Author Topic: Mary's Stilton #8 - ALMOST got it!  (Read 4187 times)

george

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Mary's Stilton #8 - ALMOST got it!
« on: August 02, 2012, 02:33:02 PM »
Sometime late last year or early this year, I swore off making blue cheeses.  I decided it was easier to just buy what I needed since I generally don't use that much myself.

As with all resolutions, that one didn't last long.

Made Stilton #8 on 5/15/12 with beautiful spring Jersey milk.  Determined to stop over-aging the blues (one of the reasons I'd sworn them off), I opened it at 6 weeks.  ALMOST perfect.  Probably should have tried it at 5 weeks, but this is the closest I've ever gotten, so I'm calling it a success.  (Like Boofer and a bunch of other people, I prefer my blues not to bite me back - sorry, HKJ!)   ;)

Anyway, again, no pictures of the make, but a couple of it opened up.  Basically just some gratuitous cheese porn.  Again.

Offline H-K-J

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Re: Mary's Stilton #8 - ALMOST got it!
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2012, 02:49:16 PM »
Quote
(Like Boofer and a bunch of other people, I prefer my blues not to bite me back - sorry, HKJ!)

that being said it is still a very nice looking cheese and I would have no problem helping you devour it.
a cheese to you for a beautiful effort  ;D 
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george

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Re: Mary's Stilton #8 - ALMOST got it!
« Reply #2 on: August 02, 2012, 02:59:17 PM »
Thank you, sir!  (For the cheese and the compliment both)

It's nice having the advantage of not having to wait as long for the aging on these - patience is definitely not my strong point.  I commend you on yours, waiting 90 and 120 days! 

JeffHamm

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Re: Mary's Stilton #8 - ALMOST got it!
« Reply #3 on: August 02, 2012, 06:00:08 PM »
Very nice looking blue!  A cheese to you.  I must try again once my lecturing is over.

- Jeff

Offline Boofer

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Re: Mary's Stilton #8 - ALMOST got it!
« Reply #4 on: August 03, 2012, 12:17:04 AM »
Boy, you save up all these cheese makes and then...shotgun...BAM!!  :D

Looks good, george. Lots of blue veining. Yeah, 5 weeks sounds pretty good.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

george

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Re: Mary's Stilton #8 - ALMOST got it!
« Reply #5 on: August 03, 2012, 10:06:58 AM »
Thanks, Jeff!  (And what are we lecturing on? - Caerphilly Extraordinaire?)   :)

Hah, Boofer, I always MEAN to post the makes when I do them, but apparently I'm too lazy to download the pics, sort them out, rename 'em, compress 'em, then rename 'em again and kill the old huge files.  But when I turn it into a morning's project, WELL then, that's easier!

I think I might need to do another one of these sooner than I though - realized I needed to start thinking about holiday present cheeses, and there are a couple of people that absolutely adore blues. 

Offline Boofer

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Re: Mary's Stilton #8 - ALMOST got it!
« Reply #6 on: August 03, 2012, 01:13:04 PM »
Yep, that's what I've been targeting...holiday gifts. Now's a great time to be starting and aging for that purpose.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

Offline H-K-J

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Re: Mary's Stilton #8 - ALMOST got it!
« Reply #7 on: August 03, 2012, 02:38:35 PM »
Me to Boofer :)
Will be starting a five gallon batch (I hope this weekend) if this works out I will be doing a few more just for the holidays ^-^ 
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T-Bird

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Re: Mary's Stilton #8 - ALMOST got it!
« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2012, 11:20:23 PM »
VERY nice! bet it was delicious! I am going to cut my next cheese at 8 instead of 9 wks. I also think mine are going just a tad too long. was yours a 1gal?

george

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Re: Mary's Stilton #8 - ALMOST got it!
« Reply #9 on: August 07, 2012, 11:23:00 AM »
Nope, it was a 2+ gallon - with the + being the extra cream (2 cups maybe?).

Offline H-K-J

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Re: Mary's Stilton #8 - ALMOST got it!
« Reply #10 on: August 07, 2012, 02:06:43 PM »
 george (MaryJ)
what was the size of your mold (diameter/height)Just curious  :)
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T-Bird

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Re: Mary's Stilton #8 - ALMOST got it!
« Reply #11 on: August 08, 2012, 01:04:04 AM »
It was hard to tell from the scale of the pics how big the whole cheese was. When did you pierce?

george

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Re: Mary's Stilton #8 - ALMOST got it!
« Reply #12 on: August 08, 2012, 01:17:23 PM »
HKJ, I used this mold:  http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/p/45-Hard-Cheese-Mold-Small-1.html

The curds pretty much filled it up (actually, I always have a few extra that I can't fit in there - I usually just toss them into a bowl, let 'em get all blue, then throw the bowl in the fridge for a while, stirring them up every once in a while, till they taste good.  Add sour cream, and VOILA!  Instant blue cheese dip!!)

T-Bird, I pierced a day or so shy of 3 weeks - I'd meant to do it at 2 weeks but I got distracted and forgot all about it.  And now that I've just typed that, I'm remembering that that's why I didn't open it till 6 weeks - I wanted it to have time for the piercing to do its work.  Had I remembered to pierce at 2 weeks, I would have opened it at 5 and it would have been perfect (not that it wasn't good anyway!).  Lesson learned for moi.   :)

T-Bird

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Re: Mary's Stilton #8 - ALMOST got it!
« Reply #13 on: August 13, 2012, 11:33:00 PM »
Looks very nice the way you did it! Like I said, I think I'm going to open my next cheese (this fall ) earlier than I have in the past. I think these smaller cheeses don't need to sit for the 12 weeks that we see in the Stilton videos or anywhere near it. I pierce at 4 -5 weeks, I may open at 7 now.