My Castle Blue (#2)

[Boofer]

Ah, two gallons of sweet raw milk plus one pint of whipping cream combine to produce what I hope will be a delicate slice of my blue heaven. 

I encountered slow ripening with my last effort so this time I added some MM100 to the Flora Danica to speed up the process. The liquid PRB18 I am using has a 2011 date on it and it still appears quite viable.

The last time I did this, I cut into it after five weeks. That's somewhat of a benchmark for me so I'm targeting the middle to the third week in May for this to ripen.

-Boofer-

[Al Lewis]

Knit looks pretty tight.  Do you still get good veining?

[Dorchestercheese]

What are the difference you see between these two cultures?  Just speed of acid production?

[Boofer]

Knit looks pretty tight.  Do you still get good veining?

The blue development I have had with my Castle Blue #1 and Fourme d'Ambert cheeses has been low key, offering a nuance of blue character rather than a strong biting blue. That's the level I'm comfortable with and encourages me to fully enjoy the cheese until it's gone. You can see the limited piercing in this cheese make which also stems the bluing in the final product.

What are the difference you see between these two cultures?  Just speed of acid production?

The Flora Danica or Aroma B cultures are slow to propagate, IMHO, and thus produce acid more slowly than the MM100 culture. A more definitive clarification could no doubt be provided by Sailor (Ed) who has creamery and microbiological credentials.

-Boofer-

[GortKlaatu]

Hey Boofer
How did this turn out?
I've been thinking about making a Castle Blue.  I'm ready to make another Blue in the next day or so--all my other Blues have turned really well, so I've been torn between experimenting with this "bird in the bush" or sticking with the "one in my hand"

[Boofer]

Sorry...I just saw this.

The cheeses are long gone. They were very tasty.

Looking forward to tasting my upcoming Fourme d'Ambert #7.

-Boofer-

[GortKlaatu]

It seems that Fd'A is your favorite.
Due to the size of my "blue cave" I haven't made one of those since I would prefer to make it in the traditional "long and tall" shape.  I really can't handle anything larger than 2 gallon makes in my blue cave.
What size are yours? (or how many gallons do you use?)


Oops!  Nevermind...I just saw on your FdA post that it was a 3 gallon make.