Is blue cheese ok using pasturized whole cow milk? The recipes that I have read, seem that it is not pressesd. I realize that the use of the bacterium is needed.

You can use pasteurized milk for cheese making.  It will not yield as firm a curd, but it works quite well.  The bacteria you need is contained in your culture; and in the case of blue cheese, the mold that is added gives it’s distinctive flavor.  Neil can tell you more.  He’s the blue cheese man.

When dealing with “commercial” milk I always go with 2%, then Il add cream (18%) to bring up the fat content. the whole problem is the paturization and the seperation of the fat particles so they dont join up. This will give a thicker curd.
Bloomed cheeses are more forgiving then other cheeses, they like acid so hitting the PH mark is not that criticle.

So pasturized whole milk ( not homoginized) would work with the addition of cream? The source I am thinking says that this is the closest thing to raw milk that they can sell. He claims that the cream is in there and they do use it to make curd. ( which is very good). If I add cream, is it to be heavy or light,store bought, or neither?

If you are using non-homogenized milk you should have no problem.  It is the homogenization, not the pasteurization, that affects the structure of the milk.  A lot of cheese makers will add calcium chloride (CaCl) to the milk to help counteract the effects of homogenization.  But if your milk is only pasteurized, you should have no problem.  Adding cream will make a richer cheese.  Whether you use heavy or light cream, or half and half, is up to you.  Any of them will up the fat content and make a richer cheese.  It kind of depends on how much you are willing to spend.

Are you about ready to take the plunge?

Yup as Rich said, its the Homogenization that damages the milk. I use 18% because it has the least amount of chemicals/addatives, whipping cream and the like have addatives in their.

Thanks for the info. If this miserable winter EVER ends, I am going to try pressing a cheddar and make a blue. I am a little nervous,but what do I have to lose. With the tutlelage of your expertise,I will be succesful.

Thanks for the flattering words.  Hope it all works out for you.  BTW, you are planning on keeping a log of each attempt aren’t you?  It really helps to have a record to look back at; so that tweaking your recipe becomes more knowledgeable and less of a guess.

And I agree with you on the winter comment.  It’s been a cold one.  I think we’ve been spoiled by several mild ones in a row.  Now that we get a real winter, we wimp out.  It’s bad enough here in Arkansas.  But I imagine NY is more closely related to the tundra.  My sister lives near Chicago, so I get regular details about the extreme cold.  Hang in there - Spring is not that far off.

Good luck, the bloomed cheeses are easier then the hard cheeses