yesterday I started for the first time with White Stilton with blueberries, following the recipe from Tim Smith.
According to the recipe it it rested during the night in a cheesecloth with about 4 kg on top.
The curd came out almost dry. Following the recipe I had to break in into 1 inch pieces and then it has to go into moulds without any pressure.
Will the pieces of curd form a solid cheese this way?
Anybody any experience with this recipe?
it should say to flip it regularly that way it slowly compresses evenly 2 times a day. The thing about small batches though the bulk weight is not enough to compress itself, so trial and error testing is required. The blueberries req salting or sugar/honey or they will get moldy and ruin things.
Thanks for your response Neil!
I’m flipping them about every hour at the moment (4 days holiday!) and they are getting better. I had some more than would fit in the molds I wanted to use, so I had some in a baby Gouda mold as well.
I’m planning to clean them every day with a brine until they are dry and then I’ll decide if I let them get a natural rind or use a transparent coating.
little update on the white stilton:
After flipping them almost every hour during the weekend, I have put them in the fridge (50F) and this morning they were dryer and harder then I expected. Turned them again this morning and when I came home from work this evening, they were still dry, also on the bottom.
Tomorrow I’m working from home (thanks to the internet) so I will dip them into the brine once more and (I hope I’m not offending somebody), they will get the first layer of coating tomorrow afternoon. I know they are expected to get a natural rind, but since they have a very bobbly outside and we are going for a holiday in a couple of weeks, I don’t take any risk and will coat them.
BTW: We are going to Austria for two weeks and I hope to find some cheese making farmers there and come back with some cheese and recipees…
keeping them in a humid container is best, with a crack of fresh air so they dont dry out.
Bring back lots of pics from Austria, never been their, Germany would be the closest I got to it.
During regular maintainance of my cave I discovered some mold on one of the pieces of White Stilton. Because the outside of the cheese was so full of craters and holes, I did not trust it anymore.
I cleaned the outside, grabbed a knife and cut the cheese into two halves. (I’ll add a picture later). After I had cut away the rind, it was time to taste:
Delicious, althougs a bit young!
Fresh taste, a little bit sour until the taste of a blueberry came free and a good nose (excuse me, I used to make wine also). Didn’t last a day…
Last weekend our neighbour celebrated his birthday and I cracked the small piece for him (about one metric pound).
A lot of people asked me where I bought this delicious cheese…
LOL
When it comes to bloomed cheese I dont skimp on culture, the faster it grows the quicker the surface is secure from contamination. I would wash out your cave with vinegar at least if your getting the green/black stuff.
Last saturday on an other party, I cracked the last White Stilton with blueberries and Neil was right: You have to use salt for the berries, otherwise they will get moldy. Had to cut out a lot of blueberries, but the cheese itself was still delicious. I will certainly try this once again with some adjustments.
Also cracked my last Cabra al Vino, was also wonderfull. Still a fine aftertaste that reminds of wine. Even someone who doen’t like goat cheese at all, had to admit that it was a fine cheese.
