Blue cheese not blue

[btnellie]

Hi-

Attached is a picture of my first attempt at blue cheese (recipe from Ricki Carrol's Home Cheese Making).  This is at 30 days.  The outside has several molds and it did not turn blue  :(  The instructions direct to scrape the cheese at 30 days and then keep aging.  The mold/outside was like a crust and I scraped it off and found a creamy layer and then deeper the cheese was the consistency of blue cheese.  The inside had not developed much blue mold either.  I think my humidity was too high.  I kept the cheese in a large plastic bin with a bowl of water.  I tried cracking the container when the humidity got high, but didn't figure out a good way to maintain the humidity I wanted (85%).  I keep my cheeses in the basement and it is also a bit cold down there (40 to 50 F).  Any tricks for keeping the humidity correct for my next attempt.  It may not be the proper blue cheese, but I gave it a little taste and I love it.  Especially the creamy outside.  It is a delicious cheese, but not the blue cheese I was trying for. 

Thanks,
Bethany

[KTownCheese]

What cultures did you use?  What level of humidity was the cheese stored at? how was it salted?

[btnellie]

I used 2 gal raw milk
1/8 t penicillium roqueforti C-9
1/4 t mesophillic MA011

The humidity varied from 89 to 100% over 30 days, usually between 95 and 100%

After the cheese drained in the mold overnight, I sprinkled canning salt and rubbed it on the outside.  I then turned and shook off excess salt each day for 3 days.

[KTownCheese]

Bethany,

If your looking for good mold development on the outside I would recommend brining the cheese instead.  In my experience brining seems to work better.  I would also puncture the cheese vertically and horizontally with a skewer to aid in interior growth.   
Based on your post the temperature could be a little cold for blue. I typically store mine at 55 to 60 degrees F.  The humidty looks to be just about right.  Too much humidity will cause water runnign down the sides of yoru cave and should only effect your cheese by fostering unwanted molds and growths.

Another reason could be over salting.  Im no expert but you should only need about a half to full teaspoon of salt for a 2 gal cheese and this salt should be absorbed or washed away by the expelled whey after the first day or so. 

Also, did you mix your cultures with chlorinated water prior to adding to the milk?  If you did that could have killed your bacterias.

Aside from that you could be having pH issues.  Id check with one of the more experienced members on the forum here regarding the pH as I have yet to get so refined in my cheese making that Im checking pH.  Can anyone else corroborate my thoughts here? 

Hope I have helped!
Cheers
Albert

[Tomer1]

Seems like excess moisture, PC got a foot hold and you got a cambazola stye! :)
Does it taste good?

[btnellie]

It tastes wonderful!  I actually hope to make this mistake again sometime, but I would also like to make a blue cheese.

I am very new to this.  What does PC stand for?  I have never had a cambozola, but from its description I would say that is just what this cheese tastes like.  A combination of a creamy mild gorgonzola and a rind like Camembert.  The inside was a combination of the textures of the two cheeses too. 

Maybe I will find a recipe for a cambozola and use that to figure out what I did. 

[Schnecken Slayer]

PC = Penicillium Candidum. The white mold used to make camembert and Brie
This is what gave you the outside creaminess.

(Cambozola = Camembert crossed with Gorganzola)

[lead_dog]

Was is Jersey milk? Fat globules on Jersey (and similar) milk causes curds to knit together like butter (your pic). Therefore, there are no mechanical openings within the curd body for the blue spores to spread once they interact with oxygen (when you pierce).

If this is the cause, you'll want to consider "fluffing the curds" to firm and dry them before you hoop. Normally I do this at pH 6.25-.30, but the important thing is to fluff the curds to create mechanical openings.

Hope this helps.