I think I broke it - Stilton quick question

[george]

Okay, so I was all proud of myself for getting my pictures organized and downloaded and started to post, and somewhere along the line I messed up with the pictures and now I can't even see that first thread.  Rather than re-type all my prior babbling, I'm going to skip straight to the current picture and ask the actual important question here in this thread - should I try to get rid of all these white fuzzies on my Stiltons? 

Thanks for the help - and please ignore the other thread even if you CAN see it.   

[george]

Oops - my sincerest apologies.  Was in a rush to get a cheddar started this morning, that's my lame excuse.  While I was waiting for some stage or other on it, I came back in and did, oh, an actual search looking for references to the white mold on Stiltons.  Found the answer (I think) - that it's to be expected and not to worry about it.  So I'll leave it alone unless someone tells me differently.  (I have not scraped or wiped either of the Stiltons at all, and don't intend to unless something really scary happens.)

Sheesh - how embarrassing - first actual cheese-related post and it turns out to be something I could bloody well have figured out for myself.  Sorry!!

On the other hand, I'm having lots of fun completely messing up this cheddar make.  Heh.

[9mmruger]

Mine had some white like your pix and it did not hurt the cheese at all.  Turned out excellent.  It grew on top of the tan colored rind.  I will post pix of the finished product in a couple of days.

[Cheese Head]

White mold is also fine, and your cheeses look great, however after this batch I would toss those bamboo mats as you can never get them clean and thus will harbour molds. If you Search on Bamboo you'll find lots of hits.

[george]

Thanks, Mr. Kim - that seems to be what's going on at this point - the white stuff appeared after the tan stuff did, so it threw me for just a little bit of a loop.  I suppose it makes sense, though, if the tan is actually die-back of the blue, then there'd be room for something else to take over.

John - yep, I'd forgotten to mention that about the mats.  Of course I'd been assuming that I could just scrub them a bit and then boil them for a while.  Will the boiling not kill the mold?  (But they look so PRETTY all blue like the cheese!)   

[Brie]

One of the reasons that I adore making Stilton is all the different molds that arrive on the surface. It goes from tan to white to gray--and they all meld together within a month and form the glorious crust that will become Stilton. Continue to turn them 2-3 times per week, and uncover them at least once per week for a half an hour to give them a chance to breathe. Do not scrape this cheese--you will lose the essence and interior qualities if you do. Good luck and keep us posted!

[george]

Note to self:  John is always right about bamboo mats, John is never wrong about bamboo mats.  (repeat three times)   

After the blue muenster escapade, I did scurry out to the craft store and get a bunch of those needlepoint-type mats.  Have also decided that from now on, I do only ONE moldy-type cheese at a time, till safely stored/vac'd away.  Heh.

Anyway, decided it was time to pierce these dudes - they are 4 and 3 weeks old now.  I don't recommended using a double-pointed knitting needle to pierce - gets a little painful when trying to push it into solid spots of the cheese!

They look a little messy 'cause I did end up pulling out little teensy weensy bits of cheese here and there - but they tasted fantastic!  I figure I'm only going to be able to wait another 4 weeks tops, before I crack open #1.  It'll be 8 weeks by then, so it'll be great, right?  Right?  Right?  Right!  (of course it will!)

(Brie, I didn't scrape at all, and obviously I waited all this time to pierce, too, based on Stilton advice here, including yours.  Basically just the ingredients were a la Ricki Carroll - methods were all from here.    )

[george]

I'm ready for my closeup, Mister DeMille ...

[george]

Me too, Mister DeMille ...

[9mmruger]

They certainly look wonderful.  Bet they will taste great too!

[MrsKK]

Lookin' good!

[Brie]

A beautiful stilton it is--congrats! Hold it for 3 months, cut and post again. Against all wants--do not cut before 3 months--you will be pleasantly rewarded.

[george]

Awwwwww ... now you've gone and busted my impatient bubble!  I was going to cheat and cut them at 60 days, then vac-bag 'em for another 30 (or at least part of them)!  But now that I think about it, the vac-bagging will take away all the oxygen for the blue, won't it?  Darn.   

I may have killed it anyway - I got sick again a couple of weeks ago and didn't open the container for air exchange for over a week.  Still smells good, though, so I'll take me chances.

[9mmruger]

You did not kill it, it will be a fine blue.  Patience.

[george]

Patience indeed ... which I ran out of.  I rationalized it by telling myself that I wanted them to be a little milder ... so I opened 'em.  Stilton #1 was 9 weeks, and Stilton #2 was 8 weeks.  As you can see, I need to work on my piercing skills a bit - guess I should have done a bit from the top as well.  Plus #2 cracked at some point, but it could only have been within a couple of days of when I cut them. 

They were both, though, absolutely AWESOME!  Surprisingly, the 8-week one was stronger than the 9-week one - perhaps because I had milled the curd smaller for that one?  In any event, definitely the best cheeses I've made to date (except for one heavenly garlic cheddar), came out exactly like what I was shooting for.

Honestly, I can't believe such incredibly yummy cheese actually came out of MY kitchen.  There's even a British lady (friend of my milkmaid) who liked it enough that she wants to BUY some.  Not sure I'll be able to beat these.  Ever.