I have recently made my first stilton and have had it aging for about 4-5 weeks now and I was just wondering what it is meant to look like, do any people on here have pictures of there stilton, if not I can post one and someone can tell me if it looks ok?!?
Hi Matthew,
There are lots of pictures of stiltons on the forum. I suggest that you use the search facility to look for stilton, or have a look through the adjunct- blue cheese part of the forum.
Do post a photo, and any details of the make you have. That will help us understand how your make has gone.
Here are two pictures of it!
That's looking quite good to me. All stiltons at 4-5 weeks are scary-looking things, but you have a good mix of blue and white moulds and nothing unhealthy-looking. I can see you've pierced it, so those blue moulds should be getting the air they need inside the cheese to work their magic.
Two things jump out at me. Your stilton is quite spread out at what is the top in the photo, which suggests to me that perhaps you've not been turning it as much as it would like or that it was still a bit too wet when it came out of the mould. The fact that the blues are only on the top suggest that you have been keeping it at slightly too low humidity. Have you been turning it daily? Also, what does it smell like? Does it smell like stilton, or are you getting an ammonia air from it?
While keeping a stilton, I'd recommend that you turn it daily and also to take it out for half an hour or so each day to let it breathe so the ammonia from the bacteria doesn't build up.
Edited to add: I can see that the sides of your stilton are going a bit brown as the moulds die down. Mine do that as well at around the 4-5 week stage. You may like to let it dry out a bit so it's a bit less slimy, or consider eating it now or vacuum-sealing it for later at this stage.
I have been turning it everyday apart from last week, I was out on business so I couldn't turn it for three days, is there anyway I can fix that or do I just keep Turning it?
By the 4-5 week stage you can get away with turning it every few days, that's no problem. What temperature have you been keeping it at?
On the whole, I'd say you have a very tasty cheese there. :)
By the way, welcome to the forum!
7-11 it varies slightly and thankyou I sure hope it is, as you can tell I am a bit of a newbie to this forum is there somewhere you can post recipes?
There absolutely is. If you scroll a bit further down the forum you'll see a pile of boards for the different types of cheese. You'll like to check out the blue cheese section: https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/board,79.0.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/board,79.0.html)
Ok thankyou very much you have been a massive help today! :D
That's what we're here for. This forum was a huge help to me when I was starting out (I still am really, I've only been making cheese for a few months), it's nice for me to be able to pass that on.
Good luck with your cheese, and please update this thread with photos to let us know how you went!
I sure will
Here's a picture of the one I did quite a while back.
Yes that looks a bit like mine in some parts however today I took a tiny sample from the inside and it had the texture of a Camembert but also had blue lines and in the center was slightly crumbly while still having a Camembert characteristic, is this a problem?!? I did taste a bit and it is amazing already and as already stated it only has been ageing for a few weeks it has the flavour of stilton with the creaminess of Camembert, the only cheese I can think of that is close to it would be a Cambozola.
Could you post details of your make please Matthew? That will help us determine any problems.
and some pix???
Quote from: Matthewcraig on January 31, 2014, 10:18:46 PM
Yes that looks a bit like mine in some parts however today I took a tiny sample from the inside and it had the texture of a Camembert but also had blue lines and in the center was slightly crumbly while still having a Camembert characteristic, is this a problem?!? I did taste a bit and it is amazing already and as already stated it only has been ageing for a few weeks it has the flavour of stilton with the creaminess of Camembert, the only cheese I can think of that is close to it would be a Cambozola.
Some of mine have turned out that way too , maybe from some errant PC that softens the paste , but being as I like Cambozola , it's all good.
If mine go that route , I usually eat them at 5-6 weeks , otherwise they can start producing ammonia and can get a little strong.
I still haven't been able to produce a nice crumbly blue , like the Stilton I can buy , came close on my last one , and will keep trying.
Yours should be fine , if you don't mind the softer texture.
A cheese to you for the effort ! :D
Well it's been aging for about 5 weeks at 7-11C at 65-70% it's been rubbed in brine twice and gets aired about 5 hours every three days and thankyou very much jwalker oh and by the way anyone who was interested in the wine cheese I know a few of you a few of you have commented on this post I have uploaded updated pictures of it.
I'm with jwalker. I'd suggest you try eating or vac-packing your stilton now.
Also, thanks for the photos on the umbriacco. I'm off to check those out now!
Ok thankyou and no problem
Most of mine have gone that way with a very runny paste inside which detaches itself from the rind and the main body of the cheese. Still very tasty. I am just praying that the batch i have on the go at the moment doesn't succumb.