Author Topic: Duntov's Stilton #4  (Read 5450 times)

Duntov

  • Guest
Duntov's Stilton #4
« on: July 19, 2016, 08:30:23 PM »
My 4th attempt at a Stilton is derived from my best understanding and decoding of many videos and articles I have read about the genuine production of Stilton. I ponied up and got some raw milk but I didn't pasteurize it like they do in the UK.  No cream or Calcium Chloride was used.  In this recipe, the curds are cooked in their whey for quite long before draining.  After draining the settled curds had a bit of a dry skin on them that had me concerned.  But after milling and placing in the hoops, they knitted together just fine.  There are many air gaps in the mass unlike any other Stilton make I have done.  I also have shown my favorite rubbing up tool.

After I did this batch, Rob from Bangkok posted his recipe based on first hand knowledge from a Stilton worker.  His recipe has some striking similarities to mine especially in regards to cooking the curds.  Rob's post is here:  http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,15721.0.html

Ingredients:
    •   4 U.S. Gallons Raw Milk
    •   ½ Teaspoon Mesophile Type ll starter culture (Biena 75313)
    •   Pinch Mesophile Aroma Type B (Biena C64)
    •   ¼ Teaspoon liquid Penicillium Roqueforti PRB6 HYP 5D (Danisco) in ¼ cup purified water
    •   ½ Teaspoon single strength liquid animal rennet in ¼ cup purified water
    •   2 Tablespoons cheese salt

Steps:
  1.   Add milk to pot and slowly bring up temperature to 86° F (30° C).
  2.   Sprinkle in Mesophile Type ll and Mesophile Aroma Type B starter cultures, cover with lid and wait ten minutes.
  3.   Add Penicillium Roqueforti/water solution.
  4.   Stir well, cover with lid and let mature for 90 minutes holding at 86° F (30° C).
  5.   Add animal rennet, stir well, cover with lid and wait 3 hours undisturbed holding at 86° F (30° C).  (PH 6.65)
  6.   Cut curds into one-inch size and let rest for 90 minutes holding at 86° (30° C).  Do not stir.
  7.   Ladle curds into cheese cloth lined colander, cover with extra cheese cloth and let drain for 8 hours at room temperature.
  8.   Break up curd mass into thumb size pieces.
  9.   Add 1 tablespoon cheese salt, mix and wait 15 minutes.  Add final 1 tablespoon salt, mix well and let sit for another 15 minutes.
10.   Ladle curds into a 5-1/8” diameter x 11-3/4” open top and bottom mold.
11.   Flip mold once every hour for four hours, then once every 24 hours for five days at 60-65° F, 85% humidity.
12.   Rub up curd mass on day five.
13.   Place in cheese cave set at 85% humidity and 50-55° F (10-13° C).
14.   After four weeks in cave, pierce holes with about ¾” spacing.
15.   Age an additional three weeks or until the blue veining runs all the way through using a cheese tier.

PH Tracking:
6.76 starting with fresh raw milk.
6.61 after 3 hours of cultures maturing.
6.65 after 90 minutes of rennet being added.
6.43 after 90 minutes of curds being cut and resting in whey.
4.74 curd reading after curds have drained for 8 hours.
4.79 reading whey drainage on day two of flip.
4.69 reading whey drainage on final day 5 just before rubbing up.



carpentersbug

  • Guest
Re: Duntov's Stilton #4
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2016, 06:15:56 AM »
John,

I’ll try to explain  what I know/think, but there are gaps in my understanding of how / why some of the processes work.  I’m sure someone else can jump in and clarify.

The curds for Stilton need to be very dry when hooped.  If you look in the official Stilton video http://www.stiltoncheese.co.uk/making_stilton you can see the size is quite small.  I have also spoken to someone who used to make it in the UK in one of the factories and they told me it is cut to 12.5mm which seems to tie up with the official Stilton video.  I think 1 inch is too big for the reasons below.
The Stilton curds go through a particular process (nearly identical to crumbly Lancashire) where by you cut them, stir them once then leave them in the whey for a day.  The reason for this is that after about 8 hours in the whey they start to become very acidic and tighten up and matt tightly together.   They expel the whey inside and become quite hard.  There must be a name for it but I don’t know what it is.  If you look at white Stilton (Stilton with no blue in) it’s nearly the same as crumbly Lancashire.  Very acidic, dry and crumbly.

