Or at least I hope it will come out as such. Up to now, my blues have always been Gorgonzola Picantes, and I have been quite pleased with them. But I wanted to try something new, and thought I'd try my hand at a Stilton. Major problem was the timing - I was wanting to make it yesterday after a half-day at work, and I had another obligation that night, so I needed something that required little in the way of fiddling. Also, with Thanksgiving preparations beginning, I needed it to take up as little sink and/or kitchen counter space as possible. In particular, using the colander was going to be problematic.
Then I stumbled across this recipe, and it seemed perfect (see the second post in the thread:
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,15721.msg120179.html#msg120179 (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,15721.msg120179.html#msg120179)
Rather than draining into cheesecloth and gradually tightening a Stilton knot, this recipe just lets the curd sit in the whey for 4 hours, then pours off the whey and lets the curd sit overnight. Perfect!
Or maybe not. I confess I didn't watch the video; I just read the written recipe ... so it may be that there are some really significant things that I missed. In any case, here is the way I put the recipe together:
4 gallons P&H whole milk
1/4 tsp FD
1/8 tsp PR-PS
1/4 CaCl crystals dissolved in filtered, boiled water
1/2 tsp rennet
3.5-4 Tbs kosher salt (65 grams, equaling 3% of the curd weight)
Ripen for 30 minutes at 90°; add rennet and let coagulate for 60 minutes; cut into 1/2" cubes, starting with the horizontal cut, and waiting 3 minutes between each direction of cutting. (Not sure why, but that's what the recipe said ....) Rested 5 minutes; stirred gently for 5 minutes; then rested for 4 hours.
Again, this seemed ideal, because this let me get to the 4-hour resting point before my evening obligation, and I got back from that obligation in plenty of time to pick up with the recipe after the 4 hours of resting. According to the recipe in the link above, I would drain off the whey (or at least most of it), cut the curd mass into chunks, and let it sit overnight. But this is where things took a turn away from the recipe.
Problem # 1: When I got ready to start ladling out the whey after the 4 hours of resting, I was alarmed to smell a distinct alcoholic-fermentation smell -- as if the milk had yeast in it. I don't know if the PR, sitting in the whey all that time, could perhaps have produced that effect -- ?? I sterilized as usual, and it's been at least a couple of weeks since I've made anything using yeast in the kitchen.
Problem # 2: When I got the whey ladled down, and then drained off as much additional whey as I could, the curd was ultra-wet and soft. And when I tasted it, it seemed to have a bit of a alcoholic-fermented tasted to it. This was not looking good, not at all. I had grave doubts about just letting this very wet curd just sit for even longer, so I decided to dump it into a cheese cloth (actually butter muslin, but I digress) and hang it over the pot so that it would actually drain and consolidate. I left it overnight, sure that I was going to have to dump the whole thing in the morning ...
... but this morning, the curd both smelled and tasted just right - nicely acidified, no hint of the alcoholic fermentation of the night before. The curd had consolidated into a mass that was easy to handle; I cut it into large chunks, then milled it into smaller pieces. It was quickly evident that the curd was still plenty moist - draining it in the bag had not made it too dry, not at all. I salted it (used 3% salt, rather than the 2.5% called for in the recipe - for no good reason other than "just because") and put it into a tall 6" mold with open ends - made by cutting the top and bottom out of a cheap plastic 1-gallon pitcher. I have flipped it every hour, and went ahead to add a 4 lb. weight to help it along, since it didn't seem like its own weight was quite enough. After several hours, it seems to be coming together appropriately - lots of crags and nooks and crannies, but starting to be more of a single cheese rather than a loose collection of independent curds.
My plan is to treat it like a Stilton from here on out - continue turning it for a few more days, then see if it is ready to "stand" on its own. If so, I'll rub it up, and put it in the cave in a ripening box to start aging. And then we shall see ...
I have no idea what I have actually created, or whether it will turn out to be the least bit edible. We'll see in 12 weeks or so ... either I will have a brand new type of cheese to share with the world, or a new entry for the "mistakes" thread!
Did you hold the temp for the 4 hours of cooking?
I did not attempt to hold it at temp, but the thermal mass kept it fairly stable, so it had only declined to around 85° or so by the end of the 4 hours.
I noticed when I watched the second video (from the UK), the make was rather different - not left in the whey for so long, but drained. So maybe I'm okay ...
Hi Andy,
I love this recipe! Here's hoping it tastes OK. AC4U.
Interesting! Sounds like you have a winner! Watching this with great interest. :o
Quote from: awakephd on November 24, 2016, 09:38:20 PM
I have no idea what I have actually created, or whether it will turn out to be the least bit edible. We'll see in 12 weeks or so ... either I will have a brand new type of cheese to share with the world, or a new entry for the "mistakes" thread (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10888.0.html)!
I'm not hovering or salivating... I reluctantly accept all entries. >:D
Nice write-up, Andy. That how-to link from
carpentersbug was eye-opening. Thanks for that.
-Boofer-
Time to rub-up this semi-sort-of-Stilton; pictures below. My first time rubbing up a Stilton.
Picture 1 - out of the mold, before rubbing. If it looks like it is still really crumbly, it is around the edges, but it seems to be pretty well "set." We'll see if it slumps - I may have rubbed too soon.
