My Royal Blues

[StuartDunstan]

Hi folks. I haven't done much cheesemaking recently, due to being so busy on the weekends looking for a house to buy. I've also been getting into some other fermentation projects, like making kimchi, pickles, kombucha, sourdough, homebrew beer, etc, and that has taken up a bit of my time too. But I decided to get back to the cheese this past weekend as it was the Queen's Birthday, which meant a long weekend, and it's just starting to ease into winter here, a time of year when I love to eat blue cheese. So I decided to make my second-ever batch of blue cheeses!

The recipe I followed is pretty much the same as last time: http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13051.msg100928.html#msg100928. Those ones turned out very gooey and creamy, and I wanted to try something a little firmer this time so that more blue could grow inside, so I didn't add the extra cream. And I also stirred the curd a little harder than last time in order to firm it up.

It all went well, as you can see. I used 6 litres of milk and got 4 medium and 2 small sized cheeses out of it. Last time I only got 4 cheeses, but I filled the hoops up more. This time, I thought I'd spread the curd out a little.

The cheeses have been brined and are now sitting in ripening containers in my wine fridge/cheese cave. Last time I wrapped the blues around the 4 week mark and put them in the normal fridge. But that resulted in a dark, grey rind from the mould dying. I'm thinking of not wrapping them this time and putting them in the normal fridge in ripening containers for the last 2 weeks so the rind stays blue. Any thoughts or advice on this? I wasn't really sure what to do with the rind last time -- it was totally edible and pleasant-tasting, just wasn't nice to look at. Perhaps I could scrape it back if it's firm enough. Anyway, I've got a few weeks to think about it!

[OzzieCheese]

Hi Stuart,

If they are anything like your first batch then I'm sure you will be well pleased.  I look your milk BTW.  Watching this one with interest !

-- Mal

[StuartDunstan]

So it's been about two and a half weeks since this batch was born and everything is going wonderfully. The first blue appeared on the rind of the cheeses around the 7 day mark, and I promptly pierced them all. A day later and they were covered in a gorgeous blue-green mat of mould.

At the 2 week mark I moved them from the cheese cave to the regular fridge. And because I had made such a large batch (4 regular size cheeses and 2 small), I decided to try something different with half of them. Last time I made soft blues, the blue mould on the rind really went to town on softening up the outside a little sooner than I would have liked. So this time, I grabbed a cloth and some brine and wiped down the outside of half of the batch, wiping away most of the blue mould. I don't know if this will slow the ripening on the rind, but it will be interesting to see what effect it does have, especially on the flavour of the rind. At the very least, I think it makes them look quite visually appealing. So if it works I may continue doing this for future batches.

I've also decided not to wrap the cheeses, but just leave them in their ripening boxes in the fridge. Only when they're ready and I want to transport them to a picnic or give them away will I wrap them. (I found the blue mould started to die off under the cheese wrap, turning sort of grey.)

First photo below is after a week. Second is the unwiped batch after 2 weeks. Third is the wiped batch after 2 weeks.
 

[StuartDunstan]

It's been a busy weekend, but found some time to slice open one of my Royal Birthday Blues and give it a go. They're 4 weeks old now, having been made on the Queen's Birthday holiday. As you can see from the photo, they're nice and soft around the outside with some firmness still in the middle. I think it's probably due to the softness of the cheese that there is not as much blue inside as I would have liked. But that's ok, because it really tastes amazing -- very creamy and delicate flavour, and the taste of the blue is nicely restrained too, despite the fact that it's all over the rind. Very happy with how these turned out, although next time I might make a smaller batch, as having 6 cheeses ripen at the same time is a little more than I can handle. Have already given away two and a third will be swapped for some smoked honey from a local producer.

[Kern]

Great looking cheese, Stuart, so I've added an electronic one for your fast growing collection.   

I noted in your recipe that you state regarding piercing "if possible store cheese on non-pierced side for entire maturation (holes 1cm apart).  turn cheese every 3 or 4 days until packed".  Excuse my North American denseness but the only way I can think to accomplish this is to only pierce from one side but don't poke the needle all the way through.  Yet your photo seems to show piercings coming from both sides.  What am I missing?   

[StuartDunstan]

Cheers, Kern! The recipe was actually written by the instructor of the cheesemaking course I did a year ago. In regard to the piercing, I followed the recipe pretty closely last time, but this time just decided to pierce from both sides. I also did two separate lots of piercing, when I believe in the recipe it just says to do it once.

There were a few other smaller variations too, but nothing major. And the cheese has turned out very similar to last time, although a little softer I think. Possibly due to less stirring of the curd.

[OzzieCheese]

They do look lovely.  I was looking with intent at the milk you have - would you know how far the Cooloola Milk is distributed ?  We are looking at moving to Caboolture in a couple of months and wondering what local milks were available.  Caboolture to Noosa is still a bit of a hike

-- Mal

[StuartDunstan]

Thanks Mal! Cooloola milk is distributed pretty widely around south east Queensland. I'm in Tarragindi, Brisbane, and it's stocked at my local deli. As far as I know, Cooloola and Maleny are probably the closest dairies to Caboolture, but you might want to check out this little guide to Queensland milk for more info: http://flavourcrusader.com/blog/2011/03/family-dairy-milk-organic/#qld

[Frodage1]

Nice gooey goodness, Stuart. AC4U