Gorgonzola inspired blue cheese made from Goat's milk

[Aris]

I made this cheese with the intent of making a high moisture, moderate blue flavor and sweet blue cheese similar to Gorgonzola Dolce and the resulting cheese was pretty close. I was expecting this to be a failure because when I opened it, it has a slight ammonia smell. Fortunately the ammonia smell didn't penetrate into the paste. I am very pleased with the blue veining, texture and flavor of the cheese. I emulated the ladling technique of Gorgonzola makers on youtube and luckily it worked for me. I hope I can recreate this cheese consistently. This cheese was pierced at day 3, washed in 3% brine then wrapped in regular aluminum foil at day 21 to disable the blue mold on the rind and to lock in moisture and opened at day 43. It has a moderate blue flavor and a subtle goat flavor. It is sweet, sharp, savory, moist and really creamy. This is easily one of the best blue cheeses I've ever made.

[paulabob]

Looks beautiful.  AC4U

[Aris]

Thanks! I still remember when you complemented me for the crappy blue cheese that I made almost a year ago. I improved a lot since then.

[paulabob]

Ha Ha!  I've only made the one blue - and I liked it, but came out picante and not dolce like the recipe.  Maybe I should try again. 

Whose recipe did you follow for that cheese?

[Aris]

I have my own recipes for blue cheese or any cheese for that matter because I use different ingredients, different milk, use diy and tofu molds and I love to experiment. I find it more rewarding to recreate famous cheeses using my own methods/recipe with some techniques copied from the original manufacturer.

[paulabob]

That's neat!  Must take quite a few tries and a lot of notetaking to zero in on what you want.  Beautiful cheese.

[Aris]

Taking notes helps but making cheese every week or two weeks helps a lot more. It gives me practice and experience, making cheese becomes kind of trivial and second nature. Its like cooking a meal, I just do it and don't obsess about the details.