How bad?

[bigfish_oz]

I have attached a picture of my first attempt at a Stilton. I used the recipe from an Australian book "Home Cheesemaking" by Neil and Carole Willman (see www.cheeselinks.com.au). It took a couple of days without drying enough, so I took it out of the hoop and dried it another day which was probably half a day too much. Blue coverage started on about the third day in the cave. I pierced the cheese on the seventh day.

I was so busy trying to ensure that I didn't contaminate my Camembert, that I think I transferred the white mould to the Stilton.

Anyway, I re-pierced the cheese to night and it felt quite soft. Is it possible that I'm getting a Camembert like liquefaction of the paste?

It certainly smells good and has a nice yellow colour to the paste with lots of interesting things happening on the rind.

Note that I followed Rick's advice and scraped the rind before the photo as there was a patch of mould that was starting to look a bit black.

Comments?

[Boofer]

How old is the cheese at this point?

-Boofer-

[bigfish_oz]

The cheese is coming up to 5 weeks (on Saturday). The photos actually look worse than it is. The black in the photo is actually blue (albeit dark) and it make sit look like there is a lot of white - there isn't. Before I scraped it, there was a small amount of red-brown as well.

But as I said, it really smells like a Stilton.

Cheers,
Alan

[wharris]

looks fantastic for a stilton.
(They all seem to look nasty)

I say open it!

[Sailor Con Queso]

Wait until it's 90 days old to cut it. You will be rewarded for your patience.

[wharris]

Wait until it's 90 days old to cut it. You will be rewarded for your patience.

I defer to Sailor.

[Boofer]

I hope you're right, Sailor. I've got one that wants to see 10 more days. Let's just see....

-Boofer-

[Tomer1]

You an apple corer to test the inside paste for veining and reveal the mystery.
Then you just slide the core back in and seal it up with the paste to prevent a large entry way for air.

[Sailor Con Queso]

With any cheese, there is a lot that goes on between 60 & 90 days. The bacteria die off and release their enzymes which contribute significantly to proteolysis and aging. This enzyme action helps develop a much more complex and multi-layered flavor. Some strains of blue mold are of course much more proteolytic than others. You can tell if the proteolysis is getting out of hand because the entire cheese will get much softer to the touch and a slight push with a finger will show little resistance. If that happens, the blue is ready much quicker. If the cheese is firm, let it go at least the full 90. I vac bag and sometimes age out to 120, but they rarely last that long. :)

[wharris]

I will further emphasize that I would defer to Sailor on this.
:D

[morfeo]

Wayne Harris why would you defer to salor?? ???

[wharris]

Sailor has a vast ocean of skill with respect to Stiltons. In comparison, I have a medium sized rain puddle of book knowledge.

[Aris]

To Sailor,
90 days really isn't a magic number for Stilton. Just because you age any Stilton to 90 days doesn't mean its automatically awesome tasting. Imo i dont like this generalization of aging time. You also have to consider the size of the cheese when it comes to aging. What if you made a 2 gallon batch? If you do age it to 90 days, its either going to dry out, ammoniate or both. Cropwell Bishop start grading their Stilton at 6 weeks to determine if its aging properly. They sell their Stilton between 8 to 11 weeks of age and their Stilton weighs 8 kg.  There is no magic number in aging imo, it really depends on the actions of the micro organisms, temperature and environment.

Like Tomer said use an apple corer to check for veining and the most important thing to do is eat some of it. If its up to your standard, cut it open and enjoy. If it tastes funky, aging it longer wont make it better.

[margaretsmall]

I made my first Stilton from Tim Smith's recipe on May 5th. As we planned to leave on a 3 month caravanning trip (Armidale, NSW-WA) on June 11th I sought advice from the forum about how to age it, as I felt I shouldn't expect our 19 year old housesitter to dutifully turn it for me. The excellent advice I received (and I'm sorry I can't find the thread, it's there somewhere) was I should bag it and put it in the ordinary refrigerator. Not having a vacuum gadget (yet! It's on my birthday list) I wrapped it tightly  in several layers of cling film and then alfoil, put it in the fridge, labelled it 'don't eat' and crossed my fingers. Now back from the trip and I opened it this morning. It is ugly! As you can see. But tastes good, and really ready to eat as it's quite soft. It's covered in multi-coloured moulds which you may not be able to see in the photo, including a brown one which can't be b linens even though it looks like it as I've never made anything with that.
(Not sure if the photos are here - have put them as attachments - my apologies if this isn't the way to do it).
Margaret