As you may know already, Friday night at my place is cheese making night. It has become a regular institution, whereby Kim leaves the milk out on the kitchen bench for me and as soon as I get home, I start to set up and sterilise the equipment as she serves up dinner.
Tonight I am making a simple blue cheese using the recipe from Ricki Carroll’s Home Cheese Making book which uses 2 gallons or 8 litres of milk. It is easy to follow, and I am currently about 5 hours into the process with about an hour to run until it is time for bed.
Here is where I have got to so far.
Sushi mats on top and bottom of the moulds.
I used 14 litres of milk and adjusted the recipe to suit. I ended up with these two smaller cheeses which are in Camembert hoops.
I also had enough curd for this very large cheese. Now all I have to do is find a container large enough for it to fit in to keep it humid enough in the cheese fridge.
As they mature, I will show you what happens as the blue mould grows. This recipe is very quite similar to making Camembert, with the aftercare of Stilton. A bit of a hybrid cheese. After about 3 days of drying and salting, I pierce each one with many holes so that the bacteria can breath and make the blue mould. Then they go into the humid cheese fridge.