Blueee
|There is a cheese I really like the look of – Shropshire Blue – The combination of the annatto orange cheese with the blue veins is quite stunning and looks the part on any cheeseboard. So I though I would make a cheese today that is inspired by the Shropshire, though mine will be a softer and creamier blue.
Also a few differences in the cheese making process
- I’ve also been creating two cheeses per 10L recently, a 6L aged one and a 4L fresh one, so this cheese was made with 6L of milk.
- I used a new brand of culture – Country Brewer: Flora Danica. This is a lot heavier than the other brand of culture I have been using so the culture weights are much higher. Don’t mind that at all, much easier to weigh out.
Ingredients
- 6l of non-homogenised fresh milk
- 1.24g of Flora Danica starter
- a pinch of Penicillin Roqueforti (Blue mould)
- 1.5ml of 50% CaCl solution
- 1.8ml of Annatto
- 1.7ml of 140 IMCU/ml rennet
- 14g of salt flakes
![Ripening Milk - the cultures, blue mould an annatto have been added.](http://www.yarrawonga.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Blueee-Ripening-Milk-450x337.jpg)
![Freshly Cut Curds. The little black spots in the curds are not contamination but rather the blue mould spores!](http://www.yarrawonga.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Bluee-Freshly-Cut-Curds-450x337.jpg)
![Curds in the hoop ready to drain without wieghts overnight. The cheese is not pressed to keep it moist.](http://www.yarrawonga.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Blueee-Curds-in-the-hoop-ready-to-drain-without-wieghts-overnight-450x440.jpg)
![Pierced and ready for the cheese cave. We should see some blue mould growth in a week or so. Lets hope there are lots of cavities in there for the mould to grow in!](http://www.yarrawonga.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Blueee-Pierced-and-ready-for-the-cheese-cave-450x423.jpg)