First Blue, 1 week old

[awakephd]

In addition to making my first Camembert-style cheese just over a week ago, I made a small blue 1 week ago today. It is a very small make, just 1 gallon; I mostly followed the 200 Easy Cheese Roquefert recipe, with a little bit of Caldwell thrown in.

Below are pictures showing a good start to the blue development, before and after piercing.

Question: keeping in mind how small this is ... about how long should I plan to age it?

[Stinky]

Lookin' good, take a cheese for your bravery!

[awakephd]

Thanks, Stinky! I was modifying my original post while you were looking at it -- a nice surprise to finish editing and see a response already!

[Stinky]

Well, I'm waiting around for my new topics to be posted, and saw this and dropped in.

[Danbo]

Age it until you simply can't resist it anymore + 14 days. ;-)

[LoftyNotions]

I cut and vac sealed my last 4+ pounder at 7 weeks, and it was plenty blue. I'll probably cut the one I have going now at 5 to 6 weeks.

Larry

[Frodage]

Age it until you simply can't resist it anymore + 14 days. ;-)

Danbo, you crack me up!

[Danbo]

 

[qdog1955]

Andy----looking real good---keep us posted---wish I had the courage to try blue
Qdog

[awakephd]

It is coming up on two weeks now ... very, very blue on the outside, and the smell is not entirely encouraging -- not so much a blue smell as just an off smell. No, not ammonia, I think -- but I have had a cold the past week, so nothing has smelled quite right ... I hope that's all that's going on.

I'll pierce it again tomorrow, and assuming I get a little paste protruding as a result, I'll see what it tastes like. I'll try to post a picture as well. I need to go get a trier (or apple corer or whatever) ... I'm dying to see what it looks like inside.

[Al Lewis]

Unless you have a nice rind developed, tomorrow may be way too soon to pierce it.

[awakephd]

Al, say more about that -- a nice rind in what sense? It does not have a rind in the sense that a tomme or such would have, but it certainly is about 60% covered in blue. Is that what you mean?

In any case, I went ahead and pierced again. I WILL post more pictures ... SOON! Really. I promise ...

[Al Lewis]

Rind on a Stilton is a complete covering of the cheese with various molds which have dried to form an outer shell.  It isn't particularly thick or as dense as those on hard cheeses but that is due to the fact that this is basically a soft cheese, no pressing.  It should be dry enough that you can run your hands over it without picking up any moisture.  It actually seals the cheese from any air, or other nasties, entering the body of the cheese.  The creameries in England wait 5 weeks for this to occur before piercing.  I'm not suggesting we should do the same as our smaller cheeses tend to develop quicker but you should wait until that "rind" is formed.  As for it's appearance, it can be a variety of colors dependent upon what molds have taken up residence on the cheeses surface.  B Linens are everywhere and usually get into the act at some point.  You know there will be blue in there and there's a good chance of some PC showing up if you've ever made brie, camembert, or any of the other soft ripened cheeses.  Here are a couple of pictures of my blues that have totally different colored rinds but were done with the same recipe.  Although their appearance is completely different they bot have the same attributes when it comes to protecting the cheese.  I've included a shot of the first cheese after cutting so you can see the edge of the cheese and the rind development.  Not as hard as a cheddar but a rind none the less.  You can also see the color differences created by which mold was more prevalent in the cheese. The first picked up more b linens then the second one has.  I had been making epoisses and tallegios  when I made the first one so the b linens were prevalent in my cave.  I had just washed out my cave with chlorine before making the second so they weren't there with the exception of those in the air everywhere.  I'll come back and put a picture up for comparison after I cut the second cheese.  BTW  If you have slight openings in the surface after smoothing the rind development with fill them in and smooth the surface for you.  The first cheese was never smoothed as the surface had dried out too soon for me to smooth it.  It still completely leveled the surface of the cheese filling in the small gaps that were present at the time.

[Danbo]

I wish that I'd made a blue like that. :-) AC4U!

[awakephd]

Beautiful cheese, Al!

BTW, I am not following a Stilton recipe ... so not sure I should be looking for that sort of rind ...