In following some of the recipes for the "blue/green" family types of cheeses, I encountered the milling phase, which I don't fully understand. Once the curds drain (based on my trials) they begin to attach to one another forming the foundation of the cheese solid. Am I to understand that now I must break them up, crumble them, salt them and then place into the desired mold? Will they coagulate again to form a solid unit? I understand that they must have some spacing between each other so as to allow oxygen to encircle them for mould to flourish, but could this also be achieved by cooking them a bit longer so that they form a harder surface, and then just mold them once?
I just feel uncomfortable breaking up a nice curd knitting, which is essential to other cheese types, but since I am new to the blue/green types I am more than open to the views of experience.
Thanks