Author Topic: Blue 2  (Read 3477 times)

Offline Andrew Marshallsay

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Blue 2
« on: January 22, 2014, 09:29:32 AM »
My second blue cheese went into the aging space today. It was started five days ago.
I came up with the recipe using the web page "Achieving Custom Crafted Outcomes with Blue Cheese" on the Washington Cheese Guild's site. The idea for smoothing the cheese came from hoeklijn,'s recent post on this board.
So far, so good. Now to just sit back and see what happens. I was pretty pleased with the make - the curds looked like what I wanted - so I'm quite optimistic.
- Andrew

Offline Schnecken Slayer

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Re: Blue 2
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2014, 12:29:06 PM »
It looks like you will have some nice crevices for the blue to populate.
-Bill
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Offline Andrew Marshallsay

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Re: Blue 2
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2014, 06:52:11 AM »
I spiked this one yesterday, 10 days after the make. I'm not sure why the blue mould has not spread beyond the few nooks and crannies that it populated within the first few days. It may be that the humidity was a bit low. I've put it in a sealed container to try to correct that so I'll see what happens.
- Andrew

JeffHamm

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Re: Blue 2
« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2014, 07:11:21 AM »
Isn't that just the way?  Make a gouda, and you'll get blue mold coming out your ying yang, but, just try and make a stilton and there's not a volunteer in sight.  :)

Don't worry, it will grow once the humidity goes up, or you decide you don't want it to anymore.  It sure looks really good. 

- Jeff

Offline Andrew Marshallsay

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Re: Blue 2
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2014, 02:14:20 AM »
I'm not too worried. No 1 blue never grew blue mould on the outside and that tasted good (much better than it looked). As long as it grows some on the inside all will be well.
- Andrew

Offline Andrew Marshallsay

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Re: Blue 2
« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2014, 09:43:58 AM »
After 24 days at high humidity (about 90-95%) the blue still has not grown much more blue mould on the outside. It has grown some orange yellow slime which smells like B Linens. Not that I,m concerned about that. Blue number 1 did the same and that was very tasty. I would be interested to know why this has happened though and whether the onset of BL suppresses the blue mould.
It is interesting that I have never used BL but I suppose that shows how ubiquitous it is. Either that or I need to stop utting my dirty socks in the cheese fridge.
- Andrew

beechercreature

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Re: Blue 2
« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2014, 08:21:34 PM »
Here's a post I just read the other day, and I though of it when I saw your last photo:

High 80s means b linens will grow, but slowly. Other molds easily outcompete with it. when you're at 90-92%, the b linens and geotrichum go back and forth in the first 10 days, fighting for dominance. But at 85-88%, b linens will be slow and spotty, makes for a mottled kind of look.

Here's a good rule of thumb... in the mid to high 80s, yeasts, mycodore, and mycoderm can compete with molds. When you get to 90-95, they don't compete as well. When you get to 95, they can hardly compete with b linens and geo. When you get to 98, even geo can't compete well with b linens.

So that's why I usually will start at 85, and watch for growth. if b linens/geo balance is too slow, I move the wheels to a more humid part or put a box over some wheels to help the growth. If they are too fast, I'll let them slow down in a less humid part. This is for the first week. After that, a steady 85-88 RH makes for a good rind, and then brush back depending on how you want it to come out. More brushing = thinner rind because of less mold growth.


If I'm interpreting the info correctly, the high humidity you're keeping the cheese at is what let the b. linens take hold.

Matthewcraig

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Re: Blue 2
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2014, 09:14:17 PM »
When I made my first blue I had the humidity at 85-90 and if you are worried about there not being enough on the surface heat up 200ml of milk to 30c add 1/16 teaspoon of roqueforti to the milk then put it in a spray bottle (for watering plants) spray all over the cheese so it is slightly damp to the touch, if you don't use all the milk you can just freeze it and it should be fine for about 1 year.

Offline Andrew Marshallsay

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Re: Blue 2
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2014, 09:20:01 AM »
Thanks beecher and Matt. This is the sort of information that makes this forum worth its weight in ...  cheese.
- Andrew

Matthewcraig

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Re: Blue 2
« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2014, 11:31:21 AM »
No problem glad to help :)

Offline Andrew Marshallsay

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Re: Blue 2
« Reply #10 on: March 14, 2014, 10:58:34 AM »
Well, I just opened the blue at about 2 months.
As a nice, tasty cheese it is good, but as a blue it doesn't really measure up. There is only very patchy blue mould development. The BL (at least, that is what I think it is), has penetrated down the holes. While it has undoubtedly enhanced the flavour it also seems to have out-competed the PR.
I think that, maybe, I should have added more PR. It is hard to be sure about quantities as it is a home grown PR culture. The interior cavities are also smaller than I would have expected.
Not to worry. I have a good cheese to eat and some things to think about before I try Blue 3. It's all good!
- Andrew

John@PC

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Re: Blue 2
« Reply #11 on: March 14, 2014, 10:25:28 PM »
I always thought the home cheese-maker has more of a challenge because we (usually) like to make a variety of cheeses and we have a very small place to age them.  No doubt if you put your ear to the door of your cave in the middle of the night you will hear the various molds, mycodore and yeasts punching each other to gain dominance.  At least that's what I thought until I read your repost of Pav's note.  That is very useful information for me and for that find beechercreature deserves a cheese!  :)

andreark

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Re: Blue 2
« Reply #12 on: March 15, 2014, 03:26:11 PM »
I just read John's post about reading beecher's post about Pav's post. (Did that make sense?)  So I went back and read the Pav post about temps and mold etc. growth.

Wonderful info and a cheese to you all.

andreark

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Blue 2
« Reply #13 on: March 15, 2014, 03:38:34 PM »
I would say that your rind came out exactly like mine did.  The only thing I did see was that the cheese looked very wet in it's early stages. I did this with one and it pretty much did the same as yours in the middle which is to compress and eliminate all of those nice little internal crevices that the blue likes to grow in. I make sure to really wring the whey out of my curds now before cutting them up and salting them for the mold.  I believe the holes we put in are just to allow the air into those crevices between the curds.  That allows the PR to grow on the surfaces of the curds where they still haven't compressed together as is evidenced in yours.  Make sense because I'm still figuring this out too. LOL  BTW I'm convinced that the larger the cheese, with regards to stilton, the better chance of getting that blue to spread inside.  More crevices.
« Last Edit: March 15, 2014, 03:50:29 PM by Al Lewis »
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Offline H-K-J

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Re: Blue 2
« Reply #14 on: March 15, 2014, 09:08:42 PM »
I agree with Al, I hang my curds in a bag, let them drain till the whey stops dripping (or is very slow)
then press with 8 to 10 # for 8 to 12 hour's before breaking up the curd for salting and molding
( I have a new one made from raw milk in the bag as I type ;D)
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