Picture 2 - rubbing in progress, also showing the decorating spatula that I used. This has one side that is slightly serrated or ridged, and one side that is smooth, and it worked really well - I mostly used the smooth side, but the serrated/ridged side let me scrape a bit more when I needed to get more "mush" to work with.
Picture 3 is the final result, smoothed on all sides including top and bottom. Interestingly, the top and bottom were the hardest parts to get smoothed. I finally resorted to dipping the spatula in a bit of filtered water; the extra moisture seemed to help quite a bit.
Also in the background of this third picture is the "mold" that I used - a $3 plastic 1-gallon pitcher that I cut the bottom off, as well as the top section where the spout was. The result is about 10" tall, with about a 6" diameter. The curds initially filled this nearly full; now they are about 2/3 the height. The perspective of the pictures hides the fact that the pitcher (and therefore the cheese) has a slight taper to the sides ... we'll see if that causes any trouble.
Now the cheese is in the cave, in a ripening box. I'll air it out daily, flipping it daily for the first couple of weeks.
Forgot to add: When I measured the curd weight just before salting, it was 2187 grams = 4.82 lbs - quite a high yield from just under 4 gallons of whole milk. I did not weigh it today, but it has lost a little bit of whey over the past several days, so I know it is less. I'll weigh it again in a few days, once I'm sure that it is holding its shape okay.
You could slip the mold back on after smoothing. ;D
Yes, I plan to do that if I detect any sign of slumping. We shall see ...
Just a quick update - it's been 9 days since I made this, and 6 days since I rubbed it up. I'm pleased to report no slumping, and for the past two or three days the rind has noticeably blued. (The picture below makes it look like it is leaning to the side, but that is not actually the case - optical illusion, I suppose.)
What's the consensus on how long to wait before piercing? The recipe that I started to work from waits 7 weeks (!!) before piercing ... that seems overly long to me. With my Gorgonzolas, I generally wait 2-3 weeks before piercing. What say ye?
Nice one... :-)
Very nice!! ;D I generally wait until I have a good rind established Andy. That takes a different time every time I make one dependent on size and various other conditions. My last was after 18 days however, I leave mine out at room temp until they form a rind which quickens that process greatly. Have a Cheese for a fantastic looking cheese!! ;D
Really nice Andy! Have a cheese.
Sam
Looking good, cheese on me too. :)
Quote from: awakephd on December 03, 2016, 06:45:07 PM
What say ye?
Linuxboy's schedule:
- 7-10 days
- 3-4 weeks
- 4-6 weeks
-Boofer-
Thanks, Boofer - that is very helpful. So according to that schedule, I should go ahead and pierce now. I won't have a chance to get to it until tonight, but then I'll pull out the ol' thermometer (since I use the stem as my piercer).
Cheese looks great Andy! Being able to see the blue from the outside in 9 days is amazing. I hope it continues to ripen well. Someday I plan to make some blues
Update on the semi-Stilton - picture below. It is now at 4.5 weeks old. A core test (no picture of that, sorry) showed really extensive blue-ing inside.
The rind seems to want to stay wet on whichever end is down -- even flipping daily, letting it air for an hour or so, by the next day the end on the mat is wet, and there is some wetness under the rack that holds the mat. The ripening container likewise is quite damp each day. The cheese has shrunk down quite a bit, so I'm guessing it is exuding the moisture and shrinking. Is this normal for a Stilton?
Normally with my gorgonzolas I let them go about 6 weeks, then cut them into sections and lightly vac-bag for final aging. I was planning to let this one age for a full 12 weeks before cutting, but given how blue it is inside, I'm not so sure.
Any recommendations from the Stiltonators out there?
If it's showing good veining I'd cut it.
Quote from: awakephd on December 26, 2016, 12:24:56 AM
Any recommendations from the Stiltonators out there?
H-K-J, are you out there? :-\
-Boofer-
How does the paste taste when you check it? The twelve weeks is based on a cheese made up of 17.6 pounds of curd. Smaller cheeses will develop faster although they might not develop all of the attributes the larger ones do. That's the reason I always try to do large Stiltons, or at least as large as I can. Often times trying to follow the larger cheese recipes on a much smaller scale can result in a dried out lump. Been there, done that. If your paste is good I would cut it.
Funny you should ask about / suggest cutting it. I decided to go ahead and cut it yesterday; picture is below - not a very good picture - but still shows the veining. Beautiful "flecking" of blue throughout. Taste is good, but not yet fully developed; however, I apparently got way too much salt in this - definitely will cut back next time. As you can see, I also got a good bit of B. linens on the ends -- whichever end was down always wound up wet, even when I flipped daily and aired out. I finally reconfigured the way I had it in the cave so that the bottom would dry out, but the cheese was getting pretty dry - thus the decision to cut. I cut it into quarters and lightly vac-bagged them to further develop the flavor.
Looks great Andy!! AC4U!!
What a beauty... AC4U! :)
Thanks ... if only it weren't so salty. But it should be good in salads or such.
I am jealous.... AC4U
Nice job, Andy. Your "flecking" characterization is spot on. Good coloring.
Have a cheese.
-Boofer-
Oh wow, that looks great! AC4U!
Great looking cheese Andy! Great job
Wow, nice veining! Have a cheese on me.
Thanks, all! Still a few weeks to go before it has fully matured - I'll report back on the taste at that point.