Last week I lept into the breach with my first (intentional) blue cheese - a Stilton made with raw milk. I've attached a PDF copy of my make sheet along with the times and notes on the second page. Following this are some photos of various steps in the process.
The recipe was classic Caldwell with a little added Al Lewis. It went well but left me with a couple of concerns that will have to play out. First, the pH drop seemed to stall at about 4.96. I wanted to go down to 4.6-4.7 and might have been able to but the curd seemed to be drying out too fast. So, I cut the make short of the pH goal, milled the curd, added the salt and molded it. It knit well but the curds seemed excessively dry. I kept it in the mold for five days primarily to let the ends "blue up" with the sides staying essentially mold free for smoothing up at five days. Alas, the sides were too hard for this. I'll pierce it in a couple of weeks and probably use a long shaft 1/8-inch drill bit to create the holes. I am afraid that pushing a solid rod in might split the wheel. (When in doubt, whip out your 18v Ryobi and have at it, as we English say.)
More photos to come as this develops.
