Small Blue Cheese (Petit Bleu)

Want to make a small blue cheese in less than 40 days?  Easy!  Make it small or as the French say Petit Bleu.

This cheese uses aromatic mesophilic (aka Flora Danica) and Penicillium Roqueforti to create a delicious, quick to ripen, small blue cheese.

I’ve made a video tutorial to help guide you through the process.  It took 40 days to make, as I filmed every step that I took so that you can replicate this cheese at home.

So to help out even further, here is the written recipe.

Small Blue Cheese (Petit Bleu)

Ingredients

• 4 litres (~1 gal) full cream milk
• ¼th tsp Calcium Chloride diluted in 1/4 cup non-chlorinated water
• 1/8th tsp Aromatic Mesophilic (Flora Danica)
• 1/8th tsp Penicillium Roqueforti
• ¼th tsp Liquid Rennet (190 IMCU/ml) diluted in 1/4 cup of non-chlorinated water
• 1 Tablespoon non iodized salt

Alternatively, instead of the aromatic meso and P. Roqueforti, you could use a sachet of Blue Mould Culture Blend, as I did in the video.

Special Equipment

• 4 Camembert moulds or hoops
• 2 draining boards
• 2 draining mats (sushi mats)
• Ladle
• 2 maturation boxes

Method

1. Clean and sanitize all of your equipment.
2. Pour the milk into an 8 litre pot (2 gal) and heat to 30°C (86°F), and then remove from heat.
3. Sprinkle the starter culture and mould over the top and allow rehydrate for 30 seconds, then stir to ensure the culture is dissolved and well mixed throughout the milk.  Allow to rest covered for 45 minutes for acid development to occur.
4. Add the rennet solution, stirring gently for 1 minute.
5. Cover and rest for 60 minutes or until a clean break is achieved.
6. Cut the curds into 13mm (½ inch) cubes.  Let cut curds rest for 10 minutes.
7. Work the salt into the curds by stirring for 2 minutes.
8. Gently ladle the curds into the Camembert moulds filling to the top.  Allow for some drainage to occur then fill with remaining curds.
9. After 4 hours of draining, flip the cheese in the moulds so the top is now at the bottom.  Flip them again in 2 hours then allow to drain overnight (for at least 12-24 hours).
10. Remove each cheese from the moulds salt both top and bottom with an extra ½ tsp of salt (¼ each side), and let air dry by placing on a mat for 2 days at room temperature, turning every 12 hours.  You can use the maturation boxes with a tea towel or addition sushi mats placed over the top.
11. Using your thermometer probe or bamboo skewer, pierce about 15 holes into one surface of the cheese.  Place cheese back into maturation boxes on a mat to ensure they are elevated.  Fit the lid to ensure a constant humidity of approx 80-90% RH.
12. Mature the cheese at 10-13°C (50-55°F), turning each cheese every second day for the first week.  The mould should start to appear on the surface of the cheese in about 4-6 days.
13. After the first week, turn the cheese at least once a week.  Let it age for a total of 35-40 days.  The cheese should be entirely covered with blue mould.
14. With a flat knife, gently scrape off the mould layer from each cheese.  Wrap in aluminium foil or cheese wrap and store at 4°C (39.2°F) until consumed.  Remember that the mould will still grow at this temperature, but a lot slower than if in your cheese fridge/cave.

If you like your small blue cheese milder, then you can consume it at about 25 days, however mould will not have penetrated the cheese entirely and the paste will be quite firm.  For a smoother paste, then allow full maturation to occur.

This cheese is absolutely delicious with a delightfully blue flavour that lingers on the palate.

You can pick up all the ingredients and most of the equipment required to make this cheese at Little Green Workshops!

We now ship to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States.