My first Blue. Based on Flor Azul in Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell.
2 gallons of farm fresh jersey milk pasteurized 145 / 30 min.
1 gallon farm fresh goat milk 145 /30 min.
1 gallon skim P/H from the store
1/2 t Flora Danica (recipe calls for 1/4 t FD and 1/16 ST 50 which I did not have) The reason I doubled the FD is because the label on the bag calls for 1/4 t per gallon and I have been having slow ph drop in the vat. Experimented. still slow drop in the vat.
1 t liquid animal rennet (or 100 drops if you will) Once again the recipe calls for 1/2 t but I have had batches that did not set if I use less than 1/4 t per gallon. Flocc @ 10 min.
1/8 t calf lipase (not in the recipe but sounded good)
1 sache pr from mad millie
2 T of my favorite blue cheese diluted in some warm water
1/4 t calcium chloride for the 1 gallon of store bought.
Starting ph 6.63
Heated to 90 degrees added all cultures and mold let set 5 min. stir 5 min
Ripen 30 min.
Add lipase and Calcium Chloride
Rest 5 min.
Added rennet. Floc 10 minutes ph 6.63
40 minutes to cut
Cut 2" vertically in one direction
rest 10 min.
Cut 2" vertically in other direction
rest 10 min
Cut 2" horizontally
rest 10 min.
Hold @ 90 degrees for 45 minutes stirring to prevent matting
Drain on angled baking sheet for 1 hour Whey. ph 6.4
Break apart matted curd (I added a couple teaspoons of salt not called for in the recipe)
Mold ph 6.16 (curd)
13 hours in the mold ph dropped to 5.0
removed from mold instead of waiting for ph 4.7 because I had to go to work.
Dry salt 3% ( I divided the 3% into 4 parts and used it to salt twice a day for 2 days at room temp. got this from joy of cheesemaking maybe?)
After dry salting for 2 days it will go into the cave.
The rind seems a little closed but not sure about that. In 10 days I will take a core sample and poke as needed.
I am not sure how to add captions under the pics yet and it's really sunny outside right now so I am outa here.
Oregon Cheese Fest. at Rogue Creamery tomorrow for the real deal. Echo Mt. Blue mmmmm
scott