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GENERAL CHEESE MAKING BOARDS (Specific Cheese Making in Boards above) => EQUIPMENT - Aging Cheese, Everything Except Caves => Topic started by: Shalloy on June 12, 2013, 07:38:28 AM
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After nearly four months I wrapped my blues today and they were hard like hockey pucks. I only wiped the surface of them about 4 weeks ago and they were fine, still soft and moist. My humidity has sat around 85-90% the whole time.
I set a calendar reminder to wrap them up on the 22nd May but I let them go a bit longer. Could this be my problem? I had moisture in the maturation box and it all looked good up until now. Should I bin them? Any chance they will soften up now they are wrapped or have they dried out too much?
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Is there any chance you could try to get a core sample? That might tell you a few things.
-Boofer-
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What did you wrap them in?
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I wrapped them in the perforated foil that came with my cheese kit. I cant get a core sample as they are only 1/2 an inch thick. I only have 3 of them. Unless I stick a knife in and pull it out and see what the inside is like.
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I would sacrifice one and cut it in half to see what the story is. Cut a slice off and taste it. O0
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Silly question...why are they so thin?
-Boofer-
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Silly question...why are they so thin?
-Boofer-
Yes , that seems awful thin , perhaps that is the reason they are so hard , just too thin to hold moisture.
Just a guess.
Cheers , Jim.
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Well maybe not 1/2 an inch thick. Possibly more like 3/4 inch. Thats just the size they reduced to min the molds. They were slightly bigger but I lost a slight layer when I scraped of the mould.
It was only a small batch. I will sacrifice one and see how it looks.
Thanks.
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I've made some small blues but they've been at least >1" thick. Also I get very impatient and pull the consumption trigger early. I have a question for the oldies: is there an optimum ht. x width ratio for blues? I've seen tall and small, but since blues are the only cheese I know of that is pierced and also grows surface mold is there a good rule of thumb?
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The recipe at http://curd-nerd.com/soft-cheese-recipes/blue-cheese/ (http://curd-nerd.com/soft-cheese-recipes/blue-cheese/) recommends that you "Stack the cheeses on top of each other and ripen the cheeses at 95% humidity at 10 degrees Celsius"
Maybe this would keep them moister?