Author Topic: I've got the blues...or the greens...or greys or something  (Read 2549 times)

dobster

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I've got the blues...or the greens...or greys or something
« on: November 09, 2014, 01:53:01 AM »
[Note - I posted the photos as replies. Couldn't upload with the original post for some reason...]

I tried making the "Castle Blue" recipe in the 200 Easy Cheeses book. I don't really have a question; but I'd welcome any observations and thoughts. I followed the directions almost exactly although I used MA4001 instead of what the book called for. In the early stages everything seemed to progress well, except I do believe I over-stirred the curds a little and there was some breakage.  After a few days I was seeing some blue growth and the cheeses smelled "blue" [1st photo].   

After piercing, in the week 2-3 range the blue patches turned darker green, almost black and didn't continue to spread.  Instead there was a greyish color "dusting" the entire cheese. It wasn't like a long-haired "poil de chat", just a greyish coloring everywhere [2nd photo].

I'm pretty careful about sanitization and haven't had any problems before with my bloomy semi-lactic goat cheeses. I always spray down my wine fridge with Star-San between makes. I did have some humidity issues in my boxes during the aging.  I was aiming for 90% but it would swing as low as 70% and sometimes the gauge pegged at 99% with some condensation on the sides and lid of my little aging box.  I wiped any condensation regularly and am fairly certain that nothing dripped on the cheeses.

As it aged, the blue/green turned even darker and the gray coating had maybe a hint of green to it.  The smell was odd...not really ammonia, but there was a hint of that. It's hard to describe the smell, but it was more like...feet. Not a good smell IMO.

I finally cut one of them open today (week 7).  [3rd photo]. The rind still has a hint of the "feet" smell, but it was more nutty smelling I suppose. Still a little off-putting.  The paste smells very nice. The flavor is definitely not your typical "blue" - it's more like a regular semi hard cow's milk - closer to a young gouda.  There's some fairly strong bitterness as well.  The texture of the paste is really lovely though.

After a few minutes being cut open, there is some orange-red coloring developing around the veins inside the cheese [photo 4]. That doesn't seem right.
« Last Edit: November 09, 2014, 02:02:35 AM by dobster »

dobster

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Re: I've got the blues...or the greens...or greys or something
« Reply #1 on: November 09, 2014, 01:53:58 AM »
Turning blue.

dobster

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Re: I've got the blues...or the greens...or greys or something
« Reply #2 on: November 09, 2014, 01:55:09 AM »
Turning darker green/black with gray dusting. (week 2-3)

dobster

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Re: I've got the blues...or the greens...or greys or something
« Reply #3 on: November 09, 2014, 01:59:11 AM »
A look inside...

dobster

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Re: I've got the blues...or the greens...or greys or something
« Reply #4 on: November 09, 2014, 02:01:45 AM »
Seeing red.

Offline H-K-J

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Re: I've got the blues...or the greens...or greys or something
« Reply #5 on: November 09, 2014, 05:15:57 PM »
Hi Dob, What was the RH and the temp kept at during ageing?
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John@PC

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Re: I've got the blues...or the greens...or greys or something
« Reply #6 on: November 10, 2014, 01:14:25 PM »
Looks like the progression I get with my blues, but I've got a "mixed cave" with a lot of red mold floating around in there from my washed-rind cheeses and even mini-caves sometimes don't prevent cross-contamination completely.  From your picture it looks like the "top" side got a little dose of corynebac from somewhere.  I want to try to see if I can do a better job of isolation for blues when I make them (any advice out there is welcome), but my experience is if red and blue mold get into a bar fight the red side will usually win  ;).

dobster

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Re: I've got the blues...or the greens...or greys or something
« Reply #7 on: November 24, 2014, 10:37:57 PM »
H-K-J  - The temp was a pretty consistent 50F (with some swings of a couple of degrees) and as I mentioned before the RH swung wildly until I could get it dialed in better.  I aimed for 90 but it did swing as low as 70 and as high as 99 (probably more but that's where the meter stopped). I'm pretty certain no condensation dripped on the actual cheese.

I do have an update.  After placing those cut up pieces in a plastic baggy in the fridge, the blue bloomed again (after oxygen exposure I suppose)...I can smell it (the PR), but was a little scared to eat any as I was worried about the red that appeared.

Offline H-K-J

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Re: I've got the blues...or the greens...or greys or something
« Reply #8 on: November 24, 2014, 11:39:52 PM »
I don't know about that red mold :o
someone else may know more about it.
Never hit a man with glasses, use a baseball bat!
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