I just tried making my first Stilton (White Stilton with blueberries) from Tim Smith’s recipe and had problems. After I added the rennet (to raw Jersey milk) and let it sit 90 minutes (per the recipe), there was a lot of curd and not much whey to ladle into the colander. I followed the rest of the recipe. At the end of flipping the mold the 1” cubes had not knit together. It didn’t look like they ever would so I pressed them (before pressing they were the texture of a traditional cheddar after the first press). The pressing was not part of the recipe (BTW Ricki’s recipe is almost identical). My questions are:
1. Is the 90 minutes too long to let the rennet set?
2. What is the proper texture of the curds after turning them in the mold? Do they knit together?
3. If what I ended up with isn’t what I should have ended up with, what should I do differently?
Since I haven’t ever eaten a Stilton I don’t know what I’m aiming for. The picture in Smith’s book is of a creamy cheese with a smooth texture.
Slim
