First Stilton - Rind maintenance advivce

[crazystick]

Hi all,

I'm new to cheese making and new to the forum, and I'd like some expert advice on my first stilton-type cheese.

Ingredients: 8L raw milk, MA4001 starter, 1/16 tsp P. roqueforti
Current age: 6.5 weeks @ 10 C, in a tupperware box with some small holes, so I'm guessing around 85% RH

I made one large and two small cheeses with this recipe. I tried one of the small ones a couple of weeks ago, and it tasted really quite good, but I wanted to see how it would change over time, so I've left the other two. I'm turning them every other day. Over the last week, the larger one has developed some light brown, quite sticky mould which smells quite strongly of ammonia. I've taken off the lid of the storage box and rested it on top to let it dry out a bit, but it doesn't seem to make much difference. I have also taken it out of the cave for 30 mins after reading other comments on here.

Do any experts out there have any other advice/suggestions, or should I just not be worrying about it?

Thanks!

Some pictures:



And how it looked 2 weeks ago:

[Al Lewis]

Photos won't load.  I usually eat mine at 7 weeks but I also air them out at room temp for an hour a day.  Sounds like you RH may be too high and outside molds are taking hold.  Hard to say what they are without the pictures. Sorry.

[crazystick]

Photos were on dropbox and they load ok for me, but here they are as attachments (the cheeseboard one is a small one cut 2 weeks ago)

[crazystick]

After another couple of weeks taking it out of the cave for an hour a day, the situation seems improved  It has dried out quite a bit, and feels firmer. The stickiness and the smell seem much better. Looking forward to trying this one!

[Al Lewis]

You realize they are supposed to be blue, right?

[crazystick]

Yeah, it is kind of dark. At some point I thought it was too blue, and I tried brushing the rind to slow it down. That made it very dark. It is still mostly blue/grey though, except for the brown patches.

[9mmruger]

They look good to me.  Mine always have a bit of ammonia smell when ripening.  I just air them out a bit.  No worries, they should be fine.  I pierce mine a bit more for more veining.  Love the blue.

[crazystick]

I finally decided to get on and try it this weekend. I had it in the fridge for the last couple of weeks as I was away, and couldn't find anyone to come and turn it. The results were pretty good. The paste was good and strong with some nice blue, although not quite the pattern of a 'real' stilton. The rind was a bit bitter, but it hadn't affected the inside.

I definitely need to improve my camera skills too!

Thanks for your advice RE airing it out. I think it made a big difference to the end result, and all my guinea pigs enjoyed the results 

[Frodage]

Nice! A cheese for you.

[H-K-J]

They look great
AC4U