If ever there was a cheese at cross-purposes, this is it. Develop blue mold on the inside, but only white mold on the outside. Maintain air space in the internal curd for blue development, yet keep a relatively smooth surface outside. Make it bluey, but make it gooey.
Age it enough to develop some blue character, but not so much that it ammoniates and liquefies.
This is my first attempt at balancing all the factors necessary to get a product that somewhat satisfies both sets of criteria. It might be a total failure, but hopefully we’ll have enough information to know what direction to head next time. Whatever it turns out to be, chances are it’ll be edible.
I borrowed heavily from Jim Wallace’s Camblu recipe on the NEC site, and tweaked it a bit toward getting a little more blue. Time will tell…
Ingredients3 gallons creamline milk
1 qt. heavy cream
4 or 5 cubes Flora Danica
45 drops rennet
¾ tsp 30% CaCl
Penicillium roqueforti1/8 rounded tsp
Penicillium candidum1/32 rounded tsp
Geotrichum candidum2% salt
ProcessHeat milk and cream to 90°F.
While heating add CaCl
When up to temperature, add Flora Danica. Let sit for 30 minutes, or until pH drops approx. 0.1
Add rennet. Floc time _12_minutes. X6 multiplier= _72_ until cut. (This was a little fast. I’ll cut rennet back to 40 drops next time).
Cut curds to ¾ to 1 inch. Rest 5 minutes and slowly stir for about 30 to 45 minutes. Curd should have some skin. Drain curd, but don’t let settle and clump. (pH at this point was 6.45).
Fill 4 molds (Reblochon approximately 1/3 full. Lightly sprinkle a little P. roqueforti on the curds in the molds. Keep away from the outsides.
Add more curd and sprinkle as above until out of curd. (I took about 45 minutes to complete filling the molds. There were 4 layers, with
P.candidum in 3 levels, about 1/32 tsp total between 4 cheeses at each level).
Place board over followers and use 1 ea. 3 pound weight centered between the 4 cheeses.
Flip cheeses every ½ hour to hour until bedtime. Keep at room temperature.
Day 2, unmold and salt 1 side of each cheese with 1% of its weight of salt. Put back in form with salt side up. After 8 to 12 hours, flip cheese and salt other sides with additional 1% of cheese weight in salt. Return to molds at room temperature.
Day 3 Unmold cheeses and place in drying room at 60°F, 60 to 75% humidity. Flip cheeses often.
Day 4 Move cheeses to 55°F, 85%RH. Perforate both sides of cheeses. Keep flipping often.
Day 6 Mix 100 grams non chlorinated water, 4 grams salt, GC and PC in a spray bottle. Let sit overnight refrigerated.
Day 7 Lightly mist each cheese with above mixture. Allow to dry slightly and return to cave.
Day 8 Repeat. Flip cheeses once or twice a day.
In 7 to 10 more days, when PC coat is fully bloomed, turn temperature down to 42 to 45°F. Maintain high humidity.
If holes close over at any time, re-perforate as needed. Cheese should be soft and ready at 30 to 45 days. Cheese can be wrapped and placed in regular refrigerator at this point.
NotespH at 9:00 PM was 5.5.
pH at 6:30 AM on day 2 was 4.93.
Cheeses averaged 563 grams. Salt for each side of each cheese is 56 grams.
Larry
4/4/15 Edited Day 4 humidity setting