This is why you drain the drain the whey down to the level of the curds after 4 or 5 hours.  If you left all the whey in the curds without draining  they would tighten up as wanted but the pH level would drop too low.  If you take the whey out too soon they don’t tighten and are too wet.  By draining the whey to the level of the curds you are keeping them submerged and allowing them to tighten but you have removed a most of the food so the culture will stop producing acid at some point.  This allows you to get the tightness that you want at the acidity you need.  If you leave all the whey in it drops to about 4.3.  A 1 inch curd size doesn’t let the curds tighten up enough – there’s still a lot of whey in there at hooping.
After salting the curds expel more whey.  Let this drain out and dry off.  Get the curds as dry as you can without letting them turn a dark yellow.  You’ll see what I mean.  I normally leave them for a day in this stage, but that’s a whole vat of curds.  With a couple of kilos they’ll probably dry off a lot quicker.


The maturation process (again this is my understanding of it and it is limited) can be divided up into 3 main parts
1)   Maturation of the cheese body under normal circumstances
2)   Bluing with oxygen
3)   Bluing without oxygen

I’ll try to explain.  The process of the cheese maturing without any bluing is totally different and does different things to the cheese than with the blue.  Once the blue is in there the normal maturation process stops.  This is why you have a period of  5-7 weeks before the bluing starts.  It gives the body of cheese time to develop the normal cheese taste and a crumbly texture.  If you blue the cheese quickly the process of the bluing takes over at the expense of the body of the cheese.  So what happens is the cheese body has little taste as it hasn’t had time to develop / mature and you get a very creamy cheese (the process of bluing makes the cheese creamy) with a taste of the blue but not much else.  The longer you leave it before piercing the more crumbly the finished cheese will become and the body of the cheese develops it’s own taste which will combine with the blue taste later on.  I like the Bishop Cromwell Stilton which has a more crumbly texture than most of them and that is why I pierce the cheese quite late (7 weeks).

The third stage of bluing without oxygen – once you have enough bluing (you can check with a cheese iron, if you don’t have one cut a large pen or piece of pipe at about 25 degrees and use that) you need to seal it.  I don’t know why but if you don’t do this step the cheese doesn’t taste the same.  This needs about another 2-3 weeks.  At the start of this stage the blue in the cheese tastes quite bitter.  Be patient, it will come around.  The length of time it takes depends on the amount of blue in there.  Normally the more blue the more quickly it will turn.

I saw your one had some blue before you rubbed it.  Next time you need to catch it before the blue comes.  I used to get this problem which is why I keep it at 18C as opposed to official temperature of 20-25C.  I also tend to rub them after about 3, max 4 days in the hoop not 4-7 days (official time) as I worry about the blue coming quickly, which stops the (1) process and goes straight into (2).

What is the size of your hoop?  How high are the curds?  The reason this is important is that if you get the curds tight and dry as described above then put them in hoop that doesn’t stack curds very high the weight of the cheese above won’t compress them down enough and they can’t knit and are very hard to rub.  Under normal circumstances using the above procedure you need about 70-80cm of curd otherwise it all falls apart when you take the hoop off.  This is also why we use cheese cloth.  It helps it bind and makes the rubbing a lot easier.  If you aren’t piling the curd high like this you’ll need some weight to compress it, but not too much.  You need the openings in the cheese for the blue to take hold.

 There are a few issues that can occur at the piercing stage as the cheese gets quite messy so let me know before you do it and I’ll try to advise.  I hope this helps?

Frodage3

  • Guest
Re: Duntov's Stilton #4
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2016, 03:10:55 PM »
Very useful indeed!

