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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => ADJUNCT - Blue Mold (Penicillium roqueforti) Ripened => Topic started by: TurChunkin on November 03, 2013, 08:13:51 PM
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Hey all, so I stumbled across some milk and decided to make a blue since I've had cultures in my freezer forever and had never tried it. It took off really quickly with blue molds and smelled amazing, but now the smell seems to have really died off. For some reason I thought I was supposed to be wiping away the exterior blue mold with salt water but I realized that was a nono...at least I think it was. It started out with some big cracks because I think my starting curds were a little too acidic. Anyways, what do people recommend I do to finish up this cheese? Keep flipping it? Stop wiping? Wrap in something? Here is an album of the most recent photos
http://imgur.com/a/LBHUV (http://imgur.com/a/LBHUV)
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I wish my Stilton's looked half that good. I have been having trouble getting mold to grow but I get good flavor.
I would just age it till it had the flavor that I liked. I would not go too long because of the cracks letting it dry out.
Pete
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Oh... well damn, thanks! Should I keep wiping the outside with salt water???
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I would because it is suppose to encourage mold growth.
Some one may be able to help you more with that. Pete
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Well, I'm worried about this cheese now :-[ the blue mold seems to have stopped growing and the strong, distinct blue cheese smell went away a few days ago. This morning it was covered in a thin layer of a whitish (but not quite camembert white) mold, and smelled.... mildewey. I washed it with salt water again and put a tiny bit of P. Roq culture in some water and mixed it up and repierced it with my thermometer dipping it in the culture water. I'm hoping this could help re-kickstart the blues. I took everything out and recleaned and sanitized it all, not sure what else to do aside from that.
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Well, I'm worried about this cheese now :-[ the blue mold seems to have stopped growing and the strong, distinct blue cheese smell went away a few days ago. This morning it was covered in a thin layer of a whitish (but not quite camembert white) mold, and smelled.... mildewey. I washed it with salt water again and put a tiny bit of P. Roq culture in some water and mixed it up and repierced it with my thermometer dipping it in the culture water. I'm hoping this could help re-kickstart the blues. I took everything out and recleaned and sanitized it all, not sure what else to do aside from that.
That's exactly what happens to all my blues , a white mold takes over , the blue still does well inside , but it goes soft and comes out more like a Blue/Brie , or even a Cambozola , they're quite nice actually , but when I'm making a Stilton , I want a Stilton , not something close.
I haven't figured out how to control it yet , but I suspect wiping it with a fairly salty brine may help , or maybe even rubbing with a small amount of fine salt , as the blue molds are supposed to favor salt , and the white molds not so much.
Keep us informed on how it responds , I'd like to know , I'm attempting another Stilton this weekend , and would like to get a handle on this.
Hopefully someone else with some experience in this will chime in.
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Thanks for the reply. I can only assume this is from bad sanitation practices on my part? Or maybe I should have let the blue take over the outside fully without wiping it away? Anyways I hope the delicious P.Roc smell returns and replaces this unusual mildew type smell. Is there a chance for it to be unsafe? I come from beer brewing where pathogens are impossible but I'm very inexperienced with cheese. I wish I took some updated photos before wiping this morning, but I will have some more to post in a couple days with an update.
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Just as a matter of interest, why is everyone suddenly washing Stiltons? Some other types of blues, yes, but Stilton?? Egads, let it go wild! ;)
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Just as a matter of interest, why is everyone suddenly washing Stiltons? Some other types of blues, yes, but Stilton?? Egads, let it go wild! ;)
I have been scraching my head and wondering the same question, why?why?why?why? ??? ??? ;)
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I make a lot of blue's and I never wash any of them except to keep up the humidity in my container or to encourage the growth of mold. Pete
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Just as a matter of interest, why is everyone suddenly washing Stiltons? Some other types of blues, yes, but Stilton?? Egads, let it go wild! ;)
I have been scraching my head and wondering the same question, why?why?why?why? ??? ??? ;)
Well , I'll tell ya why. ;)
Because they keep getting over run with wild white mold of some kind , and if left in that state , they ripen too quickly and become very soft with a mild flavor , very much like a Blue/Brie or a Cambozola , not bad , but not Stilton.
