My first blue a Stilton type.

[bratrules1]

This is my first shot at making a blue. I decide on using the caldwell method in her book for a Stilton type. I was running a experiment with some homegrown p.roqueforti that i grew on a piece of homemade sourdough rye. Here are a few pics from process BTW this is a 4 litter cheese using skim ( store bought crap milk) and heavy cream. Everything in went smoothly and I got great curd. Now the cheese is 13 days old and I decided to pierce it today. But in the days before that I started getting some ammonia smell coming from it so knocked back on the RH% and I started to leave out of the cave for a hour or so each day. But I think I drop the RH% to much since I started to develop some cracks and today when I pierced it I got a nice size crack on the rind as you can see in the last pic. Should I be worried about that? Is there anyway I can fix it? ( maybe patch it up with some store bought blue? ) 

[Al Lewis]

The ammonia smell is normal and will subside with time.  Did you "rub " this cheese down?  It shouldn't have those cracks in it.  Shows the exterior is way too dry.

[bratrules1]

Yes I did smooth it out. I figured my humidity got way to low. I added a moist towel inside my ripening box. Do you think those cracks will heal? This happened when I got paranoid over the ammonia smell. I have a small computer fan in my cave that I use to air it out every once in awhile. I must left it on to long.

[Al Lewis]

Not sure if, or how, you can heal those cracks now but, at worst, they will simply allow another rind to form inside of the cheese rather like making two cheese at the same time.  When I make these, and all others, I keep my cave at 85% RH and 54° F.  I take my Stiltons out for an hour a day to air out.  I learned that trick from H-K-J the master of blues.  The ammonia smell will subside and you will eventually get a great sweet smell of blue cheese.  Also, not sure what mold you used but try to use one that is higher than wide.  I'm having trouble getting the cheese to come out that way regardless of the molds I buy but that's how they make them in England.  I suspect it's because they pierce them from the sides and want the air to get to the center of the cheeses.  My most recent one is the closest I've come so far.  I used the molds in this thread.

[bratrules1]

The mold I used is tall and narrow. Well since this is my first blue I didn't what to expect hopefully everything will work out at the end. Now I know no to be afraid of the ammonia smell BTW the smell already subsided. At least for the next one the whole process will be much less stressful. Thanks for all the info. Am going to keep my RH% high and take it from there. If anybody has anymore info I would greatly appreciate it.

[John@PC]

I think Al is right in that the cracks won't "heal" but the cheese will turn out ok. Blues seem to be the most forgiving of any I've done, which I'm assuming is because of how dominate P.roqueforti is in the mold kingdom (allthough the red mold seems to give a run for the money )  I try to keep my blues at 90% RH, and use a tall mold as well.  That way you can wire cut a "disk" off the end and just put the rest cheese back in the 90% environment without the surface of the paste drying out. 

[bratrules1]

Well at least its reassuring to hear that the cheese will come out ok  . I tasted the paste when I was piercing it and it tasted very good. I hope it stays that way. Anyway ill keep posting pics as time progresses.

[bratrules1]

Here is a pic at the 3 week mark. The humidity is a lot better. There's no more cracks on it and it smells great. Hopefully its got some blue growing inside.

[bratrules1]

OK here I am at 4 weeks. How much longer should I age it for? Again this is a 4.5 liter cheese. I was think going for 7 weeks but I would appreciate some opinions here.

[Al Lewis]

I usually go for 7 weeks but on the smaller cheeses I'm not sure you benefit that much more.  I would say 6 weeks at least for a smaller cheese but that's just my opinion.

[bratrules1]

I usually go for 7 weeks but on the smaller cheeses I'm not sure you benefit that much more.  I would say 6 weeks at least for a smaller cheese but that's just my opinion.

Yeah I was thinking the same. Thanks. Now let's hope some blue is growing in there. As far as I can tell from the holes I made I can't see anything.

[Al Lewis]

Just cut mine after 6 weeks.  You can see the results here.   

[bratrules1]

Just cut mine after 6 weeks.  You can see the results here.

wow that looks great!!! I hope mine looks like that or half that good lol. I used a home grown p.roqueforti so let's see what happens. This is a experiment thats the reason I made a small one. But am hoping for the best.

[bratrules1]

So I decided to cut in to the blue today. And here is what I got. The flavor is OK but to young I wrapped in foil and stuck it in my regular fridge and am going to age for awhile. Also the rind has a really off flavor kind of like dirty mop water smells like. Lol I think its cause of to much humidity early on. Am going make a few changes for my next make. But overall it taste good. Some more aging will help the flavor out.

[LoftyNotions]

Good job, brat. You don't always have to eat the rind.

AC4U

Larry