Stilton - 10 days old

[Richierich]

Here is the Stilton from the post in another thread. Its time it had its own thread! This has been out for 7 days, its 10 days since it was made. Some areas are going bluer than others, most is covered in a yellowy white coating, might give the blue bits a wipe, I think I saw someone mention wiping with brine.

[BlueCheese]

I thingk the blue is what u want, not wipe it, unless its black LOL.
Looks wonderfull, my mouth waters

[BBQer]

Looks very good!

How much milk did you start with?

[Richierich]

5 litres in that batch, I would say its about 6" x 4" or thereabouts. Smells great somewhere between musty cellar and stilton. I hope thats a good smell.

The recipe is exactly as suggested by Rik in his Stilton recipe. Took 2 hours to get the clean break, no extra Calcium added, nothing. 4 litres of Whole milk, and one litre of Jersey Gold top extra creamy jobby.

[jenny_haddow]

It's looking well on course. Don't wipe off the blue it's very desirable in a stilton.

Cheers

Jen

[Richierich]

We're now at 3 weeks, its looking really wrinkly though. Should I still have it covered up for the majority of the time, or is it time to give it some air?

Latest pics

[BlueCheese]

That looks very nice. Maybe put it in a container with an open lid, may contain the moisure more.

[Richierich]

Got itchy fingers tonight and had a look inside the stilton, its 6 weeks are up on Friday and I could not resist anymore. Probably should have left it, there is no blueing inside, and around the edge the consistency is more of a camembert/brie, I guess it needs to dry out a little more, so, its 1" shorter, hope that won't make it rot away (do you think the crust will form on this fresh surface. I will leave it for a few more weeks.

It seemed to be sweating a bit, so I perforated the pizza base, to allow some air to circulate, will keep it covered though.

A couple of photos for you (the scratches on the board don't look that bad in reality, time for a new one anyway me thinks).

[BBQer]

Never made a stilton, so I don't know much about it - heck I don't know much about any of 'em, but I'll jump in anyway!

Did you do that needling process that's been mentioned in regard to blues and stiltons?

What temp/humidity have you been aging it at?

Still looks pretty good!

A piece of the rind tore off the brie I'm aging when I flipped it. Wasn't two days and the mould was covering it up again.

[BlueCheese]

My guess would be it was too warm. reneedl it if u havent and keep the air circulating.

[Richierich]

Its due for its second needling on Sunday. Will have to remember to take the lid off the pot more often. Its on the side in the garage, so I guess the temperature is whatever it is outside.

[saucisson]

That'll be about 11deg C then, which I would have thought should be OK, so long as the few sunny days we've had didn't push the daytime temperature up too high. It does look rather like some of mine turned out, which were at 16 deg C , which really is too warm.

Dave

[Richierich]

It does taste good though, I have placed it in the fridge for a day or so and see if I can dry it out a little, it is very sweaty at the moment (might be due to a night in the house), I will put it back in the garage on Saturday/Sunday.

There was not a lot of blue in it, but there was certainly a Stilton like taste, the bit I left in the house over night is showing signs of blueing on the top alread, so I guess it has not had enough air. I might take BC's advice and scrape it and re-pierce after the weekend.

I think I might also have to invest in a proper press and get me some more on the go, or do you think the weather will start to warm up too much and maybe not have time for it to mature properly. Am I right in thinking it will still age/mature in a fridge, just slower?

[BlueCheese]

Woke up to this this morning and still snowing.
Was about 5c last few days and melting everything now its -9, at least better then -15 that we have been having (and -25).

[Richierich]

I think I might scrape the soft bit off the side of the cheese, the top that was cut off is going lovely and blue, and nice and dry.