Well, I finally got my courage up to make a blue cheese. Not sure what I wanted to make but thinking maybe a tomme style with blue, maybe a natural rind, maybe some buttery flavors......didn't find a recipe I wanted to use....don't really know blue cheeses at all. Yup, a fiasco potential for sure!
I used Pav's basic tomme recipe, or rather a make sheet I created based on that. I even read parts of it during the make!
I also answered a million questions from my visiting daughter (not about cheese), made graham crackers and did something else too so I was a bit scattered.
Make notes:
2 1/2 gallons raw goat milk, 1/2 gallon fresh from morning milking, 1/2 gallon 5 days old and everything in between. I've done this a few times with fine success.
Heated milk to 88 F
added cultures:
3/8 tsp Flora Danica (not a culture I use often and I wish I'd used my Kazu instead)
1/16 LM57
1/32 PR 3
1/32 Mycodore
Forgotten the ripen milk part and added rennet (2 ml single strength calf rennet) 15 minutes after cultures. Did I mention I was distracted?
Flocculation at 11 minutes, cut curd with whisk at 38.5 minutes (3.5 multiplier) let rest for 10 minutes
raised temp to 100 degrees but it took longer than the 30 minutes I aimed for although not by much.
Put in mold lined with whey dampened cheese cloth. Put in press at no pressure and then very little pressure. Flipped and rewrapped 3 times. More knit than I expected as I had imaged a kind of craggy wheel with lots of mechanical openings. Not so with this version!
Did not brine. Maybe I should have. Put about 4 tablespoons of salt on it while it drained on matting overnight. The curd is soft as you can see. I guess we could call it a sumptuous or generously proportioned wheel. it's continued to slump a bit and no amount of lecturing on the importance of good posture has made a difference.
So far it's still at room temp. It was made Tuesday. Gad, was that only yesterday? It's in a box now with the lid ajar to allow some air circulation for drying but not so much as to dry the rind too fast.
I'd love suggestions on what to do next. I don't think it fits into any category of blue that I've seen yet as it's not soft and not hard but somewhere in between. There was no extra cream added but the milk is very rich. the wheel is firm but pliant and rubbery. It's not fragile. I wonder whether a knitting needle will go through it easily or whether I'll need to find an extra long drill bit and bring my cordless down from the barn.
So, how long at room temperature? What signs will tell me that it's a good time to piece it? What temp should it age at ideally? Heeeeelllllllpppppppp!
I want a natural rind I think........and this is firm enough that I think brushing it will help it grow something nice. I put a bit of mycodore in the make because I wanted to have that as part of the rind make up.
Okay.....I'm yawning and you are probably tired of reading blue details too so I'll sign off and go wash some dishes.