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Quote from: Brandnetel on April 18, 2011, 11:41:58 AM
Interesting . . . . well, I have been trying to take these out more regularly and for longer, but weekday work scheduling, etc. will probably mean that I max out at having them out of the 'cave' fridge maybe 2x/day for an hour each time. And now I have the 'blue box' open with the lid askew within the fridge. While the white is still dominant, I can also see some (slower) spread of blue on the surface. And there has definitely been perceptible ammonia sometimes upon opening. I do worry about possible issues with putting the cheeses through such temp/humidity changes so often, and whether there might be risk of cracking or other problems . . .

So, pressing ahead on the 'Brie Method' (the user not the cheese!) I suppose what I will do is just go ahead and pierce this shortly, even if the exterior remains mostly white. And I won't plan to do anything such as spray with PR brine to encourage the blue mold. I've done some spelunking in the old threads of the blue forum, and I have not seen any evidence of anyone doing such a thing, anyhow.


Brand, you really don't need to take the blues out twice per day to breathe--once or twice a week is fine.

How much covering should the cheese have before piercing?  (Anyone have a pre piecing pic?)
I god good blue formation and hardening on the sides but the top\bottom just partially and its still soft.  Its been 10 days since demolding.

Hi folks -

Any update at just under a month in on my Stilton-esque effort. There is still not too much blue growth evident - the patches here and there from the  earlier photos have expanded and deepened a bit, but white is still the most evident. And there are still a bunch of 'bald spots', plus which the punctures themselves have not developed much apparent mold.

So, I thought I would hedge my bets and made up a 3-4% brine solution and mixed a bunch of P. Roqueforti powder into it, and began lightly misting the cheeses with that today. My plan is to take them out 1x per day for their usual 'breather' and mist them at the beginning of the hour or so that they spend with the top off the box so that there is less actual water on them when they go back in (per the 'blue mold doesn't like to get its feet wet' theory). I guess I will plan to do this daily for a month or at least until there is a more visible blue bloom.

Would be interested to hear if anyone thinks this is a good/terrible idea. Did not see any evidence here of others trying it in the past?

I think you should just give it time and open the box as much as you can to get oxygen in\amonia out.
The mold is not dead so theres no reason to reinoculate.

At what temp are you keeping it? perhaps rising the temp slightly will get things going faster.

Yeah, Tomer, I hear you. It's just that I'm seeing so little blue at 30 days it is making me nervous. The cheese seems to be drying out a bit with little cracks appearing in the surface on either end, which I think may be due to the time I am having it spend at room temp and RH when I take it out and open it each day for an hour or so.

So I figured that misting the surface couldn't hurt, and if I waste a little PR, no biggie. I really thought I would see a bloom of blue filling in the holes I made but after 2 weeks I can still see clear through them and don't see much other than a bit of wispy white on the exposed surfaces inside.

If my thermometer is accurate, the fridge has been between 51 and 54 this whole time. It was a little lower earlier and now I am trying to keep it in the 53-54 range mostly.

"I really thought I would see a bloom of blue filling in the holes"
I dont think its an indication to internal veining, you should use a cheese tool or apple corer and pull out a piece to examine the core and just return the paste in to fill the whole.

Not all stilton's have the whole "spider web" at 90 days thats why some are left to age further.  patience is a bitch

There should be evident blue mold growth at this point--can you post a pic so we can evaluate?