Stilton problem

[Littletent]

Hi! I made a Stilton about 6 weeks ago and it’s been in the cheese cave maturing. When I went to check on it two weeks ago it was wet and sticky and developing brown spots. I washed it in a salt and vinegar solution, dried it and put it back. When I checked it this morning it was wet and sticky and had the brown spots and crevices again. It doesn’t seem to smell any worse than a blue cheese should. Any ideas what this brownish, wet sticky coating is? I’m a new cheese maker and have no idea if this is normal or not! Thanks for your help, Mark J.

[bansidhe]

Hi, I am a new cheese maker also.  So, take what I say with a large grain of salt.

Perhaps there was too much moisture in your cheese when you placed it in the cave.  I would take it out, dry it off and let it air dry
for a day or more.  You can put some cheese cloth over it to keep out dust and things.  When it is dry to the touch put it back.

Perhaps the humidity in your cave is too high.  Do you know what it the RH is in your cave?

I am sure others will chime in and have more to offer.  Good Luck!

[mathewjones]

I'm having a similar experience with a stilton. My cave is ~55˚F, 85% RH, but inside the stilton's box the RH holds at about 95%, even with the lid off. This is because it started out very wet, and has just simply been giving off moisture for weeks (and gradually shrinking). I rubbed it down at about 4 weeks, pierced it around 7 weeks, and have been alternating a few days in the cave and a few days on the counter to try to dry the surface a bit more. When it's wet, it smells very ammonia-y, but when it's dry it smells pretty much like a blue should. The rind looks fricken revolting, with wrinkly mottled brown, orange and black patches. But I tested the paste yesterday and it was DELICIOUS! Not much blue veining, so I might pierce again and wait another week or so in the cave, but this cheese's days are definitely numbered! The make was based on Linuxboy's Stilton Approximation How-To.pdf elsewhere on this forum. I used 5 gallons of PH milk and the wheel currently weighs 4lbs 5 oz.

[Gregore]

My guess would also be dryer next time but I think also more salt . This would help control the other opportunistic molds your getting , it’s probably not to late to dry rub it with salt  and wipe off any moisture that the salt pulls out .

I know that if I’m going to error on the moisture it’s almost alway to wet not too dry , it’s a lot of work correcting a cheese that is too wet at salting , sometimes it feels like a runaway horse .

Gregore