Author Topic: Blue cheese draining problem  (Read 4043 times)

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Blue cheese draining problem
« Reply #15 on: August 27, 2015, 04:59:22 PM »
They typically smell pretty bad until they form a rind and develop the blue.  Once that happens you will find the smell changes to what you would expect from a blue.  If you think about what blue cheese actually smells like it's not very nice unless you like blue cheese. LOL
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sashap

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Re: Blue cheese draining problem
« Reply #16 on: August 28, 2015, 06:00:14 PM »
YES! I see blue! This morning there was none, now, after a long working day, every small indent is filled with the blue magic! It stinks a little, but I kinda... like it? It doesn't yet smell like the store bought blue, but I think it's not suppose to at this stage. Sooner or later the smell will evolve, I think.
I put it back in the "cave", 11-12 degrees Celsius, high humidity (around 95%, it's hard to keep it lower). I hope to have a success story to share soon.
Thanks for the help.
Alex.

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Blue cheese draining problem
« Reply #17 on: August 31, 2015, 06:47:30 PM »
Don't forget to take it out of the cave for an hour or two each day to develop that rind.  ;)
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John@PC

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Re: Blue cheese draining problem
« Reply #18 on: August 31, 2015, 09:40:48 PM »
Congratulations Alex P on the "recovery" and it will be interesting to track how this turns out.  I'm curious about what you're using for your cave because most of us have trouble keeping humidity high enough?

sashap

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Re: Blue cheese draining problem
« Reply #19 on: September 01, 2015, 04:55:46 PM »
I'm curious about what you're using for your cave because most of us have trouble keeping humidity high enough?

The answer is rather simple: our fridge doesn't have the "no frost" function (or whatever it's called), so the humidity rises inside. In the house it is pretty high too (about 70-80%) so I have no problem keeping it at 90+. The only problem is that when I close the lid, it rises to 99-100% and I suppose is too high. I've seen many posts about slurry and failures because of humidity excess. I poured some salt at the bottom of the tupperware to maintain 90% RH and so far it works.
The blue didn't evolve much in the fridge, I hope it will adapt to the new temperature (9-11 degrees celsius) and eventually it will strive. Yesterday I made a Blue d'Auvergne, learning from my previous mistakes. I hope it will be a success.

I'll keep you in the loop.
- Alex.

John@PC

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Re: Blue cheese draining problem
« Reply #20 on: September 02, 2015, 10:10:21 PM »
Good idea with the salt. But if you're RH is still too low you can switch to  potassium chloride (KCl) that has a higher equilibrium %RH for a saturated solution (85 vs 75% for NaCl).  A good thing about using salts to "buffer" relative humidity is you can let it dry out and reuse.  Also, aside from using for adding to milk to enhance curd formation Calcium Cloride (CaCl2) in it's solid form is an excellent desiccant (DampRid is one that's on the market).  It's also available in bulk de-icers if you want to lower %RH in your freezer.

sashap

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Re: Blue cheese draining problem
« Reply #21 on: September 03, 2015, 07:39:34 AM »
Hmm, good ideas, thanks! The salt does the job for now, but it's good to have a backup plan.
Yesterday I pierced the cheese and it tastes BLUE!!! Now I must resist the urge to cut it. It has to stay there for another month. It didn't develop much blue on the outside, but I felt some space inside when i pierced, so I hope there's enough space and oxygen for it do develop some blue veins. The rind is soft, due to high RH I think.

- Alex