So I've heard that blue mold is pretty aggressive, and that it is best to age it separate from other cheeses. This isn't feasible for me currently, but I want to give blue cheese a try. I have a plan but would love some feed back on if it has any chance of working...
I only have 3 cheeses in the cave right now, and one will be coming out before I make the blue. The other 2 are tommes and will be aging several months yet, but one has a pretty closed brushed rind and the other has an oiled rind, which I've heard is a good mold barrier. I also plan on keeping the blue as far away from the other cheeses as possible (but it is a relatively small wine cooler I am aging them in) and wrapping the blue in wine soaked grape leave, hopefully making it harder for the spores to come out.
What are the odds I get away with not making blue Tommes inadvertently?
You could use a plastic box with a lid as a ripening container. Be sure to put a mat on the bottom of it, to keep the cheese off of the bottom. It keeps the humidity high and the cheese separate from your other cheeses. That's what I do.
I second the ripening container (plastic box). Even if you get away with it on your two tommes you still might be contaminating your cooler for future cheeses
The container is your only option, but you will almost certainly contaminate your cave and you will be fighting blue in all your future cheeses.
Huh, so even with the alcohol soaked leaves as a barrier I would most likely contaminate the whole area?
I suppose it isn't worth it then, I'll save the blues for someday when I have a second aging space!
My first 20 cheeses were not blue cheese and my cheeses needed to be washed and blue was there anyway. I don't think you can really get away from it. I'd say go for it. Don't worry too much. Blue washes off with a brine/vinegar solution. None of my first cheeses suffered too much from it. After the blue, since I used a ripening plastic box, it didn't seem to make a difference.
Yes I agree wild blue mold is every where .
Go ahead and makes blues if you want in the same cheese fridge
At least when you do get blues on a cheese there is a 50 /50 chanceit is not wild. Which can have off tastes .
I'm a very novice cheese maker, but right out of the gate I got b. linens and blue mould in my fridge :-) Luckily the blue mold, while wild, is very nice indeed. I serendipitously made one of the best cheeses I've ever tasted that way. I've seen several people describe the fridge conditions as being kind of a balance between b.linens and blue mould and this definitely has been the case with me. I've currently got 3 cheeses in the fridge in ripening boxes. One I've intentionally let the wild blue mould take hold; one I've let the b. linens take hold; and one that I've kept clean. It certainly takes some fiddling, though. Anyway, take whatever I say with a huge grain of salt, but at least so far I've managed to relax about that kind of stuff.
If your rinds are closed..a little blue growing on the surface can be removed