First attempt at Gorgonzola Picante

[awakephd]

Six-week update: I decided to cut this into 8ths and bag up all but one for further development. Taste is okay -- not as sharp as I would like; hopefully that will develop with additional time.

[LoftyNotions]

Beautiful result, Andy. AC4U.

Don't worry about the sharpness. It'll still develop well in the bag. You'll really see the difference if you make another one soon and unbag one of these when you cut your second one.

Larry

[Kern]

Dr. Awake, your prowess as a cheese maker never ceases to amaze me!  AC4U, my friend.   

[Al Lewis]

They don't get any better than that Andy!!  AC4U for excellence!!

[OzzieCheese]

Hey Andy... Lookin good from this side of the Pacific.  I now have 2 blue sucesses under my belt and the thing I find wonderful is that they really do seem to look after themselves and once you get over the really gross looking rind - which tastes wonderful BTW - it transports one to very happy place.  the Blues Brothers ride again.. 

-- Mal

[awakephd]

Thanks all for the cheeses and the encouragement.

I forgot to ask a question -- I was tired and rushed when I posted the pictures -- any thoughts about whether I should keep the bagged 8th's in the regular fridge, or still in the cheese cave?

[LoftyNotions]

Cheese cave as long as you want them sharper. When they're where you want them, put them in the regular frig. I have 5 month olds still in the cave.

Larry

[awakephd]

Thanks, Larry. That confirms what I suspected!

[H-K-J]

Cheese cave as long as you want them sharper. When they're where you want them, put them in the regular frig. I have 5 month olds still in the cave.

Larry

I have half of my last blue in my cave and it is going on 14 months old
I think this thing will be capable of biting you back

[awakephd]

Wow, I want to see pictures!

[9mmruger]

Hey Andy... Lookin good from this side of the Pacific.  I now have 2 blue sucesses under my belt and the thing I find wonderful is that they really do seem to look after themselves and once you get over the really gross looking rind - which tastes wonderful BTW - it transports one to very happy place.  the Blues Brothers ride again.. 

-- Mal

I totally agree on the rind taste.  It's wonderful. 

[awakephd]

It has now been 11 weeks since I made this cheese; for the last five weeks, 8ths of cheese have been vacuum-bagged and stored in the cheese "cave."

I'll be honest: up to now, the 2 or 3 8ths that I have eaten have been a bit disappointing. There has been a good bit of flavor, and certainly plenty of blue development visually, but it just hasn't tasted the way I think of when I think of blue cheese -- more bitter and musky than tangy, and heavy on the salt. The latter is not surprising, since the recipe calls for 4% salt!

That has now changed. I pulled another 8th out on a whim yesterday and opened it up. It did not look promising -- even though I stopped the sealer short of a full vacuum, there was still a good bit of liquid in the bag. But I tasted it anyway. And ... whoa! Something has happened since the last time I tried this. Now I'm getting that sort-of-sweet tanginess that I associate with blue cheese. Not super-strong yet, but enough to transform this from "ho-hum" to "yes please!" Perhaps even more flavor development is to come? I look forward to trying another 8th in a few more weeks to see.

The only flaw in the taste now, if it is a flaw, is that it is still seems heavy on the salt, though that is less prominent with the new tangy sweetness. But I'm wondering what would happen if I backed the salt down a tad, say from 4% to 3.5% ...

Bottom line: this just moved from "probably won't make this recipe again" to "most definitely will make again," and I now look forward to experimenting with it to perfect it!

Pictures included, though honestly it really doesn't look much different than it did five weeks ago.

[LoftyNotions]

Well, Andy, today you get a cheese for perseverance.

Yep, you'll get a bit of liquid in the bag, and yes, it happens about the time the cheese starts coming into its own. Nothing needs to be done about it. (Well, maybe lick it off your fingers). It will get even sharper as time goes on.

Regarding salt, yes you can back it down to 3.5%, or even down to 3% if you want. You might find that as the cheese ages more, the salt takes even more of a back seat.

One suggestion: Make your second one now, so it'll be partially aged when you run out of this one.

Larry

[jmason]

Looks very nice Andy.
have another cheese

[awakephd]

Thanks for the cheeses! Yes, I have been wanting to get another one under way ... actually, I have a list of cheeses that I really want to get under way. But the schedule has been and will be a bit hectic for a while, so I am having to give careful thought to which cheeses will age properly with the times when they will receive infrequent attention. Mostly that means cheeses that can be vac-bagged sooner rather than later, though I do have some camemberts in the works now.

It may well be the fall before I can make cheeses that need more care during the affinage ...