CheeseForum.org » Forum

Hi all,

Just wanted to share a pic of my newborn. It was done with 14l of 3,8% pasteurized milk, 1/2 l of 35% cream, Meso III, with 8 weeks in the cave

Beautiful!!!  AC4U!!

Thnx Al. Its taste matches its looks 

Lovely looking blue. Beautiful veining.
Another cheese for your success.

Quote from: Delislem on February 28, 2016, 02:59:12 AM
Thnx Al. Its taste matches its looks 

The result everyone should strive for.

Wow, that is beautiful.  AC4U

I have blue cheese envy.

Thank you all for the nice comments. Next project is a clothbound cheddar. In the words of the wise man Buzz Lightyear : "To infinity and beyond".

Someone asked for details of this make in a direct message and, having shared with him, I thought I might as well post my notes for all. So, here goes....
====================
My blue is based on Mary Karlin's Stilton recipe from Artisan Cheese Making at Home: Techniques & Recipes for Mastering World-Class Cheeses.

This batch was made with:

    14 liters of 3.8% lightly pasteurized milk
    500 ml 35%  cream
    3 cubes (from ice cube tray) of Meso III made from a mother culture
    1/2 teaspoon of CaCl2 in 1/4 cup of water
    1/2 teaspoon of rennet in 1/4 cup of water
    Pencillium roqueforti

The milk is heated to 86F, a pinch of penicillium roqueforti is added, culture is added, milk is left to acidify for 30 minutes. CaCl2 is added, 5 minutes later, rennet is added. After 1.5 hr, the curd is cut to 1/2 inch chunks. The curd is transferred to a cheesecloth lined colander, leaving the curd to drain, bathing in whey, for 90 minutes. After that time, tie the corners of the cheesecloth and suspend, letting curd drain for 30 minutes (until whey stops dripping). Open the corners of the cheese cloth. Shape curd into a brick and re-dress in same cheesecloth. Drain under a weight of 8lbs overnight. In the morning, cut the curd in 1 inch pieces. Add 2% salt by weight. Place 1/2 the curds in a mold lined with damp cheesecloth (there are differing opinions on the lining in the forum but this works for me) sprinkle a pinch of penicillium roqueforti over curds, add the rest of the curd. Drain flipping every 20 minutes for the first 2 hours, every 2 hours for the next six and every day for 4 days. remove from mold, smooth and age for 8 weeks in a 55F, 85-90% humidity cave. Pierce after 4 weeks to allow blue veins to develop.

It would seem that by lining the mold with cheese cloth you negated the need to smooth the cheese.  I've always wanted to leave my curd to drain overnight.  Is this correct?

Quote from: Delislem on April 26, 2016, 12:10:43 AMleaving the curd to drain, bathing in whey, for 90 minutes.

I don't understand how it could drain while bathed in whey.

Hi Al,

On the first point, it still needs smoothing but I get a better knitting of the curd than without the cloth. On the second, my choice of word may be a bit off. It's more expelling whey than draining and, likely, acidifying but the instructions don't spell it out that clearly.

I will have to try this when I get back to doing blues.  I have Karlin's books.  Have to look it up.  Getting ready to do some other cheeses without having the blues around to cross contaminate everything. LOL

I am just curious.  Instead of transferring the cut curds into a cheese cloth lined colander to rest in it's whey for 90 minutes, why not just leave them in the original pot after cutting for the additional 90 minutes?  Then transfer them to the cloth for just the draining/hanging.  It seems the curds wouldn't get broken up a much.  Thoughts?