Hi all,
This is my first Stilton-like and so I have very little experience with this sort of cheese (with any sort of cheese, really, since this is my fourth make ever). I've based my make on H-J-K's website and other posts I've found on this board. My main question is how early is too early when piercing, and what are the consequences of an early pierce? I just de-moulded the cheese today, smoothed the rind, then pierced it, mostly because I wasn't thinking and was just automatically going through the motions of the make process for blue. After piercing I noticed a crack caused by my chopstick on the top of the cheese and, simultaneously, remembered that on this board people generally pierce after the surface mold cover is pretty extensive. I'm guessing that this will all work itself out and that most likely the holes will just occlude and I will have to re-pierce, but I wanted to get the experts' opinions before moving forward. Details on the make
scant 3 gal of stupid, crappy store bought cow's milk (HTST and organic, at least, but still homogenized)
1 pint heavy cream
pinch of MM100 (diacetyl-producing)
slurry of store bought danish blue veining
1/2 tsp liquid rennet
1/2 tsp CaCl2
Ripen at 86F for 60 minutes (MM100 and slurry)
Add rennet, check flocc time using bowl method - This was my first flocc check; I clocked it at 10 min but after 40 min total (4x stilton multiplier) the curd was so delicate I couldn't tell if the break was clean; ended up letting it go for about 60 min total but there was little change in curd structure between 40 and 60 min)
spoon (very delicate) curd into cheese cloth sitting in whey, let sit for 60 min
drain by hanging curd overnight
mill curds in the morning, mix in 2 Tbs salt
Add to home-made mould
turn 4 times in first two hours, then once every 2-3 hours for four days total
on fifth day, de-mould, smooth, pierce, store in tupperware at ~60F until mould cover developes
Thanks!