dont see them as mistakes but steps in the learning curve. See what u need to watch out for in the next batch.

here’s what my point reyes blue is looking like now:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/djpiebob/4393240178

it tastes REALLY GOOD! i’m so pleased!

it’s runny at the edges, but solid and creamy further in. all the holes i poked are very blue; there’s a nice regular pattern of dots on each end :)

it seemed so ready at this point that i wrapped it in two layers of foil and just stuck it in the regular fridge.

thanks so much for all your advice!

That looks real good !

pie - 27 February 2010 08:30 PM

it seemed so ready at this point that i wrapped it in two layers of foil and just stuck it in the regular fridge.
thanks so much for all your advice!

Blue cheese does stand freezing without any loss. I am at a bit of a loss too. Why did you peel off the outside? That’s just as good as the inside and I eat that as well!
It will improve a bit in the fridge, firm it up a bit!

So these little guys are now at five weeks. I have opened one now and I will I leave the others go to 6 and 8 weeks before trying them for comparison purposes. The first tastes buttery, blue and smooth, with a slightly bitter tang. As you can see, very little bluing inside.

They look real nice, the taste is what counts so if u like it then its a success

Hey guys, they all look gooooood!!!!!!! I wonder if you have considered making new holes in one of them to encourage more bluing on the interior- if you want more blue, that is.
Bobbie

newbie - 28 February 2010 12:43 AM

pie - 27 February 2010 08:30 PM

it seemed so ready at this point that i wrapped it in two layers of foil and just stuck it in the regular fridge.
thanks so much for all your advice!

Blue cheese does stand freezing without any loss. I am at a bit of a loss too. Why did you peel off the outside? That’s just as good as the inside and I eat that as well!
It will improve a bit in the fridge, firm it up a bit!

the recipe i’m using (in ‘home cheese making’ by ricki carroll) says to scrape the outside, in fact it says to do it twice with ~20 days in between to let the mold regrow, but i don’t really think there needs to be more mold on this cheese :).

and another friendly advisor told me i can use the scrapings in soup, so i totally plan to. i think they will go very well with chard and potatoes.

Hi to the blue lovers-
I’m still on my second blue cheese attempt- the first having a not-so-great result… thought I’d share some photos of Day 10 and Day 20. Today is Day 20. The big one is a little misshapen because of the surface I had it sitting on. What’s with that fluffy white stuff? It’s all new to me so I don’t know if this is normal or not. They are being stored at 70% humidity and 51 degrees F. I tasted a bit today as I scraped the exteriors and it’s a pretty decent flavor so far. I’m amazed at how thick and brainy the exterior had become, and there was a slimy layer beneath it which tasted good (ate it with a spoon). Hope they survive.
Bobbie

I’ve never had mold quite like that ... it looks like spider-egg cocoons. Maybe eating that cheese will give you special powers ... ;o)

Looks totally Awesome !!!

rock on! i am excited to see how it comes out!

I’m hoping for spidey sense.

so? did you get your spidey senses? :)

Well, I think I must have gained magical cheese making powers, because it turned out *great*. I’m thrilled! It’s better than I’d hoped for- I took it out of the fridge thinking I might be throwing it away, but once I scraped it and tasted it again, I discovered I had something pretty good on my hands. I’ll definitely be making another one. Thanks for all the support!
Bobbie