Blue cheese rind or how to care for a blue

[Dorchestercheese]

HI-
So making blue cheese seems to escape me.

I've made a few times from pasteurized milk adding 2tbs of salt to two gallon make of cheese after draining off the whey

Then i let it sit at room temp for a few days (4-5) and salted the exterior for the first two days

On day 5 I put into a container lid ajar and popped it into my cheese 'cave'  at 50F and 85-90%humidity (i believe it more humid in the box).  The towel on top is rather wet.

Blue was forming on the surface growing along as usual

Day 7-8 I saw whey coming of the cheese so I decided to sprinkle a little salt on the cheese and the blue stopped

Day 9 - I poked it...

Air it out most days for an hour

So Not sure why it stopped growing blue I guess it was the salt...curious if the blue is still growing inside..

I did several things different this time
1. Use Raw milk (don't think i will ever used pasteurized again)
2. I sprinkled the culture on the milk (previously I started the culture the night before in little jars)
3. I was much more gentle in my stirring
4. I re-hydrate the R. Mold. and stirred it in

[Schnecken Slayer]

From your pictures it looks like it is too dry.

[Al Lewis]

Not sure if it will help but here is a thread I did a while back on an easy way to make a blue.  You can reduce the recipe for whatever size you need but the entire thing is pretty bulletproof if you follow it.  http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,15147.0.html  Your rind doesn't look bad but you should not have salted it.  Also, the blues sometimes go away on the rind in favor of reds and yellows.

[Duntov]

It sounds like you may have been over salting it that drew out excessive whey and stopped the blue growth.

[Dorchestercheese]

thanks I'll keep trying

[Gregore]

I do not see enough or at least large enough holes in the cheese for the inner blue to grow , it will not grow with out oxygen .

It can not hurt to go,ahead and re pierce it again . Try to taste some of the curd that comes out when you pull out the piercing rod . If it is very salty , then that could be an issue .

If it ends up way too salty but still a blue flavor , maybe keep it for making salad dressing or some such sauce type thing .

Other wise I think the cheese looks fine

[awakephd]

I'm with John on  this - 2 Tbs of salt for a 2 gallon make is rather high already. Adding more salt on the outside is overkill - sounds like it was literally overkill!

For a Stilton-type make, salt the curds before putting in the press; no further salt needed. For a Gorgonzola type make, no salt is added to the curds, but after a few days of flipping in the mold - i.e., when the cheese holds its shape - salt is added to the exterior, in stages, over the next two or three days.

[Dorchestercheese]

I agree and it taste like licking a salt block.  I'm going to try a different recipe.

[awakephd]

I agree and it taste like licking a salt block.  I'm going to try a different recipe.