Stilton Style (First), Question

[shotski]

Very nice Al. Did you start with 6 Gallons of milk?

[Al Lewis]

Yes I did.  Make is here.

[H-K-J]

I think you will find that it will stand up on its own, just be tender and smooth the rind so it close's off the interior of the cheese.
when that is done place in an ageing container at about 60 degrees for 2 weeks
After that I will place mine in a environment (container and all, sealed) keep the interior of the container at 90 +/- % RH
It's going to get moldy, it's going to get blue and it's goin to get scary ;) make sure you flip and air daily
Just keep an eye on it (and a nose) if it smells weird ask, someone will help ^-^
after 3 or 4 weeks do the hokey pokey on it (poke with a skewer ;) ) and keep ageing till you want to cut or taste it
Have fun and try not to stress (yah right) :)

[AndreasMergner]

Andreas, it looks like we both used a slurry from an existing blue, this may be part of the reason I am guessing.

Might be.  I did a test run of the process by adding a slurry to my Quark I made and it blued up just fine.  It started smelling like blue before it "sprouted".  I don't really have that smell in mine yet.

[rolsen99]

Quick update / questions:

As you can see in the pics below, the cave is filling up  :).  In addition to what you see, there are two drying in the kitchen!

Question1:  You can see in my mini-environment for the Stilton-style, there is some condensation on the walls.  It isn't dripping, just looks like some condensation.  Should I be concerned with high humidity and maybe poke some holes in the container?  Or does this look good?

Question2:  How often should I be flipping it right now?

It has been in the cave, in it's container now for only one day.  It looks like the humidity may be helping it's slow progression of bluing.

Also, I acquired my piercing tools (see pic).  I think they were only like $6 USD....not bad!  One of the cheapest pieces of equipment amongst my many hobbies  ::)

[Al Lewis]

Based on mine I would say it's way too wet.  I keep mine in the cave at 85% RH and the first ones came out fine.  The latest one seems to be following suit.  The outside of mine is a tad bit tacky but that's it.

[rolsen99]

The outside of mine is a bit tacky, but not bad.  I can flip it, touching the sides, without creating a mess.  I wonder if it should come back out and air dry some more?  Without a container?  It went about 5 days in the mold, then 6 day no mold, but at room temp loosely covered by a container.  I thought I was suppose to cover it during this period to increase humidity?

[H-K-J]

Bring it out daily and air it for a half hour or so (I flipped mine every other day)
wipe out the container each day
pop the seal and let air get in while it is in your cave
It should start drying and growing the PR
wait till it is 4 to 5 weeks old before piercing
I have left mine in the container and the big problem can be to high RH, with the daily airing this will come down
my RH stayed around 87 to 93% at a temp of 50 to 55 deg. F

[rolsen99]

Bring it out daily and air it for a half hour or so (I flipped mine every other day)
wipe out the container each day
pop the seal and let air get in while it is in your cave
It should start drying and growing the PR
wait till it is 4 to 5 weeks old before piercing
I have left mine in the container and the big problem can be to high RH, with the daily airing this will come down
my RH stayed around 87 to 93% at a temp of 50 to 55 deg. F

That sounds like a great plan! 

[rolsen99]

UPDATE:

So, the blue isn't exactly going crazy, but a white mold has taken hold.  I may be wrong, but it sure smells like PC.  Should I take any action, or just let it go as planned?

[H-K-J]

It should be alright, it will start to change color's, browns, white's, grey's, blues
The one in this thread had a lot of white yet it kept changing colors.

[rolsen99]

Wow, that looks incredible.  Thanks as always!

[Al Lewis]

Don't sweat mold of any color.  I have plenty of white, blue, gray, tan, red.  It's all good and all goes toward forming a perfect rind.  The more the merrier!

[rolsen99]

Show offs!   :D. Wow!

[sofusryge]

Yeah, my Stilton is pretty much all whitish/brownish too at this stage