Using blue from another cheese

[scasnerkay]

Though I have made cheeses for quite a few years, I have stayed away from blue cheeses, wanting to avoid the cross contamination. I finally have some space for a separate small refrigerator to give it a try.
Using a Peter Dixon recipe, I did 2 makes, each using 2 gallon raw milk, mm100, and some blue mold from a purchased cheese.
The blue cheese was smashed up and added to some milk at the beginning of the make each time.
Now almost 4 weeks from the first make, and absolutely no blue growing!!
Humidity is about 90 to 95%, and temp about 50.
Any tips??
Anyone having success in transferring blue from a commercial cheese?

[Bantams]

No mold whatsoever?! How strange. I think it might have been oversalted because surely you would have some sort of mold growing by a week or two of age. Maybe the blue is lurking under the surface? I believe Roquefort is so heavily salted that the rind stays mold free naturally.

[scasnerkay]

Yes, lots of salt rubbed in. The instructions were 3.5% by weight, then 2 days later another 2.5% by weight. I did not add the third salting of 1.5% at about 6 days.
A lot of the salt did not soak into the cheese. For me with dry salting I seem to loose a lot of salt anyway.

[Lancer99]

I've made about 10 blue cheeses, all starting from one  commercial blue cheese, first from crumbles blended with water, later from the mold grown on bread, so it's definitely possible.

I'm afraid that's not much help!

-L

[scasnerkay]

I made a slurry of more blue (from a new package of commercial cheese) and some milk, using a sanitized hand blender. I smeared the slurry over the outside of the two pierced cheeses.

Fingers crossed for some blue!!

[SOSEATTLE]

I did a surface ripened chevre with mold harvested from a local commercial/artisan cheese. Worked beautifully. Sorry the photos are no longer there. The image hosting site I was using at the time went belly-up. 

https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,16224.msg124401.html#msg124401


Susan

[SDmilkmaid]

I did, but it was a long time ago. I wonder if the cheese you used was irradiated or something, rendering the mold sterile.
If I remember correctly, it only took 3 days or so for the mold to show. It starts out white, then turns blue.
Rachel

[CarlB]

I haven't made any cheese for awhile but have never had problems with harvested mold.  Try to grow some of the harvested mold first, on some bread.

I jumped back in and currently have a blue made with some harvested PR going on three weeks.  Pretty aggressive growth so I gave it a rub down with brine.

[scasnerkay]

I cut it pen today, at 3 months... there is some blue inside!

[SDmilkmaid]

That looks delicious! AC4U

[not_ally]

Ditto. One from me, too.

[Boofer]

Congrats, Susan!

Like opening a delayed holiday gift...SURPRISE!

Well done. Have a cheese.

-Boofer-

[CarlB]

Nice!

[DrChile]

That looks great!
and tasty!

AC4U

Trent

[scasnerkay]

Thank you all! I think it is quite a nice texture and flavor! Less salt next time though!