Tonight I removed my Stilton from the mold and smoothed the surface with a hot knife. This thing has beautiful greenish blue mold in every crack and crevice.
I also pierced the cheese with a sterilized wooden skewer from top to bottom and from side to side, going all the way through the cheese. I must have put 60 hholes in it by the time I was finished.
The cheese is nice and firm but still moist. The texture is very creamy.
I’m aging it at 50 degrees F and trying to get the humidity up. Currently the humidity in the fridge is only at 48% but I have added a bowl of water and a wicking cloth.
I have the cheese covered with a very tall plastic food grade tupperware container (about 15” tall by 4” square) and have the cheese resting on a saucer. There is some air gap around the outside of the saucer but I feel confident this will keep the cheese nice and moist.
I figure if I get a reading of 60% in the fridge the cheese should be in the 80% - 90% range inside the container. I could always put the tupperware lid on the container but I’m scared to death of having this cheese melt on me.
I’ll keep checking the log from time to time to make sure it’s not drying out. Hopefully my efforts will be rewarded in a couple of months time.
I’m excited about this cheese and wanted to share my progress.
I also waxed two nice size balls of provolone tonight and they are nice and elastic. The last time I made provolone I let it dry too much and the texture was bordering on crumbly when sliced. This time I think I’ve finally got it right and feel that the cheese will have the proper texture. Only time will tell but things look good (and smell good) so far.
Dave
Just keep checking a couple times a day.