Shropshire Blue Reveal + an observation (maybe)

[Lancer99]

This is my second attempt at a Shropshire Blue.  We won't talk about the first one

Five months in, looking pretty good:



Skewered twice:



The usual trepidation before cutting in.



And a bit worried, because it didn't have nearly as much blue as a commercial version:



. . . but that turned out completely to not be a problem.

The paste was dense and a bit crumbly, but, you ask, how did it taste?



Delicious.  The first thing that hits the palate is the denseness of the paste, then there's a tangy cheddar-like complexity, then the blue kicked in and made my taste buds tingle.



Here's my observation (maybe):  It seems like the amount of blue mold is much less of a factor in the eventual taste of a blue cheese than the aging.  For example, I've made a couple of blues where after two months they didn't have much mold and were very mild, but after another four months in the fridge, even though there wasn't much (or any) more mold, they were much sharper, and the sharpness wasn't just in the moldy parts, but in the rest of the cheese where there was no mold (at least, not visible).  That seems to be the case with this cheese.  Caldwell talks a bit about how the mold affects the cheese, but doesn't mention anything about initial mold vs. aging.

So that's my observation.  Feel free to mock me if I'm being an idiot

-L

[mikekchar]

The "blue" in the mold is a bit misleading.  The blue part is only the fruiting body of the mold.  The mold itself grows as basically invisible roots through the cheese.  So you can have a blue cheese that has absolutely no blue colour.  You only get the fruiting body when there is oxygen.  So for these types of cheeses it's common to press the cheese only to the point where it holds together.  You leave lots of gaps and airholes for the blue to grow.  Then when the paste has softened a bit, you smear the outside of the cheese to close the rind.  You then pierce it to allow even more oxygen.  With artisan cheeses, they will then wash the rind in order to get b. linens going well -- this stops the blue from growing on the outside of the cheese.  Finally, once you get a good schmear, you dry off the rind in the same way that you would do with an alpine cheese.  This gives you a beautiful orange rind.  It's very striking in cheeses like Stilton (Stichelton) and Gorganzola, but they also do it with Shropshire Blue (which is already orange, of course!).  The nice thing is that the rind doesn't go all mucky on you.

If you leave gaps in the cheese, it's quite important to be careful when salting because the blue mold can't handle much direct salt.  Because you have lots of gaps in the cheese, if you salt normally (or brine) it's common to kill the mold in your lovely gaps.  So instead, they break up the salting schedule over several days (3 is a common number) -- so salt each side with 1/6 of the total salt.  Then do the same over the next 2 days.  This makes it easier for the mold to get started.  I've started doing this will all my cheeses (and I've pretty much abandoned brining) because it helps me get geotrichum established as well.

[Lancer99]

Ah, it's starting to make sense (I think.)

Off-topic, but I know about mycelium vs. conidia because I grow mushrooms (the legal kinds):





Caldwell says: "During the first stages of aging, the molds metabolize acid (as lactate and citrate) as well as any milk sugars (e.g., lactose, glucose, and galactose) . . . Lipolysis occurs to a greater extent in blue cheese than in any other cheese type . . . As with the the breakdown of fat, proteolysis is also more profound than in most other cheese types., contributing to blue cheese's distinctive texture as well as its aroma."

So, she doesn't make it explicit, but that sounds almost like the mycelium is more responsible for the final taste in a blue cheese than the actual mold spores, and maybe they're just more there for looks?

-L

[mikekchar]

Oh!  I must give you a cheese for those mushrooms!  They are beautiful.  That's definitely something I need to get into some day.  But, yes, I think you are right.

[MacGruff]

Those are beautiful mushrooms. Are they truly growing on the OUTSIDE of the glass jar?  Did you drill some holes there?

[Lancer99]

Thanks!

Sorry, the picture was misleading.  They were growing on the outside of a plastic bag.





Now I'm WAY off-topic, will post a message in The Lounge if there's any interest.

Thanks,
-L

[SOSEATTLE]

Those mushrooms are so beautiful! I love mushrooms of all kinds (culinary).



Susan

[mikekchar]

Interest! Interest! :-)  I can get a shiitake infused log from the hardware store for about $10.  I never get around to doing it.  Maybe I will this weekend...

[Lancer99]

(Long) post about my mushroom-growing adventures in the Lounge . . .

-L