Note about original roquefort production (from Wikipedia): "The mold that gives Roquefort its distinctive character (Penicillium roqueforti) is found in the soil of the local caves. Traditionally the cheesemakers extracted it by leaving bread in the caves for six to eight weeks until it was consumed by the mold. The interior of the bread was then dried to produce a powder. Nowadays the mold can be produced in a laboratory, which allows for greater consistency. The mold may either be added to the curd, or introduced as an aerosol, through holes poked in the rind."
Blue Cheese - May 14, 2010
- We basically followed the recipe in the Cheesemaker's Manual. This book has easy-to-follow, concise recipes that generally can be mostly completed in an evening (besides the aging steps). This recipe seemed much easier to follow than the professor's or Carroll's.
- We used Societe Roquefort cheese for the mould. We used quite a bit of it (perhaps too much? Time will tell). We applied it twice, once to the curds before draining them (as per Carroll's instructions) which seemed silly, so we applied it again when we put it into molds (as per the Cheesemaker's Manual and the professor's instructions).
- We used 4 gallons of milk, which made a ton of curd. Once it strained it compressed to about half it's original size. We made 2 rounds - a large birthday cake, and a brie-sized round.
Within 5 days, nice looking mold started forming on the outside:
The large round is aging in J's cooler. The small one is aging in my basement.
- May 23 Update
- A day or two ago, the cheese (nearly sealed in an upside-down pyrex bowl w/ cover on sushi mat) was damp, almost mushy to the touch on the surface. I washed and boiled the (very mouldy) sushi mat, dried the bowl and cover, and flipped the cheese. This time I placed the bowl a centimeter or two off-center on the lid so that some moisture can escape. It seems a little better now, a day or two later.
