CheeseForum.org » Forum

CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => ADJUNCT - Blue Mold (Penicillium roqueforti) Ripened => Topic started by: zrim on January 08, 2010, 03:18:06 AM

Title: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: zrim on January 08, 2010, 03:18:06 AM
Hi Everyone,

I am making a blue cheese and I'm 7 days into aging it.  I was excited to look into my cave today and see blue mold all over the cheese.  It smelled like blue cheese too.  I went to my book and it said that in about 10 days I should see a white bloom.  What gives?

My cave is at 50F and 95% humidity.  These are the conditions that my recipe called for.

I've attached an image.
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: Gürkan Yeniçeri on January 08, 2010, 03:39:45 AM
Hi Zrim,

Don't know the answer to your question but you have an interesting little box with attached upside down bottle on it to keep the humidity at a level, I guess. Can you give some more info on that?
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: Sailor Con Queso on January 08, 2010, 04:44:55 AM
Blues should be blue, not white. ;D What kind of blue are you making?
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: zrim on January 08, 2010, 01:26:45 PM
GurkanYeniceri,

My cheese making just recently started when I realized that I wanted to start a geeky engineering project.  I figured that I could make an automatically controlled cheese cave for aging my cheeses.

In short, I have a microcontroller (miniature computer) monitoring the temp and humidity via two sensors inside of a mini fridge.  When the temp is too high the microcontroller turns the fridge on and eventually turns the fridge off when the temp is satisfactory.  The bottle that you see is actually the water resevoir for a travel humidifier. I use this humidifier to regulate the temperature inside of the cheese cave.

So far it is working great!  My temperature deviates only +/- 1 degree F and the relative humidity deviates about +/- 3%.  This has turned out to be really fun.  I'm thinking about tracking down another fridge and making another one so I can make more cheese.
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: zrim on January 08, 2010, 01:29:26 PM
Sailor Con Queso,

This is true, I have taken some solace in the fact that my blue cheese is blue.  I am making the straight up blue cheese from Ricki Carroll's cheese making book.  This is my first cheese so I feel like a new parent, worrying about it  :).
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: zrim on January 14, 2010, 12:07:33 AM
Update:  Now I see some white too.  Looking pretty good!
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: humble_servant7 on January 14, 2010, 12:43:28 AM
Update:  Now I see some white too.  Looking pretty good!

IS it me or does that cheese look a little TOO moldy?

Looks like thats penicillan covering the outer surface.

I've never seen blue cheese do that.
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: zrim on January 14, 2010, 12:45:44 AM
Uh oh! 

I hope not.  Is there a danger of having too much blue mold?

   Thanks,
   Z
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: Sailor Con Queso on January 14, 2010, 03:18:55 AM
The blue mold is very aggressive and will cover the cheese. Needs oxygen so be sure that you poke holes or you won't get much blue inside where it counts.

This is your FIRST cheese? Gutsy move. Looking good. Congratulations.
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: zrim on January 14, 2010, 03:29:24 AM
Sailor Con Queso,

Thanks for the tip.  I can see that my holes are starting to fill in.  How often would you recommend reopening the holes?

This is the first cheese, go for the gold, right?  ;D 

The biggest challenge will be not cutting into it for a few months!  I also have a farmhouse cheddar going so that will come of age a little sooner, tide me over.
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: FRANCOIS on January 14, 2010, 08:38:00 AM
It'll die down a bit.  Looks good.  Don't worry about the white, it's normal for many blue cheeses.  You want an aggressive growth to make sure you don't get yeast on the rind.
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: Alex on January 14, 2010, 09:59:34 AM
Zrim, you have to repierce the same holes as they start to fill in. To prevent blue on the outer surface, wash/rub it with salt, it's the blue's "enemy".
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: zrim on January 15, 2010, 02:26:57 AM
Do you guys think I need to wash the blue mold off of the surface or can I just wait and wash it off in the end?
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: Sailor Con Queso on January 15, 2010, 03:59:52 AM
Wait. It's still young.
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: zrim on February 27, 2010, 09:14:20 PM
So my wife and I broke into this (my first) cheese today.  I've attached some pics. 

She isn't a blue cheese lover but the mildness of this cheese (only 2 months old) may have begun her transformation.  She actually liked the blue flavor.  For me it was a bit mild but it was great to have made something that actually resembled cheese!  Edible and enjoyable.

Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: Brie on March 29, 2010, 01:34:16 AM
Wow--that looks great, congrats!
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: MarkShelton on March 29, 2010, 01:51:14 AM
Is that salmon with your cheese? That's a feast! ;D
It looks like a pretty thin wheel tho. I tend to make cheeses that are more like a cylinder or a drum, but if that's your preference, I can't judge.
Title: Re: zrim's First Blue Cheese - Blue vs White Mold & Digital Humidity Controller
Post by: zrim on March 29, 2010, 02:44:09 AM
Thanks guys!  It was pretty delicious but I'm going to try to go without scraping my next blue cheeses.  Frankly the scraping made it look kinda ugly.

This was my first cheese so I didn't have a proper mold.  I used a pasta strainer and that discus shape is what I ended up with.  I have another one in the cave that is more than a cylinder.  I'm looking forward to it because I feel like less of it will be surface area and more if it will be creamy insides.

Thanks for the feedback.