"Cheddared" Blue cheese made from water buffalo milk

[Aris]

By cheddaring the curds, I was able to achieve this kind of blue veining. I didn't salt the curds directly like you would in a cheddar cheese. I molded the milled curds then dry salted (3.5%) the cheese the next day. The flavor of the cheese reminds me of Danish blue and Stilton. It is sweet and savory.

[bansidhe]

Yum!  What is different in your make vs a Stilton?

[Aris]

This is entirely my recipe and very different. I stirred the curds for over 10 minutes at 96 f to expel whey, I cheddared the curds to get a firm texture which is similar to cooked chicken breast, I didn't salt the milled curds and I didn't bother "rubbing" it up which I think is pointless and just for aesthetics. The curd mass was milled into smaller than walnut size pieces then molded it to be dry salted the next day. The whey coming out of the cheese should be sour like yogurt before I dry salted it. From experience, the cheese needs to have a low pH/high acidity in order to have a crumbly interior which allow the blue mold to grow easily. I pierced this cheese after 4 days and wrapped it in aluminum foil after 36 days. This was aged for 73 days. The inner core and moldiest parts is like a Danish blue while the part near the rind is like Stilton. I can make a totally different blue cheese by piercing it after a month and not wrapping it in aluminum foil. This is the beauty of not being tied down by "recipes". I can do what I want. Next time I will try a blue cheese/white cheese combo. One half of the cheese is pierced and the other isn't. It would be like a white stilton and stilton in one cheese.

[mikekchar]

Thanks for the details.  I was wondering too. :-)  Even though it's nice not to be tied down to a recipe, as an outsider it's nice to know how you differed from something that is familiar.

[bansidhe]

That's so cool!  Thanks for the information.  :-)

[Aris]

This one is aged for an extra 22 days wrapped in aluminum foil and in my regular fridge. The flavor is like a matured Stilton. It is nutty and has a pretty strong piquant blue flavor. So far no ammonia flavor which is surprising for an old blue cheese. I still have another portion that is vacuum packed and will try it after a month. I think cheddaring it helped a lot in extending its shelf life.

[broombank]

I am very interested in your recipe as its very similar to one I did a month ago deliberately trying to make a hard cows milk blue cheese by following a cheddar recipe and encouraging a lower ph. I really wanted to disseminate the blue mould by making rally abnormally large holes in the cheese with a skewer. It remains to be seen whether this will work but the external surface is now very blue with a texture like blue suede, We will see..

[Aris]

Don't make large holes. It will make the internal of the cheese dry out quickly. I use a meat thermometer and the holes it makes is big enough to let oxygen in. My blue cheese doesn't have crazy blue veining like Queso de Valdeon or Queso Cabrales but it is still strong. If it had more blue veining, I won't probably enjoy it. With blue cheeses the internal openings matter way more than what is happening outside of the cheese. This blue cheese had very little blue mold growth on the outside.

[Aris]

This is a smaller cheese (900 g), 2 months old and also made from water buffalo milk. I did some modification with the recipe to improve upon it. Longer cheddaring time (every 40-60 minutes for over 4 hours), curd mass was left longer to acidify before milling and used Yogourmet Kefir which has strains similar to Flora Danica. The resulting cheese is significantly better. It is nutty, moderate blue flavor and the kefir gives it a buttery and cheddary flavor. It is not as moist as before and has a texture more like a really creamy mature cheddar.