They get too soft and must be eaten , before they ever get a chance to develop that tangy Blue Cheddar flavor and crumbly texture.
I have yet never washed one , but nor have I successfully produced a proper Stilton because of the mold.
There you have it. ;D
Any suggestions as to what else to do would be appreciated.
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Well , I'll tell ya why. ;)
Because they keep getting over run with wild white mold of some kind , and if left in that state , they ripen too quickly and become very soft with a mild flavor , very much like a Blue/Brie or a Cambozola , not bad , but not Stilton.
They get too soft and must be eaten , before they ever get a chance to develop that tangy Blue Cheddar flavor and crumbly texture.
I have yet never washed one , but nor have I successfully produced a proper Stilton because of the mold.
There you have it. ;D
Any suggestions as to what else to do would be appreciated.
All of my Stiltons start out covered in white as this one (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,12061.0.html) has, then they change.
last one went orange, one before that, blue green and brown, each one has always been different but never runny :-\
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Well , I'll tell ya why. ;)
Because they keep getting over run with wild white mold of some kind , and if left in that state , they ripen too quickly and become very soft with a mild flavor , very much like a Blue/Brie or a Cambozola , not bad , but not Stilton.
They get too soft and must be eaten , before they ever get a chance to develop that tangy Blue Cheddar flavor and crumbly texture.
I have yet never washed one , but nor have I successfully produced a proper Stilton because of the mold.
There you have it. ;D
Any suggestions as to what else to do would be appreciated.
All of my Stiltons start out covered in white as this one ([url]http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,12061.0.html[/url]) has, then they change.
last one went orange, one before that, blue green and brown, each one has always been different but never runny :-\
Consider yourself lucky. ;D
Mine never get runny , but they do get soft , and never develop the tangy cheddar flavor.
They do go the same color as you mentioned , it may be that my old cave was too warm , the new one is spot on.
I am trying a Stilton again this weekend , will start a thread on it and we'll see what happens.
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Mine usually come out almost crumbly. some people might find that a defect but I like my cheese that way.
my problem is getting blue mold growth, I get the flavor but not very much blue mold. I have tried 2 different P.R dry cultures and a slurry.
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Yea, I think after reading the comments I know what caused my blue mold to go dormant. In the past I have kept my cheeses in my bottom fridge drawer on a certain temp setting, and with the lid closed and a little water in the bottom I sit right at 85% humidity and 50 f. I took everything out of the bottom to make room for two buckets of beer to cold crash, and moved the cheese up higher in the fridge in a tray wrapped in a plastic bag. So I think my humidity was too high and the temp was too low, and there wasn't any airflow in there, and the blue just stopped.
Pete fwiw when I made this I used a plain thermophilic culture and a rennet tablet, then drained and pressed my curds and didn't add the P. Roq culture until I salted and remixed everything (pebbling?). Then I just pressed it a day and pierced the next day and 2 days later it was going off, smelled delicious. Now it smells... not like blue cheese :/
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I also add my P.R. with the salt .I usually don't press or press very lightly
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And while we're on the subject of Stilton , if a cheese is to be legally called "Stilton" , it must be made in one of the three counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire,
Interestingly enough , the actual village of Stilton is not within one of those counties , so true Stilton cannot be made in the village it is named after.
The first known written reference to Stilton cheese is from 1722: "We pass'd Stilton, a town famous for cheese, which is call'd our English Parmesan, and is brought to table with the mites, or maggots round it, so thick, that they bring a spoon with them for you to eat the mites with, as you do the cheese."
I'll forgo the mites during my "Stilton" make this weekend. :P