Blue- 23 October

[GBoyd]

I guess I failed at concentrating on Monterey Jack, because here I am posting on a blue cheese I made. This is my first attempt.

I followed Fankhauser's recipe, more or less. I used mesophilic culture with a direct vat set at room temperature overnight. I got a firm curd set and cut into 1 inch cubes. When they had settled, I poured off the whey, inoculated with a store-bought gorgonzola, and packed the curds in a mold without weight. I flipped the cheese a few times and left it in the mold overnight. The next day I dabbed saturated brine with blue inoculum onto the outside of the cheese and let it sit at room temperature on a rack to dry a little. It was very delicate and crumbly.

That night I set it in my cheese cave at 50F

It took a week to first bloom and then was slowly covered with a green mold. I pierced it with a knitting needle once it was completely covered. White mold came a little later and covered the green. Now, that white mold has dried a little bit and is turning brown.

From reading everyone else's posts on blues, I think this is going well.

[mtncheesemaker]

Lookin' good!
Pam

[justsocat]

GBoyd, how old is this cheese at the moment? Looks pretty :)

[GBoyd]

This is two and a half weeks.

It's hard to imagine waiting for another five weeks to try this one.

[DeejayDebi]

 :D Patience! It will be worth the wait!

[justsocat]

My first blue must be aged only 5 more days. But I'm not sure I'll stand this waiting for so long ;D

[DeejayDebi]

 :D You guys better not try romano or parnesan or even an age provalone!  ;)

[Sailor Con Queso]

I have one of my Parmesans flagged as "Ready" 21 months from now.

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

Cheesemaking makes you a good life planner  :D

[GBoyd]

Debi, I think that comment was a little bit mean-spirited.  ;)

Also, it's not nearly as hard with a waxed cheese. There's something about watching the mold grow and change day by day that makes me very impatient. Or it could just be that I'm craving a blue cheese at the moment. Either way, there wouldn't be as much of a problem with parmesan.

[DeejayDebi]

Ah I see so it's only the blues that get to you eh? I don't usually wax my cheeses but I do vacuum seal them so I can watch them.

[Likesspace]

Gboyd...
Does the interior of the cheese still have a softness to it?
If you press on the outside can you still feel some give?
I am amazed that you have such a dried and wrinkly rind in less than three weeks. Mine usually take well over a month to look like yours does.
Good luck on aging this one but if it begins to feel excessively hard I would probably crack it open and give it a taste.
I've eaten a few of my Stiltons in the month old range and the taste is very nice, just soft and creamy. Of course if you can wait until the 2 - 3 month mark the taste improves but with the smaller wheels (that most of us make) they can also become excessively dry if the humidity is not kept at the proper level.
Just some food for thought that is worth every single penny you paid for it. :)

Dave

[GBoyd]

Dave- that is something that has been a considerable concern for me in the past days. My cave is just a little bit too dry and with such a small cheese, I was worried that it would dry out completely. So, I wrapped it in foil today.

What's the consensus? Is that a bad idea?

[DeejayDebi]

If you are making very small cheeses you might consider little containers like the little Glad "disposable" plastic food containers. They fit the small 1 pound cheeses nicely and will keep them from drying. Make sure you open an edge of the boxes to let air in or open the boxes every day to let ait in.

Smaller cheeses are harder than bigger cheese to keep moist - they have so little to give up.