KING BLUE STILTON........

[jacko]

Franco....

if you are seriously going to make a stilton I will send you the
pukka cultures that I use.

If you are going to run a cheese forum then you may as well start off on the right foot.

.

Can you easily buy the vegetemarian *shudders* rennet substitute, and is it absolute piffle?

(not sure that I can convince the missus to eat the cheese if she knows what rennet is)

[Rik vonTrense]

Ah but the vegetarian rennet is not made from a calf's stomach lining.

........

[Fallow Buck]

Rik,

I run a small pheasant shoot ovver a dairy farm so have acces to a few litres of fresh milk whenever I need it. Would this be usefull for making cheese? Or do I need the pasturised stuff?

To be honest I like the white stiltons with bits of fruit in them more, but the missus is very into blue cheese so I might give this a try.

You seem really knowledgable and I was wandering if there is a similar recipie for a brie/camembert type cheese you could post?

One of the neighbours used to make a couple of types of Sheeps cheese one of which they smoked. An EU directive meant that because the parlour was on the other side of the lane to the pasture they had to disinfect the road 8 times a day (before and after the sheep crossed ffor milking each day) and ended up having to close this small and interesting cottage business. They eventually had to sell the farm, but it was very interesting to hear about what they used to do. My curiosity has been there ever since, but as yet I haven't taken the plunge.

A new forum would be really interesting.

FB

[Rik vonTrense]

Hi Buck....

No problem mate ......but to be honest I have not had very much luck with stilton with fruit in it like apricot or pineapple.

They all seem okay for about four weeks but when they mature the fruit has deteriorated so I think they must treat these with chemicals to stop the fruit from reacting with the cheese without getting too technical.

You can use any milk you like even from Tesco and even dried skimmed milk reconstituted and added cream.

The best cheese is made with unpasturised unhomogenised milk as it has all the right bacteria in it for good character.....I would have given my eye teeth for a supply of what they call RAW milk.

Only snag is you have to be careful who eats it as people with poor immunity systems could get few tummy troubles.

The French soft cheeses are very easy to make and are ready in a couple of weeks.....I am sure when Franco starts his new cheesepleese forum I will load it with cheeses for you interested guys to make .

So it maybe wise not to mix the two otherwise we will have cheeses being forced into collagen skins and being smoked.

[Franco]

Rik,
I followed your recipe but I could only find VegeRen and it's useage rate was 10 drops per pint of milk, I used it at that rate although your recipe calls for 10 drops in total, which is right?

Thanks

Franco

[Rik vonTrense]

Hi Franco....

With vegeren use a couple of teaspoons in cool water to dissipate it. The vegetarian rennet is just as good but it deteriorates with age so you havew to use a bit more.....

It's like yeast you can have too little but not really too much. If you do not have enough then it takes ages to get a clean break.

The CLEAN BREAK is a mystery to most new cheesemakers but the way to tell if the curds are ready to cut is to test the viscosity of it if you immerse your bent finger into the mass of congealed curds and then bring it out still bent the curds will fall away cleanly from your finger if the curds are ready to cut.....if they are not ready then you have to leave them longer.

Don't forget to well stir your milk when you add anything to it for a few minutes at least.

And keep the temperature constant otherwise you will change the character of the cheese.

And keep a written times log so you know exactly what you have done and can repeat it if necessary.

.


.

[jenny_haddow]

Hi Rik

Today, following the recipe you posted and the tips you have given, I made a cheese!
So far so good, I'm so damned excited about it I'm pacing the room!

Thanks for all the advice, I'm looking forward to the new cheese forum.

Cheers

Jen

[Rik vonTrense]

Blessed are the cheesemakers.........gorra say it.

Well done Jen.......don't forget to turn it night and morning whilst it is forming
it's shape in the mould.

Give us a daily report and we will see how we go.

A little tip which tends to avoid confusion between the two MOLD and MOULD

Now MOLD = OLD that's the furry stuff that grows on the outside of cheese.

MOULD = what U use as in formers to shape the cheese.

This is so we understand the instruction should we get it to clean off the MOLD and we dont leave the cheese as it is and clean off the MOULD.

.

