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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => ADJUNCT - Blue Mold (Penicillium roqueforti) Ripened => Topic started by: scubagirlwonder on October 30, 2012, 08:28:59 PM
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Just took my 4 day old Stilton-style blues out of their rings, filled in the nooks & crannies and smoothed to beautiful blue perfection! Now the hard part starts....WAITING!! Off to the cheese "cave" they go for a 90-day slumber to turn into moldy, creamy, ugly, tangy, yummy, cheesy goodness!
Here's a couple pics: One right out of the molds, and one after I started smoothing them out...
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NICE JOB!!! looks really nice ;D
are you not going to leave out at room temp for a few day's?
I usually leave them out for 5 days (in it's ageing container) at around 70 deg F
As they say to each his (or her) own, very nice smoothing job also, good luck on the waiting ;)
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They've been at room temp the last 5 days, do you usually leave yours at room temp after smoothing? Bet you see some beautiful mold form in that time! I use Pav's "Stilton" recipe and have had good success with molding the curds and leaving at room temp for 4-5 days (flipping a couple times each day), then removing from molds, and smoothing the surfaces, then into the cave....always good to hear other methods though!
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More than 4-5 days and you're starting to risk overly rapid yeast development on the surface and some runaway blue-based breakdown. Depends on the salt levels and pH, too. I find that it's very strain specific. I like to give it good life for the first 5 days and then chill it down and let the rest happen slowly. More nuanced and better flavor development that way. If you are going to elevate the temp and accelerate it, I would do 5 days at room temp, then move to 50F for 4 weeks, then to 60F for 3-4 weeks, then 45-50F for 1-2 weeks before eating.
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I do leave mine in the mold flipping x-amount of times for five days, take it out and smooth, place it in the ageing container then into a dark warm area for another 4 to 5 day's then off to the cool area (50-55F 90% RH) and age, it's worked so far but am always looking for other ideas :)
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H-K...so you leave yours out at room temp for 9-10 days altogether?
How much blue do you have showing when they go into the cave?
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I believe this (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=10033.0;attach=20415;image) is a pic of it the day I put it in the cave at the lower temp
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Very nice smoothening!
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scubagirlwonder, out of curiosity, what size are your mold's?
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scubagirlwonder, out of curiosity, what size are your mold's?
They are 6-inch diameter and 8-inches tall. With this recipe I almost need another mold (I can't go any larger in diameter simply due to the width of my cheese fridge....) because it yields a huge amount of curd compared to other cheeses I've made. :)
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Very nice smoothening!
Thank you very much! ;D
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Hi. I need to know more about this smoothing business! Do you do it as soon as it comes out of the hoop? How do you do it? Do you need to apply much pressure? Thanks. NV.
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Hi. I need to know more about this smoothing business! Do you do it as soon as it comes out of the hoop? How do you do it? Do you need to apply much pressure? Thanks. NV.
It's pretty easy! When you hoop your curds, reserve a few tablespoons of curd (I just put them in a ziplock in the fridge). That way, when you are ready to take your cheeses out of the hoops you have "spackle" to fill in all the nooks and crannies. I put on a pair of nitrile gloves and smush up a little of the curd between my fingers to get it soft and sticky and press it into the open spaces (it doesn't take much pressure). Once I've done that, I use a palette knife to smooth it all out (like frosting a cake). I've heard other people mention using a hot knife to smooth things out, but I've never tried it since my method works well for me. Hope this helps!
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wow. Never heard that before. Amazing! I'll give it a go!
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And someone else recommended using the back of a spoon....
-Boofer-
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And someone else recommended using the back of a spoon....
-Boofer-
It goes faster with the knife - more surface area on the knife edge to cover more territory than the rounded area of the back of the spoon. (Says the impatient one.)
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Hi. I need to know more about this smoothing business! Do you do it as soon as it comes out of the hoop? How do you do it? Do you need to apply much pressure? Thanks. NV.
It's pretty easy! When you hoop your curds, reserve a few tablespoons of curd (I just put them in a ziplock in the fridge). That way, when you are ready to take your cheeses out of the hoops you have "spackle" to fill in all the nooks and crannies. I put on a pair of nitrile gloves and smush up a little of the curd between my fingers to get it soft and sticky and press it into the open spaces (it doesn't take much pressure). Once I've done that, I use a palette knife to smooth it all out (like frosting a cake). I've heard other people mention using a hot knife to smooth things out, but I've never tried it since my method works well for me. Hope this helps!
Most excellent suggestion! Thank you!
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where can I find the recipe. I have been having a difficult time with my bc. It all turns out with a creamy soft texture of camembert. While its wonderful I would like something different. They tend to be heavy and only grow surface mold as opposed to veining. Yours looks wonderful!
Thanks
Tiffany
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This is a very good recipe, once used by a number of members of Cheeseforum.
http://www.wacheese.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71:stilton-approximation-howto&catid=38:bloomy-rind-and-blue&Itemid=58 (http://www.wacheese.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71:stilton-approximation-howto&catid=38:bloomy-rind-and-blue&Itemid=58)
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And here is the one I have been using. (http://cocker-spanial-hair-in-my-food.blogspot.com/2012/03/my-stilton-style-blue-cheese.html)
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Thanks fellas. decided to use H-K-J's recipe. just because I seen the pictures of how nice it turned out. I do have a different meso to use so some minor changes. Using CHN22.
also making it a 5 gallon batch. I used 5 gallons of our raw jersey milk, and added 11/2 qts of our cream. Probably didnt need to as we run about 30-40% cream on a gallon. will see if its just too much. Also didnt dilute the PR-PV over nite. so may have some slower action. I dont have a mold this size so DH is out right now getting a large PVC pipe to cut to a 6" mold. Hoping its big nuff. typically my blues are made in camembert size molds, and they ripen very fast and get very soft and gooie. Not bad, but would like something just a TAD firmer. also tend to be too heavy, sinking and not allowing air space for veining inside. so will drain much longer today. Hope I can get Most of it done early as I work 2nd shift. :o still need to attempt a nap. will be doing a large batch of Camemberts this week as well, preparing for Christmas. well thats all.. will keep you posted. Thanks again.
Tiffany
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This is a very good recipe, once used by a number of members of Cheeseforum.
[url]http://www.wacheese.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71:stilton-approximation-howto&catid=38:bloomy-rind-and-blue&Itemid=58[/url] ([url]http://www.wacheese.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71:stilton-approximation-howto&catid=38:bloomy-rind-and-blue&Itemid=58[/url])
That's the one I use, it makes delicious cheese!!!
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I used 5 gallons of our raw jersey milk, and added 11/2 qts of our cream.
This is too much cream. For jersey milk right now, you might need to take cream out. What are your components right now?
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thats what I was thinking as i added the extra cream. its too late now. :-X its done and in the mold. what will happen to the cheese if too much cream is added?
I had great curd and ALLOT of it. its in the mold now. just put it in. I usually DONT add extra cream to anything I do, but decided for once to follow the directions. HAHAHAHA.. so much for that. grin. Live and learn. I have 15 or so more gallons in there now, and another 6 will go in tonight. so I will try again.
Our last DHIA test was with 3 girls,
fat% was between 3.47-4.72
protein 3.10-3.93
lactose 4.85
this is all I get on my DHIA report. other than scc count, which is not needed for this.