Stilton to vacum pac or not?

[bgreen]

Hi i have a Stilton approximation that seems to be progressing nicely.... not sure as its the first!  Smells good and blue inside .... even tastes nice.  It was born about 10 weeks ago and i had to move it out of the fridge i had inside... due to family commenting about the smell... so its now in a small bar fridge temp controlled in the garage at around 12.5 degrees celsius. I have tried to increase the humidity but can only get to just over 70% RH so is it best to leave it there or vacuum pak it.  The rind is already quite hard.

Thanks for your advice
CHeers Bruce

[H-K-J]

When my Stiltons have aged 8 to 10 weeks I will vac bag them, if I don't have any in the cave to eat at the time I cut it up and vac bag in individual pieces if I am still eatin on one I bag the whole thing up and put it in the cave till I need it.

[Geodyne]

H-k-J, do you just keep them in the cave, vac-bagged and all? You don't store them in the normal, colder fridge?

[H-K-J]

I put them in the cave at 45 to 50 degrees so that they can still age for as long as it takes to eat them.
you can tell the difference each time you bring one out, if it takes me awhile to eat one the vacuum bag stops the blue and they build a sharper cheddar taste, I have let the blue go before and believe it or not the blue almost over powered my taste  

[bgreen]

Hi HKJ thanks for the advice... i will vac pak today.. for an xmas taste i think... cheers

[SpargePervert]

HJK, have you noticed any difference in how they age if they are cut up and vac packed vs vac packed whole?

[H-K-J]

HJK, have you noticed any difference in how they age if they are cut up and vac packed vs vac packed whole?

To tell you the truth, I have only bagged one whole, it only stayed that way for two weeks then it was cut up and re-bagged.
I still have half of that one and it will be enjoyed through the holidays,
as I said each piece we open has changed enough you can taste the difference between the previous and the new one.
I have lost a piece to the back of the fridge and when found, the blue being exposed to the air again had started to grow, it was very tasty
                                                Let no Stilton go uneaten