A complete guide from start to finish on how to make Stilton Cheese
The recipe:
1) Ripening: Add the starter culture (Flora Danica 2g + Blue Mold). Allow the milk to ripen for 15-20 minutes at 30C. pH should be about 6.7
2) Rennet: Mix the rennet and it to the milk. DO NOT dilute the rennet and leave it standing for a period of time before adding it to the vat. Stir for 3 minutes.
3) Cutting: After 50 minutes- 1 1/2 hours the curd should be ready to be cut. Test for firmness by laying the back of the hand flat on the surface of the curd near the side of the vat and gently pulling away. The curd should come cleanly from the side of the vat. You can also check for a 'clean break' . The curd should split cleanly and the whey should be yellowish green. Do not cut the curd before it is ready. pH should be about 6.6-6.65
3) Cut the curd with the vertical knife lengthways into 12.5mm strips. Wait for 3-5 minutes until the curd has sunk down. Then cut horizontally and wait again. Then into cubes. You should end up with 12.5mm cubes.
4) Scalding: Leave for 5 minutes until the cubes starts to sink. Then stir for 5 minutes then leave it for about 4 hours
5) After 4 hours drain whey, to the level of curds cut mat into 30cm blocks (pH5.1)
6) The next day remove the remaining whey when the pH is at 4.6-4.7.
7) Mill into Walnut sized pieces
8) Add salt 2.5% of final curd weight
9) Let it drain until dry
10) Hoop as shown. Turn after 1 hour then again after another hour
11) Over 3-4 days, turning after 1 hr, then daily. Room
temperature 20C and 95-100% RH.
12) Remove from hoop and surface rub smooth.
13) Store at 10C, turn daily at 80%RF
14) Pierce at 7 weeks.
15) Pack at 10-11 weeks
16) Mature until 12-14 weeks
Making the blue:
Before starting a Stilton you need the blue which is particular to Stilton as different blues have different taste, textures and maturation times. You can’t do it without it. It isn’t sold anywhere so you’ll need to cultivate it yourself – it’s not difficult.
You’ll need a microwave, a plastic container that can be sealed, some bread (sourbread is best), a knife and a piece of stilton.
First clean the plastic container, your hand, the knife etc. Break the bread into pieces of about 2cm cubes and put it into the container then seal the container and put it into the microwave. Blast it in the microwave on full heat for 2 -3 minutes until it is very hot. Bread has naturally occurring blue mold on it which will taste horrible if cultivated in cheese and could be bad for your health. Putting it in the microwave like this sterilizes the bread and ensures only the Stilton mold will grow.
With a clean knife spread the blue from the Stilton around the bread. Seal the container and keep it at 20C. After about a week blue mold will have formed on the bread. This is the penicillium roqueforti from the Stilton – not the mold that occurs naturally on the bread. Vacuum pack it and put it in the freezer for when you need to make your Stilton.
When you are ready rehydrate the mold by breaking a piece of bread off and putting it in water for a few hours before you make the Stilton. When the bread iis soggy stir it around then sive it so you just have the penicillium roqueforti and not bread crumbs in your solution.
Some important notes:
You must use the blue from a Stilton as different blues have different taste, textures and maturation times.
The curd should be quite dry when hooping as this will affect the final texture and the openings for the blue.
The bluing should be uniform throughout the cheese before sealing as the areas with more blue will mature more quickly than areas with less blue resulting in a cheese that has a different taste in different areas. Use a cheese iron or you can cut a piece of tubing or even a pen. If you seal or open it before it is blued it won’t really work or will take a long time to mature.
The hoop size is very important. Bigger than 8 inches and the blue will be too ripe on the inside of the cheese compared with the outside.
If it is not high enough the openings will be too big making the bluing hard to control. You can compensate for a shorter hoop by using weights.
You don’t want the blue mold to come before the piercing at 7 weeks as the cheese will be very creamy and the body of the cheese won’t have any flavor. The blue will ripen the cheese before the cheese has an character of its own. Keep the temp at 18-20C during the first 4 days (not over) and don’t leave it at that temperature for more than 5 days or the blue may come before it has been sealed.
These two links have some extra information on it:
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