I guess I failed at concentrating on Monterey Jack, because here I am posting on a blue cheese I made. This is my first attempt.
I followed Fankhauser’s recipe, more or less. I used mesophilic culture with a direct vat set at room temperature overnight. I got a firm curd set and cut into 1 inch cubes. When they had settled, I poured off the whey, inoculated with a store-bought gorgonzola, and packed the curds in a mold without weight. I flipped the cheese a few times and left it in the mold overnight. The next day I dabbed saturated brine with blue inoculum onto the outside of the cheese and let it sit at room temperature on a rack to dry a little. It was very delicate and crumbly.
That night I set it in my cheese cave at 50F
It took a week to first bloom and then was slowly covered with a green mold. I pierced it with a knitting needle once it was completely covered. White mold came a little later and covered the green. Now, that white mold has dried a little bit and is turning brown.
From reading everyone else’s posts on blues, I think this is going well.