Hindered advance in making blue cheese (softening, B. Linens, no marbling)

[lafux]

Hi to all again. I made a blue one few weeks ago. No particular recipe. This time literally zero pressure, only its own weight (about one kg). Formed nicely, loose structure, plump sound when knocked on, fissures visible, bumpy on the outside, till this moment wasn't rubbed up with knife like Stilton. Blue turned up about week and a half after make. It`s there, but still has space to develop and cover the whole cheese. It begins it`s third week and sits half covered in pantry at around 15 degrees C. Only alternative to that is regular fridge at 3-4 degrees. I tried and tried multiple times, everything goes well till this moment when blue appears. Actually few days after. When it spreads and covers the whole thing, my impression is that it dies off relatively quickly on the outside. It gets softish and I presume that internal crevices get clogged and blue has nowhere to go. I must add that I don`t have a culture that is normally suggested for this kind of cheese, like Flora Danica. Though mine - Sacco M 242 N - has the same bacteria type - LL, LC, LLD, and Leuconostoc. On the note, I am making some efforts to get Flora Danica so I could exclude culture as a culprit. And there is also the question of competition between blue and other bugs, namely B. linens and maybe some other stuff like it`s yeasty relatives, don`t now. Having read a lot on the forum it seems that it is normal thing for blue on the outside to get wrinkly, slowly change colour from blue, to greenish gray, then brown and than to die of after 5-7 days leaving relatively dry but somewhat tacky rind. I have no problems with that. In my case it almost never appears on the inside. Except here and there, mostly in the poked holes, but even there it changes colour like the rind, brown-gray. I poke them few days after the blue mold appears. Today I pierced this one and uncovered it a little bit more to breathe because I notice again orangy hue on the top and bottom mostly. I fear that another bugs, namely B. linens, or something similar will takeover again, soften the paste too much which will in return fill up internal fissures and disable blue growth. I want internal marbling and blue taste. When it comes to rind, maybe I should try rindless this time and scrape of everything and move the damn thing to the fridge? Because if I leave it in current conditions I fear it will be same scenario again. Though the pantry is quite dry I think that both air moisture and temperatures are still favorable for B. linens. Rind is still in its original state structurally, no wrinkles, but overall cheese is softer. What am I to do now in order to achieve prolonged life of blue mold so it could continue to live and marble the insides? I think it is too early to pack it in foil/paper and transfer it to fridge but if the orange continues to grow I will have no other choice. Could anyone suggest what steps could I take in this moment to achieve proper bluing? Last blue that I tried was a Stilton style - in the end with orangy crust, zero marbling, even where it was pierced, but tasted surprisingly blue, paste was softish and quite tasty with no prominent "linensy" smell. But it was not a blue cheese per se. It was kind of a hybrid that tasted good.

[broombank]

I sympathise with your struggles which are similar to my own. Blue's are so satisfying when they work but have a high risk of failure. I have a few comments - your 15C pantry seems too warm and too dry. For blues I think around 7C is optimal as a higher temperature leads to run way maturation and too much ammonia. 4C is too cold but better than 15. It will mature at 4C but more slowly. Put it in a ripening box and make sure you dry it out quite frequently to stop drops of condensation falling on the cheese. Making holes to let the rocquefortii develop internally is difficult as the holes always close up. I think the recommended 4mm is too small. I have recently used 6mm with more success. For a straight blue the recipe for Caslte Blue in Debra Amers-Boyes book ( 200 cheeses) is one I have had success with as it doesn't require puncturing. Using P. Rocquefortii seems to me much more successful than using a slurry made from blue cheese and milk. I hope these comments are some help to you, So far I have thrown out 1) a stilton which was ruined by too high a temperature and turned into a rotting  heap smelling of Ammonia ! 2) a castle blue matured at 14C rather than the 7C which is optimal - It went to a runny cream - tasty but hardly what I wanted - I used it in cooking !
Good luck !

[Aris]

B. linens is pretty hard to avoid in blue cheeses. I got them on my 2 recent blue cheeses because I was too lazy to age them in a bigger container. I actually like the flavor they give on my blue cheeses. As for your marbling issues, maybe your milled curds are too moist when you put them into the mold. Aim for a slightly dry curd next time. Yeah I agree with Broombank, 15 c is too warm and B. linens love that. Also make sure your cheese is elevated. Use a sushi mat or plastic cheese mat so the cheese dries evenly and doesn't get wet below which will encourage B. linens to grow.

[lafux]

Thanks for the response. As Broombank said: "I sympathise with your struggles which are similar to my own." This is exactly why I posted this particular post throwing in a cluster of issues which are, seemingly, so dependent on one another. One thing leads to another. I was, and still am sure that others face similar or even same issues when trying so hard to make and maintain a blue to the end. Different posts here show in word, in picture maybe even better, some of those issues - softening of the paste that clogs inner holes and causes the absence of blue veins, premature death of blue and cheese overtaken by red before blue could properly develop inside etc. I must add that obviously moisture control is one of the issues. In my case certainly is, but I am learning how to control it by utilising predraining phase. Before moulding a rectangular colander is lined with cloth, filled with curds and left for an hour to drain. Then they are milled in a pot by hand with 1 Tbsp of salt. Then they go back to colander to drain some more. Again milled and salted with another Tbsp of salt they are now left to mellow a little bit and to release some more whey. But at this point there isn`t really that much of it. Now all chunky and stronger, the curds go into mould without pressure followed by regular subsequent flipping. Never had problems with curds not knitting up. There is still some whey seeping out in the days after moulding, but that is expected. Or maybe I am wrong about that? Maybe I need to dry them even more? If I understood correctly, for semihard blue cheese with distinct bluing curds should be on the drier side when packed in form, but when combined, with the salt drawing out some more of the whey, the overall moisture is still enough for blue, but not so much for red. And also the air moisture and temperature requirements are little bit lower than for the ones that are to be populated with B. linens intentionally? There is also one very important question about culture used. The gas producing part, to be precise. Maybe this is the part of the answer? I am unsure whether the one that I use produces gas or not. Judging by the obvious, it doesn`t or not enough. In that regard I must find a meso culture that is recommended for blue cheese and stronger gas production, Flora Danica for example. Now, after few days of trying, I must admit defeat - it is impossible for me to find cultures here where I live, especially on a such a small scale, as a hobby/home cheesemaker. I will continue trying, but till then I have no other choice but to use what I have.     
Aris, I hear you when you say that B. linens gives a special and likeable note to flavour profile. It somehow makes the taste deeper, more cheesy and sophisticates somewhat aggressive blue aftertaste. I myself also welcome some some aroma contribution of Brevibacterium, as long as it doesen`t make the paste too soft, too strong on the nose and disable blue development. About moisture of the curds, you could (still) be right. Even though I dry out curd mass significantly with that predraining phase. The problem could lie in the deeper, internal water retention caused by mistakes made during stirring/cooking phase? Elevation is not a problem, cheese sits in an elevated position on a plastic mat so the air flows freely underneath.   
Here is what I will do with this one. I will wait for a few more days to see whether blue is advancing, stagnating or slowing. I will pierce it again with wooden skewer (5 mm), loosely pack it in greasy paper and than in tinfoil without rubbing it up with knife. Then transfer it to bottom of the fridge and continue observing.   

[Aris]

It would be better if you use a stainless steel skewer. It is very easy to sterilize. I use a meat thermometer to pierce my blue cheese. After piercing, I age it for 25-30 days in high humidity before I wrap it in aluminum foil. This will give the blue mold enough time to develop inside the cheese.