First attempt at Gorgonzola Picante

[awakephd]

Inspired by LoftyNotions (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13844.0.html), I decided to try a Gorgonzola picante. I mostly followed the make on the New England Cheesemaking website (http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/pg/31-Gorgonzola-Classic-Picante.html) with a couple of variations:

Day 1 (evening):

2 gallons whole milk (P&H)
1/8 tsp CaCl (crystals, dissolved in ~3 Tbs. water)
1/8 tsp MA011
1/16 tsp MD089
1/32 tsp TA061
1/32 tsp P. Rocq. (PS strain)
1/4 tsp rennet

Warm milk; add cultures at 80°; warm to 88° and hold for 30 minutes to ripen
Add CaCl, wait 5 minutes
Add rennet, wait 60 minutes for firm set
Cut into 1/2" to 3/4" cubes. Rest 5-10 minutes
Stir, gently at first, for ~1 hour, maintaining 88°
Rest 10 minutes; drain through cheesecloth
Hang in cheescloth to drain overnight. Target pH = 4.6 - 4.8 (actual pH = 4.89 when the cheese was assembled)
Cut into 1" cubes; cover and set aside.

Day 2 (midday):

2 gallons whole milk (P&H)
1/8 tsp CaCl (crystals, dissolved in ~3 Tbs. water)
1/8+ tsp MA011
1/16+ tsp MD089
1/32+ tsp TA061
1/4 tsp rennet

note: almost the same as day 1, but slight increase in cultures and no PR

Warm milk; add cultures at 80°; warm to 88° and hold for 30 minutes to ripen
Add CaCl, wait 5 minutes
Add rennet, wait 60 minutes for firm set
Cut into 1/2" to 3/4" cubes. Rest 5-10 minutes
Stir intermittently, gently at first, for 1-2 hours, maintaining 88°  (actual = 1 hour); target pH = 5.9 (actual = 5.92)
Rest 10 minutes; drain through cheesecloth
Cut into 1/2" cubes

In large mold with no cheesecloth, assemble the cheese with the second-day curds on the bottom, sides, and top, and the first-day curds in the middle. I used approximately 1/4 of the curd on top and bottom and 1/2 on the sides. Lightly press (I used 4 lbs.) and flip regularly until the following evening; the cheese was well consolidated but still had many gaps in the structure. Begin salting to 4% (which worked out to 74 grams) over three days -- use 50% of the salt the first day, 30% the second day, and 20% the final day; each day, put half of the salt on the top; wait 12 hours, then flip and put the other half of the salt.

Pictures below show the process:

[awakephd]

First picture below: 10 days later, the sides have gotten quite blue, with some geo underneath. I must have done something wrong, since I thought the outside of Gorgonzola stayed mostly clear of blue. Interestingly, there is not a speck of blue on the top or bottom -- perhaps only adding salt to the top and bottom accounts for this.

Second picture below: I'm not sure I should have done this, but I decided to scrape much of the blue/geo off the sides -- wanting to avoid the gooey texture I got with my last (and only previous) blue, and also wanting to close up the holes a bit.

[Al Lewis]

Looking good Andy!!

[Stinky]

Yes, it does look quite nice! Keep it up.

[LoftyNotions]

Looking good, Andy. AC4U.

I wouldn't worry about the blue on the outside. My last one had quite a bit of blue and Geo.

It'll be interesting to see the blueing pattern with your cuboid milling. Should be a nice modernist blue. A Picasso, maybe...

Nice to see someone else giving this a go.

Larry

[Danbo]

I will follow this thread with great interest. The "Picante" is really nice! :-)

[awakephd]

Update - some pictures at four weeks old. I pierced it at 2 weeks, and again after taking these pictures. As you can see from the core sample, it has some decent blue veining inside; a nice creamy texture; and a pretty good taste. However, it was smelling pretty ammonia-ish, so I'm not sure if I should transfer it to the cold fridge -- ??

[LoftyNotions]

Nice, Andy. Are you storing it in a small container? I think that has contributed to ammonia smells on several of my moldy cheeses. Make sure you air it out for about 1/2 hour to an hour each day. This is at about 4 weeks? How much longer do you plan on aging before cutting it? Cooler temperatures wouldn't hurt.

Larry

[awakephd]

I was thinking I need at least two more weeks. Yes, it is in a ripening container, and I haven't been airing it out -- but I will start doing that. The cold fridge is rather full at the moment with a couple of bulky items, so it will be a couple of days before I can move it there.

[LoftyNotions]

Hey Andy,

Just airing it out should help a lot.

Take it out of the container while it airs.

https://www.health.ny.gov/.../amm...
New York State Department of Health
Anhydrous ammonia gas is lighter than air and will rise, so that generally it dissipates and does not settle in low-lying areas. However, in the presence of moisture (such as high relative humidity), the liquefied anhydrous ammonia gas forms vapors that are heavier than air.

Larry

[awakephd]

Okay, I've got it airing out as we speak. Err, type.

Based on your experience, would you say 6 weeks is about right for aging? My thought is, after that, to cut it into sections, vacuum bag, and store for further development. Good plan, or ??

[LoftyNotions]

That's exactly what I do with mine, Andy. Almost always at 6 to 7 weeks. They still develop really nice sharpness, even in the bag.

Larry

[awakephd]

I thought that was what I had read, either in your notes or somewhere else on the forum. Right -- two more weeks, and then bag it!

[Al Lewis]

I air my blues out for an hour a day and age them out for 7 weeks.  Things I learned from H-K-J.  That one is looking fantastic.  I can see a delicious tasting in your future. AC4U!!

[awakephd]

Thanks!