Having made homemade Stilton cheese at least once from quality ingredients and in compliance with all recipe standards, you will forget about its counterparts from the store. The taste - a little nutty, slightly oily and spicy - will make even a person who considers such a variety too harsh and does not understand what the "salt" is in a fan of blue-mold cheese. Stilton is the perfect moldy cheese for raw food beginners and prepares you for other, more complex and intense varieties.
It is necessary
A saucepan for 9 liters of milk, 8 liters of milk itself, a special bag for cheese mass and draining of whey, 1 liter of cream (optimum fat content - 20%), mesophilic starter culture, rennet, calcium chloride, moldy culture Penisillium Roqueforti, cheese mold for 1 kilogram, cheese press, thermometer, a few spoons
Instructions
Step 1
The very first thing is to have all the ingredients you need for the Stilton cheese. Do it right away so you don't have to run around the kitchen with your hands covered in whey and waste precious minutes.
Step 2
Since "Stilton" is pressed, albeit under slight pressure, give preference to a form with a lid and several holes, as it is most convenient to work with it.
Step 3
Such a simple cheese press can be made with your own hands from just two boards, four self-tapping screws and the same number of wooden sticks-columns.
Step 4
Pour all the milk and all the cream into a saucepan. In a 9 liter container, a space of at least a few centimeters should remain from the surface of the contents to the lid.
Step 5
Heat milk to 30-31 degrees Celsius. This temperature is ideal for mold growth and mesophilic culture.
Step 6
After bringing the milk to the desired temperature, add the mesophilic starter to the saucepan. The optimal amount of culture for 9 liters is about 1/8 tablespoon.
Step 7
Add Penisillium Roqueforti to the starter. Due to its great activity, very little is needed, literally 1/64 of a tablespoon.
Step 8
Using a large slotted spoon, stir the contents of the pan well and thoroughly, but slowly and smoothly. Don't try to do it quickly or even with a mixer. Such actions will disrupt the structure of milk, which, again, will negatively affect the taste of the cheese. As a result, the leaven and Penisillium Roqueforti will spread well and noticeably in the milk and on its surface.
Step 9
Pour some water into a glass, in which dilute carefully shaken calcium chloride. The required amount of this ingredient is about 1/4 tablespoon. Mix the contents well and pour into a saucepan.
Step 10
Do the same steps as with calcium chloride with rennet. The optimal amount is about 1/8 tablespoon. If you are faced with a choice - which enzyme to buy, dry and effervescent or liquid - give preference to the second option, since such an ingredient interacts best with milk and affects its coagulation.
Step 11
Stir the contents of the saucepan again thoroughly with a slotted spoon. After that, close the milk with a lid and leave to curl for about 1.5 hours. If after this time the contents are not curdled enough, give the milk another 15-20 minutes.
Step 12
Cut the whole mass with a knife into cubes with a side of 1, 5-2 centimeters.
Step 13
Stir the cubes lightly with a slotted spoon. If you come across too large pieces, also cut them up while the cubes are on the surface.
Step 14
Now comes, perhaps, the most boring stage of making cheese - smooth and long stirring. This should be done in order for the particles to thicken and release as much serum as possible. The optimal time for stirring is within 20-30 minutes.
Step 15
Then close the pan again with the lid so that the cheese mass settles to the bottom of the pan. The time for this is approximately 5 minutes. The first stage of making blue cheese is now complete.
