Ageing my blues? Any tips?

[Shalloy]

updated photo for my logs.  here it is now developing some nice blue within the gaps. this is the second lot I made so only 2.5 weeks old.

[Al Lewis]

Sit them out at room temp for about an hour a day and you will get a nice rind.

[Stinky]

It'll ripen a lot slower.

But Im assuming thats not a problem at all if they ripen slower?

It'll be hard to tell when they're ripe.

But not really a big problem, no. Per se.

[Shalloy]

I was able to move my salami shelf down enough to sit the containers of cheese on top so they are sitting at 13C whilst I ferment my beer. They are developing a nice blue exterior and I poked them again last night.

On the right is the first batch I made and on the left is the batch I made a week later. I tasted the cheese that came out with the skewer. The second lot are a lot firmer with more resistance from the skewer but the inside tasted nice and creamy. Not to dry on both of them.

There is still a nice fine mist of  condensation on the lids everyday so I'm assuming the humidity is okay.

[awakephd]

Yes, the fine mist on the lids is a good sign. You're well on your way to blue heaven!

[Shalloy]

Yesterday I opened my fridge to give my salami some air line I do every morning before going to work. But I forgot to close it again. When I got home from work that night the fridge was running flat out and the temperature was at 16C.  I took my blues out and two of them looked like they had sort of slumped in the middle.  Thus is the first batch I did where I mentioned they had felt spongy from day one.  It's like the centre has collapsed in pushing the outsides out.

Any ideas why thus has happened? 

Should I be worried?

[OzzieCheese]

I wouldn't be too worried as I mature my Blues at 12 Degrees C for 2-3 months. Just keep an eye on them over-ripening. just get them back down to your 10-12 degC and you should be fine.  Blue smells are going to increase from here on in anyway.  I wouldn't be too concerned - have a look how mine look as they ripen and I can attest that every single piece is edible
http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,14026.0.html

[Shalloy]

Well I'm not sure if these are going okay or not. 

The first batch is covered well with mould but today I turned them over and one of them had a wet surface like water had started seeping out. The rippled effect is what my first lot of blues looked like that I made a few years back but they were Completly covered with this ripple effect.  Is this skin slip perhaps? They are still very spongey like a sponge cake. It's as if they are hollow inside. Yet with this batch I actually pushed the curds down into the moulds to compress them and help them expel whey and firm up. 


The second lot although only a week younger have a lot of blue inside the cracks etc, but don't seem to be getting as much blue mould on the surface like the first lot did. And instead are developing a yellowish sort of colour.  They are sticky to touch so I assume the humidity is good and they haven't dried out.

Is this yellow geo? 

What are your thoughts?

[Gregore]

Though I have not. Seen anything like this happen before , am I seeing a creamy looking goo also on the bottom near the holes as well as moisture ?

Based on this,  if  I had to hazard a guess  I would say that some of the paste has become gooiey  enough to run out the holes

It might be a sign that it is ready to eat.   Do you have anything you can get a core sample with ?  A heavy walled straw might even work in a pinch .

[Shalloy]

I broke a tiny piece off near the edges and it was soft and gooey inside like camembert.  I thought that it needs to be firmer and harder? They are only 5 weeks old.

What would have caused it to go like this? Could it be the original problem where I used double the amount of rennet that's causing this?

Also what are your thoughts on the second batch with no blue mould?  Do they look okay?

[OzzieCheese]

@Shalloy,

Not being there is a bit difficult to diagnose.  But just from the images I would suggest the following.
1. if you are worried about them ripening to fast - cool them down and treat them like a camembert.
2. if you are worried about the soft stuff coming out, gently scrap it off, re-pierce to open up the air passages.
3. Drop your humidity and let them dry out a bit.

and if you are really, really worried - sacrifice one to the scientific process and cut one open and taste it - I think you'll be surprised

Can't say about the rennet but I think the thing here is if they are not emitting an 'Off' smell - and that's a subjective statement - I wouldn't panic !! You've seen some of mine and they look really gruesome but taste amazing. I  hope you kept notes because you may have just made a great cheese.

Keep on Truckin' 

-- Mal

[Gregore]

So I just went back and retread the start of this thread and these are the cheeses that had a lot of moisture in them when made , usually a cheese that is more moist will ripen faster than a dryer cheese .

 I think that the cheese that is leaking is at least ripe near the edges and may be ripe and creamy all the way to the center .

I just made my first blue and it was supposed to be a runny creamy blue  , I posted picks here recently

 I would do what mal suggested and cut the runny one open for a taste , if you cut straight across you can put the 2 halves back together  again if it needs more ripening

[Shalloy]

Tonight I checked them again and where I had broken a tiny piece off near the edge it had actually leaked out runny yellow goo into the bottom of the ageing container. 
Like a very ripe and warm camembert. And the cheese had collapsed even more on this side. 

So does this mean they are ripe and ready to eat?  I think I will put them in my house fridge at 4C and check them after the weekend.

It's our fifth anniversary so I'm taking Friday off work and taking the missus on a romantic weekend away to Yarrawonga so the blues will have to wait for now.

[Gregore]

Sounds done to me ,  cut it , taste it

Happy anniversary

[Al Lewis]

Blues, with the exception of cambozola, should not be runny.  You may want to cut your losses and start over.