Author Topic: Stilton- blue contamination  (Read 2561 times)

beeman

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Stilton- blue contamination
« on: December 22, 2008, 07:53:50 PM »
New to cheese and this forum, just getting my ducks in a row.
Have an excellent cheese cave, using as my wine cellar, 51F and 71% humidity, almost constant year round.
Am planning to make Cheddar, Moz, Brie and Stilton, or at least attempt to make them :)
My question. I have read somewhere of blue cheese moulds contaminating other cheese stored in the cave? Is this correct? If so any suggestions as to how it can be prevented? I don't think my wife would like Brie/blue
 

Tea

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Re: Stilton- blue contamination
« Reply #1 on: December 22, 2008, 08:20:55 PM »
Hi Beeman and welcome to the forum.  Yes the blue mould is very contageous, and is usually kept in a completely different ripening environment to other cheese.  We however don't have the luxury of numerous caves to choose from, so we try to isolate the blue in a air tight container.  Any handling of this cheese is done last so as to minimise the chance of cross infection.
However a blue brie is apparently a delicacy, maybe your wife might grow to like it?  ;)

Offline Cartierusm

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Re: Stilton- blue contamination
« Reply #2 on: December 22, 2008, 08:55:10 PM »
As Tea said very contagious. Don't put it directly in your wine cellar rather put it in a cheap disposable tupperware container from the supermarket, like Glad. Then get a humidipak from these guys, you can all them up and have a 95% or 93% pack made up for about $5US. http://www.boveda-direct.com/index.cfm. If it were me, since the glad tupperware comes in 4 packs, I would transfer the cheese to a new sterlized container anytime I had to take it out and do stuff to it like scrap the top. Then wash the old container and store it for next time. If you think you touched the contianer and got mold on it just wipe it with a paper towel and some vinegar and you should be good.

Likesspace

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Re: Stilton- blue contamination
« Reply #3 on: January 03, 2009, 04:16:48 AM »
One more piece of advice on using the tupperware.....
Make sure you open it for a few minutes each day to allow fresh air to enter. I have heard some horror stories from other cheese makers about their Stiltons melting down from being in a tightly sealed container. I do have a dedicated fridge for my blues and simply set the cheese on a sushi mat with a container placed over the top. This way air can circulate around the cheese while still keeping it nice and moist. I also wet a paper towel and form it into a pyramid shape and place it under the container. I've never measured the humidity under the container but my blues do stay nice and moist throughout the aging process.
Hope this helps.

Dave

Offline Cartierusm

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Re: Stilton- blue contamination
« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2009, 04:45:20 AM »
Good to know, yes air circulation is a must, everyday for all cheese. I have my NON-mold cheeses in my wine cellar and it's air tight, not sure if I need to exchange air, but I do becasue I flip all my cheese everyday, no matter the age. They're all in the sam spot so why not.

Likesspace

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Re: Stilton- blue contamination
« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2009, 02:38:24 AM »
I do the same thing Cartier....Turn my cheeses every single day.
I don't know that it's necessary for the older, waxed cheeses but it certainly doesn't hurt anything. I also figure that the air exchange is good and besides....I sort of like looking in on my little cheeses each day.
For the blues, I think it's a must to open the wine fridge and allow new air in during the aging period. Especially so since my wine fridges are very small (16 bottle capacity).
As soon as we can afford it I hope to get a 50 bottle fridge with dual temperature and humidity controls. Then I can use the same fridge for both initial and long term aging.
I will always keep my blues seperate from the other cheese though.

Dave