[jenny_haddow]

Hi Rik

Thanks for the tips. As a potter I use moulds to form wonderful shapes in clay, unless they come from the other side of the herring pond and then they are molds. My moulds go moldy if I leave them damp.
I teach painting, ceramics and cookery, they are all art forms to my mind. My cheese, if it turns out well, will sit on the cheese dish I will have made for it with equal standing.
Looking forward to making some seriously squidgey cheese too.

Cheers

Jen

[jenny_haddow]

Rik

Turned the cheese this morning - still in one piece!

Jen

[Franco]

Thanks to Rik I've started my first Stilton I've made soft cheese in the past but been put off making hard cheese thinking it was difficult, this recipe is easy to follow and so far so good.

The cheese has now been pressed and turned for 3 days, it holds its shape but is still pretty 'bendy'.

The cheese is thinner than I would have liked but I only had a thin cake tin available, next time I will try a thicker one.

[Rik vonTrense]

Thats looking fine......thats the shape of a camembert or a Brie if it were bigger.

I have the proper plastic moulds of course but I started my first Stilton with a length cut from a four inch grey plastic drain pipe. You can drill some holes on it to help drain but it is not necessary if you use a cheesemat which is just platsic fine netting with square holes..

I always try to use traditional shapes for the cheeses thast's why I used a two pound peach tin for this with the ends cut out the make a good follower to press the cheese.

Sadly I have no photos of my stiltons as they have all been cleared off of my
computer but I taught a friend in Canada to make them and I think he has a picture tutorial I will try to find it.
'

/

[jenny_haddow]

My cheese looked lonely so I made another to keep it company! Seriously, I can see these disappearing rapidly when ready, so I will have to make them at regular intervals.
I've cut out the long cylindrical part of a large plastic mineral water bottle for the mould and used old CDs as followers, seems to work OK, and I had a plastic mesh tray in the salad drawer of my dairy fridge which is now doubling as a cheese mesh. I'm resisting the temptation to send off for the right gear until I taste the end result of this endeavour.
My cat, Roger, thinks this is the best venture yet, and would ride a unicycle round the kitchen whilst juggling for a bowl of the curd cheese!

Cheeers

Jen

[Rik vonTrense]

Hi Jen.....

You have obviously got the bug in the mean time why don't you make a quicker cheese if you like the cream cheese type of thing and you can flavour it with herbs etc and it's not so fattening on crackers..??

Neufchatel

Originated in Normandy France. It is a very soft, spreadable cheese similar to cream cheese. It differs from true cream cheese because it is made from whole milk and not cream. Neufchatel can be molded into many shapes and is traditionally molded in a heart shape.

.
INGREDIENTS
.
1/2 Gallon Fresh Milk
2 oz. Mesophilic Starter Culture (two tablsp buttermilk)
1/4 tab Rennet (Two teaspn vegeren)
..

1. Mix 1/2 gallon fresh whole milk with mesophilic starter.

2. . Mix vegeren into two tablespoons of COOL water. Mix this into the milk thoroughly using a whisk and stirring for at least 5 minutes.

3. . Cover and set aside to ripen for about 15-20 hours at room temp (70 F / 21 C).
4. The milk should be a firm curd within 24 hours, however the full 15-20 hours is needed to develop the correct flavor.

5. .. After 15-20 hours, gently ladle the curds into a colander lined with a FINE cheese cloth.

6. . Allow the curds to drain for awhile then tie the four corners of the cloth together. Hang it to drain 8-12 hours.

7. . After the curds have drained, place the curds into a small bowl.

8. . Mix by hand until pasty.

9. . Add salt, herbs, etc. to taste.

10. . Place the cheese into a sealable container into a refrigerator. The cheese will firm up a little once under refrigeration.



Tastes great on a bagel or on crackers with what ever you fancy.

You can also make it far richer by the addition of full whole cream.

.Haver a try,.


/

[jenny_haddow]

Rik, you're a star, thanks for that, I'll get some on the go. The old man comes back from 2 weeks in California at the weekend and will be desperate for home cooked grub, the cheese will surprise him!

Must go and turn my cheeses!

Cheers

Jen