Aging Blue Cheese

[driekus]

How long do people generally age Roquefort type cheeses for. I have two half pound Roquefort clones that have been sitting in the wine fridge at 12C for about 23 days now. They look good and are getting a small amount of surface blueing. How do you tell when they are ready other than to crack them open. The smell is not particularly noticeable yet, which is surprising for a blue.

[michoutim]

Our 1st successful blue (look at one of my posts here), which is still in the fridge, -we'll finish it today and tomorrow-, is 3 months old. Slow food indeed!

Oh well, to save you time, here it is:

C:\DCIMAGES\Fromages\bleu151009troismoisMIAM.JPG

[driekus]

What were your aging conditions, temperature is mainly of interest here.

[michoutim]

Wine cooler, set at 12oC.  It worked out fine.   

[mtncheesemaker]

I ate my last blue at 7 weeks. I didn't want it to get too dry or sharp. Aged at 50F more or less.
"The waiting is the hardest part..."

[driekus]

Excellent, thanks for the replies, I will aim for about 8 weeks before I taste one of the two cheese.

[driekus]

Well I thought id upload two pictures. The mold colour is exactly the same as a Stilton I have in my fridge, a rapidly diminishing point of comparison.

[driekus]

Well I thought I provide an update. The surface blueing has continued but is growing at t very slow rate. It is still nothing more than speckles over the cheese. I have no idea what the interior of the cheese is like. It has been 6 weeks now at 12C since I made the cheese and I will probably leave it another 2-3 weeks before cracking the more developed one open. Everything is going very smoothly, although I noticed two small (4mm diameter) patches of white mold (one patch each cheese). I patted each spot with a little vinegar and put a little salt there to slow it down. I have done cheese with candidium recently so I would anticipate maybe a little cross contamination. Anyone else get white fuzz on their blues? This cheese is sitting in a sealed tupperware container, should I consider wrapping it for further aging? If so should I use cheese wrap or cling wrap?
This weekend 1 gallon of organic milk and another roquefort. Im excited

[judec]

Yes, I sometimes get some white mould in my blues, but I just leave it on there and everyone likes it.  One of theones with white mould was everybodies favourite.  I thought like you that it was because I had recently made camembert and the white mould had "jumped".  My blues look just like the pictures above to start and then are very mottled blue.  I have never had one totally covered with wild blue mould.  Always leave mine 3 to 6 months before we eat them.  Very yummy.

Jude.

[zrim]

I see a lot of white on my Blue cheeses too.  I'm pretty new to cheese making but it doesn't worry me too much.  To satisfy my curiosity, could someone tell me what type of mold the white mold is?'

[Alex]

Our 1st successful blue (look at one of my posts here), which is still in the fridge, -we'll finish it today and tomorrow-, is 3 months old. Slow food indeed!

Oh well, to save you time, here it is:

C:\DCIMAGES\Fromages\bleu151009troismoisMIAM.JPG

I like the look of your blue. Although I don't like blue, your's look as it has less mold and some spots of softer texture, therefore I'd like to try one like this. Would you please post your recipe and mould size? TIA.

[michoutim]

Wow! Great Alex ! I translated it for you... If you need any more details let me know, I'll ask my husband !


BLEU 15 10 09

Notes du 16 11 09 degrees are in CELSIUS
15 10 09    2 L organic milk non homogénéised
      Bring to 30oC. With some B starter from Cheeselinks plus blue mould (au pif)
      Put in a Camembert mold.

16 10 09   9 h, salt the cheese by hand on the top and a bit on the side.
      In the evening salt the other side.

17 10 09   9 h, put the cheese in the fridge for 90 to 120 minutes. Then piece it with a metal skewer, holes will be spaced by say 2 or 3 cm and will go half way through the cheese. Pierce both sides. Fridge temperature of 12 oC is fine.

20 10 09    Two or 3 days later pierce the same holes again. My husband did it only twice. Maybe it would get more blue in it if that procedure was repeated more often... Likely so...

14 12 09   Here is the photo of the cheese after 2 months:

[michoutim]

For the B culture and liquid blue mould, I got them from Cheeselinks. Here:
http://shop.cheeselinks.com.au/Cheese-and-Yoghurt-Starters-Mould-Spores-and-Aroma-Cultures-c9/ 

Re dosage for B starter, for 2 L just a bit of starter on the tip of the handle of a coffee spoon. For the blue mould just very little also. That's enough !

[Alex]

Thank you so much .