Duntov

  • Guest
Re: Duntov's Stilton #4
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2016, 04:53:23 PM »
Thanks for the information Rob.  I am still a little puzzled.   The curds are moved to the cooling table that I thought was also a draining table.  I really need to make a trip to the U.K. and do a tour!

carpentersbug

  • Guest
Re: Duntov's Stilton #4
« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2016, 11:11:35 PM »
I'll check that, but basically you just drain the curds after 5 hours from when you put the culture in - but only down to the level of the curds.  Leave them in the whey overnight and they'll tighten right up.  Take out the whey the next day and let them drain.
Cut the blocks.

Mill
Salt
Wait
Hoop.

That's it really.

Frodage3

  • Guest
Re: Duntov's Stilton #4
« Reply #5 on: July 21, 2016, 02:13:21 AM »
Forgot to add the last cheese lover's step:
Mill
Salt
Wait
Hoop.
Whoopee!

carpentersbug

  • Guest
Re: Duntov's Stilton #4
« Reply #6 on: July 22, 2016, 06:12:57 AM »
Quote
Whoopee!

You have to wait another 12 weeks for that:)

Frodage3

  • Guest
Re: Duntov's Stilton #4
« Reply #7 on: July 22, 2016, 03:04:40 PM »
 ;D

Offline Boofer

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Lakewood, Washington
  • Posts: 5,015
  • Cheeses: 344
  • Contemplating cheese
Re: Duntov's Stilton #4
« Reply #8 on: July 23, 2016, 02:17:07 AM »
I’ll try to explain  what I know/think, but there are gaps in my understanding of how / why some of the processes work. 
Excellent addition to our understanding of Stilton creation. I have documented your post for my next Stiltonesque make. You clearly detail what we need to know to successfully make this cheese style. 8)

Thank you. Have a cheese for your guidance.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

carpentersbug

  • Guest
Re: Duntov's Stilton #4
« Reply #9 on: July 23, 2016, 04:02:50 AM »
Thanks Boofer.  I've read a lot of your posts over the years and picked up quite a few tips from you too...

Offline Fritz

  • Mature Cheese
  • ****
  • Location: Toronto
  • Posts: 316
  • Cheeses: 15
  • So many cheeses.... So little time...
Re: Duntov's Stilton #4
« Reply #10 on: July 24, 2016, 11:38:26 PM »
Ya' thanks John and Rob... good insight and take-aways. Appreciate you both sharing your experience.. Also documented for future reference :)

Happy cheesing
F

Duntov

  • Guest
Re: Duntov's Stilton #4
« Reply #11 on: July 26, 2016, 09:51:06 PM »
Here is a picture update of make #4 and also a side-by-side progress of the non-cooked curd #3 with the cooked curd #4 make.  It is apparent that the dryer cooked curds of #4 form a much smoother rind.  So far neither has formed any bad mold.  I am a bit excited that I did these batches just days apart.  It will be interesting to compare all aspects of development.

« Last Edit: August 10, 2016, 10:23:46 PM by Duntov »

Duntov

  • Guest
Re: Duntov's Stilton #4
« Reply #12 on: August 31, 2016, 09:12:22 AM »
Time for an update.  I am getting excited about this one.  The marbled blue growth is a direct result of the cooked curds in this make.  It is still young and not quite creamy enough.  The second photo shows the mold growth characteristics between cooked and non-cooked batches.


Offline Fritz

  • Mature Cheese
  • ****
  • Location: Toronto
  • Posts: 316
  • Cheeses: 15
  • So many cheeses.... So little time...
Re: Duntov's Stilton #4
« Reply #13 on: August 31, 2016, 10:53:05 AM »
Thanks for the update John... Those look great. If I were in a cheese shop, I'd probably would go for the cooked curd version. Looks health... Good job man.

F

Duntov

  • Guest
Re: Duntov's Stilton #4
« Reply #14 on: October 15, 2016, 02:20:02 PM »
Update:  It has been thirteen weeks now so I decided to cut it open.  I can say this is the closest to a real Stilton that I have made to date.  It is crumbly but not dry and is very smooth.  The sharpness is spot on.  Overall I am very satisfied!

As a note, I was going to bag this for the last few weeks but decided not to so it would replicate close to the known Stilton cheesemaking process.

« Last Edit: October 15, 2016, 02:29:36 PM by Duntov »