June 25, 2011
I figured I'd take the leap and try my first Stilton-like cheese. I had a gallon of local raw milk and I just happened to have some leftover (Mmmm!
) Royal Blue Stilton to use as an innoculant.
Following linuxboy's "Stilton Approximation How-To", with slight variations, I proceeded with my make.
1 gallon Cozy Valley raw milk from "Cinnbad, the Jersey cow"
1/8 tsp Flora Danica
1inch x 2inch x 1/4inch piece of Royal Blue Stilton, pureed with distilled water
1/32 tsp dry calf rennet
5:20AM pH 6.80
Warmed milk to 86F
Added FD and puree, stirred in
8:22AM pH 6.45 @ 86F
Dissolved rennet in 1/4 cup cold, distilled water
Stirred into milk
8:39AM
flocculation @ 13 min
multiplier = 4
52 min until cut
9:27AM
Cut to 1 inch
Rested 15 min
9:33AM pH 6.40 @ 82F (yes, I know...temp control)
10:55AM pH 6.54 @ 89F
Drained off 1 gallon whey for whey-brine later on
11:00AM pH 6.46 @ 87F - curds after whey-drain
Covered pot of naked curds to rest for 6 hours.
1:00PM pH 5.50
4:00PM pH 5.15
5:00PM pH 5.10
Decided to process curds.
Added 2 tsp salt to curds as I milled them to smaller pieces.
Placed a needlepoint disk under the cam mold in the minicave.
Filled cam mold half-way up. Wait a minute...all this work and just this little bit of cheese?
Wait for it...
what was I thinking?
As I loaded the curds into the mold, I pressed down just a bit to try to gain a better knit.
I covered the cam mold with a needlepoint disk and let it drain for 15 min.
Flipped the mold and waited another 15 min.
Continued to flip and wait over the course of another hour.
I set the minicave aside at room temperature and flipped it twice a day for the next several days.
June 28:
Removed the mold.
Smoothed all surfaces, filling in the crevices, using the back of a spoon. Not bad. Maybe a little dry.
Placed small containers of water in minicave.
Put minicave into the cave @ 55F/87%RH.
June 29:
Flipped cheese.
June 30:
Flipped cheese. 52.8F/88%RH
Can't seem to get the RH up. The lid of the minicave is sealed with those small dishes of water inside.
So I wait.
I should have used a P. Roquerforti culture for this first effort, but again...
what was I thinking? Last night I bought 4 gallons of milk for a more focused effort with the fresh culture from Glengarry.
But for this one, I will carry it through and see what happens.
-Boofer-