Author Topic: Blue #2  (Read 2293 times)

driekus

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Blue #2
« on: March 02, 2010, 01:49:22 AM »
Well I thought Id post some pictures of my second blue. It has been two weeks now since I made this cheese. I dispersed the blue mold prior to adding the rennet. This time around I used Vital Green dairy, an organic milk stocked at the Planet Organic food chain. It coagulated very quickly and the curds were very firm. I have salted the externals of this cheese twice now, but that hasnt really inhibited the mold growth on the external surfaces. It has picked up a nice mild blue cheese odour but still has a few more weeks until it becomes too pungent. :) This lot smell a hell of a lot stronger than my first batch of blue almost two months ago.
Is the quantity of mold too much? Would you try and control it a little?

Sailor Con Queso

  • Guest
Re: Blue #2
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2010, 02:30:27 AM »
Don't forget to poke holes so the blue inside can get oxygen.

driekus

  • Guest
Re: Blue #2
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2010, 02:38:49 AM »
Ive poked lots of holes in it using a poultry needle, once at one week and the second time just yesterday. They just dont appear to be too visible from this angle.

MarkShelton

  • Guest
Re: Blue #2
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2010, 05:37:51 AM »
I made a blue that the mold was much more prolific than that, and it was delicious! it turned out creamier than i was hoping for (instead of crumbly) but i think the needle i used was too small as the blue was not very veined on the inside. Overall it turned out to be a different style than I expected, but delicious anyways.

driekus

  • Guest
Re: Blue #2
« Reply #4 on: March 06, 2010, 05:36:30 PM »
Well its the two week mark now and the mold is prolific but it has stabilized. I think this a good sign personally. I opened my first blue which had far less prolific mold and now in hindsight I realised I messed it up. There was very little blue on the inside and outside of the cheese because I oversalted it. The cheese didnt even smell much. This time around the mold on the outside is 100 fold stronger and the cheeses have a strong blue cheese smell. One is stronger than the other as it has much more prolific mold growth. This cheese has a faint sulphur smell which had me concerned. My concern was alleviated when I opened the zip lock bag with a commercial gorgonzola and found the smell significantly stronger.
*fingers crossed*

driekus

  • Guest
Re: Blue #2
« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2010, 01:31:57 AM »
Definately a fair bit different to the first cheese. Can notice the sulfides, particularly smells like dimethylsulfide. It disapates pretty quickly after I open the container so am not too concerned. I came across this paper which describes blue cheese aroma as it ages.

driekus

  • Guest
Re: Blue #2
« Reply #6 on: April 02, 2010, 01:35:27 AM »
Well I decided to try the cheese after 6 weeks. The cheese smells musty but it is not as strong as other blues ive tasted. The taste was really bad though, sort of semi rancid tasting which was disappointing. When I cut the cheese I noticed that it was still white in the middle and no blue was marbled through the middle. The middle of the cheese was textured like feta, so a little dry and saltier than it should have been.
Any advice for my next blue? I have had two disappointments and feeling a little disheartened. Im tempted to try a Brie which develops a little quicker.

linuxboy

  • Guest
Re: Blue #2
« Reply #7 on: April 02, 2010, 01:42:18 AM »
Sounds like the salt killed the blue inside, whereas the extra oxygen and slightly less salt helped the blue on the outside to grow (the outer rind actually has less salt). Let me guess, as it kept aging, the blue on the outside didn't really grow that much? More like there was the initial bloom, and it stayed that way? If so, classic oversalting.

driekus

  • Guest
Re: Blue #2
« Reply #8 on: April 09, 2010, 01:07:31 AM »
Thanks for the advice, greatly appreciated. I tried a Cammembert on the weekend and salted it a lot less strongly. It is hard to get decent salting rates in recipes. They always use the term moderate/generous etc. Very hard for a newbie to grasp the right amount.