues!
« Reply #8 on: October 31, 2012, 09:38:39 PM »
scubagirlwonder, out of curiosity, what size are your mold's?
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scubagirlwonder

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Re: Love those baby blues!
« Reply #9 on: October 31, 2012, 10:25:21 PM »
scubagirlwonder, out of curiosity, what size are your mold's?

They are 6-inch diameter and 8-inches tall. With this recipe I almost need another mold (I can't go any larger in diameter simply due to the width of my cheese fridge....) because it yields a huge amount of curd compared to other cheeses I've made.  :)

scubagirlwonder

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Re: Love those baby blues!
« Reply #10 on: October 31, 2012, 10:26:24 PM »
Very nice smoothening!

Thank you very much!  ;D

Offline NimbinValley

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Re: Love those baby blues!
« Reply #11 on: November 01, 2012, 04:39:35 AM »
Hi.  I need to know more about this smoothing business!  Do you do it as soon as it comes out of the hoop?  How do you do it?  Do you need to apply much pressure?  Thanks.  NV.

scubagirlwonder

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Re: Love those baby blues!
« Reply #12 on: November 01, 2012, 05:33:49 AM »
Hi.  I need to know more about this smoothing business!  Do you do it as soon as it comes out of the hoop?  How do you do it?  Do you need to apply much pressure?  Thanks.  NV.

It's pretty easy! When you hoop your curds, reserve a few tablespoons of curd (I just put them in a ziplock in the fridge). That way, when you are ready to take your cheeses out of the hoops you have "spackle" to fill in all the nooks and crannies. I put on a pair of nitrile gloves and smush up a little of the curd between my fingers to get it soft and sticky and press it into the open spaces (it doesn't take much pressure). Once I've done that, I use a palette knife to smooth it all out (like frosting a cake). I've heard other people mention using a hot knife to smooth things out, but I've never tried it since my method works well for me. Hope this helps!

Offline NimbinValley

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Re: Love those baby blues!
« Reply #13 on: November 01, 2012, 05:45:09 AM »
wow.  Never heard that before.  Amazing!  I'll give it a go!

Offline Boofer

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Re: Love those baby blues!
« Reply #14 on: November 01, 2012, 05:46:27 AM »
And someone else recommended using the back of a spoon....

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