Cheese Update

I was very lazy over the weekend and did not make any cheese.  I was too busy socialising and catching up with old friends, old cheese and old wine!

Anyway, I have saved the milk I bought on last Friday for a cheese making session this Friday evening.  I have decided to make a Farmhouse Cheddar or Caerphilly.  Both have relatively short ripening times and are ready to eat within a month.

The Camembert that I made last week has white mould all over them.  Here is a photo I took a few minutes ago;

 

It looks a bit squished, but that is how it came out of the cheese mould.  It will be fine in another month, and ready for the table.

As for the Stilton I made last week, it turned out to be a bit too dry and cracked in half.  I have had to wrap it in foil early to get it to keep together.  It is just showing signs of blue mould growth at the top of the photo, and should go crazy over the next week.  I am hoping that by wrapping it tightly, it should still be OK, and I will just turn it every couple of days to help mat it back together. 

You can see the crack better in this picture.  I nearly cried, until I remembered watching how they wrapped Roquefort cheese in thick tin foil in France.  Before I wrapped the cheese it was laying in half on the bottom of the ripening container.  All in all a pretty good recovery, and this Stilton should be ready in about 10 weeks.

I think that after one of the ripening containers are freed up I will make a Castello Blue, which is essentially a Camembert with blue veins in it.  I haven’t found a recipe, but should be able to make it up as I go along.  I believe that if I add the blue mould to the milk with the starter, make the Camembert, and then spray the out sides with white mould and punch a few holes in each one, we should achieve the desired effect.  It will be at least a month before I give this a go.  I will let you all know how it goes.  Wish me luck, and happy cheese making one and all!