HI-
So making blue cheese seems to escape me.
I've made a few times from pasteurized milk adding 2tbs of salt to two gallon make of cheese after draining off the whey
Then i let it sit at room temp for a few days (4-5) and salted the exterior for the first two days
On day 5 I put into a container lid ajar and popped it into my cheese 'cave' at 50F and 85-90%humidity (i believe it more humid in the box). The towel on top is rather wet.
Blue was forming on the surface growing along as usual
Day 7-8 I saw whey coming of the cheese so I decided to sprinkle a little salt on the cheese and the blue stopped
Day 9 - I poked it...
Air it out most days for an hour
So Not sure why it stopped growing blue I guess it was the salt...curious if the blue is still growing inside..
I did several things different this time
1. Use Raw milk (don't think i will ever used pasteurized again)
2. I sprinkled the culture on the milk (previously I started the culture the night before in little jars)
3. I was much more gentle in my stirring
4. I re-hydrate the R. Mold. and stirred it in
From your pictures it looks like it is too dry.
Not sure if it will help but here is a thread I did a while back on an easy way to make a blue. You can reduce the recipe for whatever size you need but the entire thing is pretty bulletproof if you follow it. https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,15147.0.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,15147.0.html) Your rind doesn't look bad but you should not have salted it. Also, the blues sometimes go away on the rind in favor of reds and yellows.
It sounds like you may have been over salting it that drew out excessive whey and stopped the blue growth.
thanks I'll keep trying
I do not see enough or at least large enough holes in the cheese for the inner blue to grow , it will not grow with out oxygen .
It can not hurt to go,ahead and re pierce it again . Try to taste some of the curd that comes out when you pull out the piercing rod . If it is very salty , then that could be an issue .
If it ends up way too salty but still a blue flavor , maybe keep it for making salad dressing or some such sauce type thing .
Other wise I think the cheese looks fine
I'm with John on this - 2 Tbs of salt for a 2 gallon make is rather high already. Adding more salt on the outside is overkill - sounds like it was literally overkill!
For a Stilton-type make, salt the curds before putting in the press; no further salt needed. For a Gorgonzola type make, no salt is added to the curds, but after a few days of flipping in the mold - i.e., when the cheese holds its shape - salt is added to the exterior, in stages, over the next two or three days.
I agree and it taste like licking a salt block. I'm going to try a different recipe.
Quote from: Dorchestercheese on May 15, 2017, 11:21:40 AM
I agree and it taste like licking a salt block. I'm going to try a different recipe.
:)