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Minnesota Blue Cheese For 100 lb. (12 gallons) raw or pasteurized milk Ripen milk for 1.5-2 hours to show increase of 0.03-0.05 %TA or decrease to pH 6.50-6.60. Cut the curd into pea-sized to hazelnut-sized particles depending on the desire to make moister or harder cheese. Stir for 30-40 min. and maintain temp. at 85-86 °F. Settle curds under whey until whey has increased by 0.02-0.03 %TA or a decrease to pH 6.20-6.30. Drain whey completely from curds. The more the curds are the drained the more open the cheese texture will be. A drain rack lined with a heavy cheesecloth can be used for the best separation of curds and whey. Work the curds gently on the cloth until the whey is removed. Hoop curds immediately after draining to prevent cooling. Use open-ended, perforated hoops set on a drain matting or heavy cheesecloth. Keep the room temp. at 68-70 °F. Turn the cheeses every 15 min. during the first hour and then every 30 min. for the next three hours. Maintain 68-70 °F overnight. Next day or within the next 3 days the cheeses are turned 2 times per day until the cheese is pH 4.70-4.80. The draining room humidity and temp. must be maintained at greater than 80 %RH and 68-70 F. Move to the ripening room at pH 4.70-4.80 for salting. The room should have 50 °F, 95-98 %RH, and moderate ventilation. Salting is done by hand with medium coarse flake salt as follows: Alternatively the cheeses can be brined in a saturated (20-24% salt) brine for 4-5 hours per lb. After removing from the brine the cheeses should be kept in a room that is 50 °F and 95-98 %RH with moderate ventilation. Day 14 Ripen for 90 days at 50 °F and 95-98 %RH. Blue mold growth inside the cheeses should be complete after 30 days. Test a wheel and if there isn't enough blueing the cheeses can be needled again. Scrape the cheeses periodically to remove mold and slime. Usually 3 scrapings are needed during this time. After 90 days of ripening the cheeses are scraped clean and wrapped in aluminum foil or foil/wax 2-ply wrapping papers. Store at 40-45 °F for sale and distribution. |
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