Stilton recipe, few points of clarification

[BigCheese]

I am getting ready to do a stilton in 2 days. I can only find 2 full recipes, Ricki Carrol's and Tim Smith's, both quite similar, and both for 2 gallons of milk + 2 c cream. As is becoming my tradition, below is a proposed recipe with some questions (in bold) I am hoping you all can help with. Thank you!

I will be doing 8 gallons whole raw milk, not adding any cream.

8gal milk
1/4 teaspoon Pen. Roqueforti (this is only double their 2 gallon recipes, is it enough?)
1/2 teaspoon MM100 (again this is only double the 4 gallon recipe, and is this a good meso to use, the recipes did not specify?)
2/3 tablet veg rennet
Scant 5 T salt (Sailor's ratio)

Mix Pen. Roqueforti in milk.
Heat to 86F
Add meso culture
Ripen 30 min
Add rennet
Wait for clean break (is this synonymous with floc X 3?)
ladle into container such that whey can drain but curds stay submerged, maintain temp
Leave 90 min (does anyone have a ph marker here?)
drain curds outside of whey for 30 min
Press lightly overnight around 68-70F (looking for PH 4.8, right?)
Mill to 1 inch pieces
Add salt
Hoop cheese, flip every 15 min for 2 hours and several times a day for 4 days
Remove from mold and smooth any large crevaces
Keep in a moist environment, 60-68F until blue mold appears
pierce from sides approx 1 week after make started (opinions differ, but Sailor seems most authoritative, so I am leaning toward his numbers.)

At this point do I keep it at 60-68? If so, how long?

Refresh holes every 10 days for 1 month
Move to cave
resist opening for total of twelve weeks.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Nitai - a few observations.

Stiltons are supposed to be really creamy tasting, so I add cream even with full fat raw milk. It will turn out fine either way.

You can't just quadruple the starter culture and that's probably a little too much. Read the manufacturers spec sheets and/or call them.

Add a little LM57 (Leuc. m. cremoris) or use just Aromatic B instead of MM100 if you can. The LMC bacteria produces a little CO2 gas and will help give the interior of the cheese a more open texture -  a better environment for mold development.

Search the forum and read a little more about flocculation. I use a multiplier of 4.

That is not enough salt. I would use 7 or 8 tablespoons. (That's 4x Carroll's recipe.)

8 gallons will produce a LOT of curds when you ladle out. Be sure you are prepared to deal with the volume.

I am generally at a pH of 6.1-6.2 after the 90 minute draining. This is NOT critical because the cheese is going to acidify to around 4.75 overnight anyway. Salting will stall the acid production.

I pierce one week after the blue mold has pretty much covered the cheese, not one week after the make start. Traditionally, this is done 5-6 weeks after the start, but I really like my results.

8 gallons will produce a LOT of curds when you ladle out. Be sure you are prepared to deal with the VOLUME. Notice I said that twice.

[BigCheese]

Thank you so much, Sailor!

I will add some cream if there is some available.

Note I only doubled the starter culture, thinking that quadruple (1 teaspoon) would be too much. I will use Aroma B to make it easy on myself, and try to decipher the company specs, something that I have never been good at.

Will read up more on flocculation, it has been doing me good so far.

Are you sure about the salt, on a previous thread you told Mark 5T for 5 gallons was too much, and said that you used 3 for 5 gallons. Have you changed your ratio since then?

I am aware that 8 gallons will be a lot of curds... Right now my plan is to ladle into 2 3'x3' cheesecloths that will hang (low enough to be in the whey) in 2 separate 4 gallon pots. I have the distinct impression that I have fit this much curd in those cloths before, but I will prepare a 3rd vessel just in case. I have 2 8"x6" St Paulin molds that I am thinking will hold the milled curds. I have others if need be.

Thank you for clarifying the piercing, I guess I will see how things go.

Want about the Pen. Roq. quantity, any suggestions.

Thank you so much!

[FarmerJd]

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Be sure you are prepared to deal with the volume

I can definitely concur.

[BigCheese]

Where can I buy eggcrate? I am only seeing cases online.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Just about any hardware or lumber store. You can usually find it at lighting stores as well.

[Sailor Con Queso]

I may have misspoke without checking my make notes. I use 4 tablespoons of salt for a 5 gallon make.

You are going to need more cheesecloth. I made a Stilton tonight and used three 3x3 sheets for a 5 gallon batch. Initially there is VERY little waste whey on a Stilton. An 8 gallon make will yield 7.75 gallons of curd that has to be drained. Don't underestimate the volume of curds that you will have to deal with.

1/2 teaspoon of Aroma B is about right for 8 gallons.

The piercing is my own style, but I have been very pleased with the results.

[BigCheese]

UH-OH. three 3x3 sheets for only 5 gallons... Perhaps I will start with a 5 gallon batch. I just hate to do the work and not maximize efficiency. But I suppose I can chalk it up to a learning batch (which ones aren't?) Will 5 gallons fit in my 8" diameter by 6" high St Paulin Mold?

Now I understand JD's plight with that 15 gallon stilton...

Looks like I need to get myself more and bigger cheesecloth.

[Sailor Con Queso]

After draining and LIGHT pressing overnight (before salting), the curds will be MUCH more manageable and will fit your mold.

[BigCheese]

Alright, well I just added my Pen. Roqueforti but something occured to me: I have had this PR for almost a year. It has been open in the freezer, clamped with a chip clip. It also says best if used by April 2010. Not so worried about the april part, but what about it being open in the freezer?

[BigCheese]

Another concern: the pen. roq. did not dissolve. Is it supposed to? Rather, when I got to the bottom of the pot it was kind of stuck to the bottom of the curds.I distributed it evenly in the 2 pots.

[BigCheese]

I have continued my make despite my contaminated curds and I think things are going alright...

The first picture below is testament of my successful (this time) defiance. 8 gal batch of stilton ladled into two 4+ gallon pots.

The second picture is the cheeses right out of the molds. One is more blue than the other, but both seem to be doing pretty good. I am having trouble getting above 80 RH in my containers right now, but it seems like the blue will overtake the cheeses in only a few days, Probably 9-10 days from the original make.