I have a blue that has developed nicely and is a month old now at around 90-95% RH. I am a little concerned that it may go over the top whether it be excessive blue mold growth or the cheese drying out. Right now I can tell the cheese is still nice and soft inside and I'd like to keep it that way, ie soft and creamy if possible.
I was doing some research and came across this in a popular book, the joy of cheesemaking, which has the following table which I am finding ambiguous. Can anybody help me to understand what they mean, do they suggest vacuum sealing after 15 to 20 days or do they suggest wrapping in foil and then ageing for 2-3 months at 2-4 deg C ?
confused... :o
(https://i.imgur.com/QOGZ8nj.jpg)
I think what they are saying is age the cheese and occasionally take core samples. If you have the blue veins you want, then wrap the cheese so that the blue mould doesn't get any more oxygen. That will stop it from going *completely* blue. If you *don't* have the veins that you want, piece the cheese so that it gets *more* oxygen. Check every week until you get the blue mould that you want and then wrap it. So if you are happy with the amount of blue, then I think they are saying it's time to wrap and age in cold storage.
this makes sense mikechar. The choice then becomes whether to vac seal or foil wrap once sufficient blue has developed.
Most recipes out there seem to skip the bagging/wrapping stage and just state an ageing period which I assume means a full natural rind.
I saw a conversation about vac packing blues a while ago and thought ???
It would be convenient for me but wasn't sure how well it would go, so gave it a try.
Vac packed small blues after allowing blue to develop in a ripening box about 3 weeks. They lost a fair bit of whey and the surface got rather unappetising looking green/brown.
I cracked one a few weeks back, drained the whey (retain this, great blue flavour for cooking) dried it with paper towel and stuck it in the fridge in a sealed box.
After a week, the blue had restarted, outside was creamy, inside medium, firmer in centre. Flavour was strong, noticeable age, a few crunchy crystals. Altogether a worthwhile experience.
Well I have 3 blues in the pipeline so decided I'd try vac seal on the oldest one, after 4 weeks, than will do the same on no. 2 after 4 weeks but this time in foil, and see how it turns out.
This is how it looked after 4 weeks at 90-95% RH. No offensive smells and cheese was very soft, as mentioned the way I wanted it.
(https://i.imgur.com/it09L6c.jpg)
The vac sealing process squeezed out some of the cheese, as you can see below, but its now sitting at 4 deg C after which I will sample in another 4-6 weeks.
(https://i.imgur.com/8lKDXPa.jpg)
This is how the above cheese looked after I sliced into it, 7 weeks from making.
On the positives, it has a superb creamy taste and the moist, almost spreadable texture I was looking for.
However I did not achieve the blue penetration I was looking for, and I was hoping for a stronger blue flavour. Most recipes I find suggest piercing the cheese after the outside has covered in blue but by the time that had occurred the interior of the cheese had already changed significantly (ie become fluid) and I think the air passages were sealed as soon as they were created.
Perhaps it would be better to pierce immediately after dry salting instead ?
Nonetheless, still very happy at this first attempt.
(https://i.imgur.com/sfzHndS.jpg)
Quote from: Hambone on October 19, 2018, 12:56:16 AM
This is how the above cheese looked after I sliced into it, 7 weeks from making.
On the positives, it has a superb creamy taste and the moist, almost spreadable texture I was looking for.
However I did not achieve the blue penetration I was looking for, and I was hoping for a stronger blue flavour. Most recipes I find suggest piercing the cheese after the outside has covered in blue but by the time that had occurred the interior of the cheese had already changed significantly (ie become fluid) and I think the air passages were sealed as soon as they were created.
Perhaps it would be better to pierce immediately after dry salting instead ?
Nonetheless, still very happy at this first attempt.
(https://i.imgur.com/sfzHndS.jpg)
That looks like a beautiful yummy blue. I'm trying the same creamy, spreadable texture with mine.