Blue vein cheese is easily identified by the thin lines of blue that thread through the otherwise cream colored cheese. When you eat blue vein cheese you will notice that the cheese has a strong, pungent scent and that it tastes tangy. Most types of blue vein cheese are a soft cheese that can be easily spread on a cracker or slice of toast, but there are some that have a crumbling texture. This article is about how you can make Roquefort, a type of blue vein cheese, in your own kitchen. Roquefort is a cheese that was developed and is still produced in the South of France.
Instructions
Make Blue Vein Cheese
1. Blue vein cheese is a creamy color because it is made out of raw milk. Depending on the type of blue vein cheese that you are making, the raw milk can come from sheep, goats, and cows. The milk that is used to make Roquefort blue vein cheese comes from one of three types of sheep, the Basco-Béarnaise, the Lacaune, and the Manech. The French believe that just having the right type of sheep is not enough to create the distinctive flavor of Roquefort cheese, they feel that their limestone rich soil helps flavor the milk. If you would like to make you very own Roquefort cheese you should plan on purchasing a one of these breeds of ewes. In order to make 2.2 pounds of Roquefort cheese you will need to have about 1.2 gallons of milk (4.5 liters) The good news is that each ewe should produce approximately 35 gallons of milk each season. You ewe will not produce milk before she has lambed and you should not use the milk for any type of human consumption until the lamb is at least 20 days old. The reason for the long delay is because the ewe produces antibodies in her milk for two to three weeks.
2. While you are waiting for your ewe’s milk to become usable, you can occupy your time by making penicillium. Penicillium is a type of fungus that isn’t harmful to your body, a good fungus. Penicillium is what makes the thin spider like veins that wind through the cheese. The traditional way of getting penicillium is to place loaves of bread in a dark, damp space, and letting them mold. After ten weeks the bread crust is pealed back to reveal the inside of the bread, which is nothing more then a fine green powder, the powder is called penicillium. The veins in two tons of Roquefort cheese can be created with just a quarter pound of penicillium. If you don’t like the idea of molding loaves of bread lying all over your house, you can purchase it online at cheese making stores. Many cheese making stores sell packets of bacterial cheese starters that will help you decide how much penicillium you will need to make a certain amount of Roquefort cheese.
3. Once your ewe is ready to be milked, and you have either made or purchased a small amount of penicillium, you will need to curdle the milk. The best way to curdle milk that is going to be made into cheese is to first strain the milk through a cheesecloth or a fine wire mesh. Straining the milk will rid it of any debris such as dirt or wax that may have fallen from the ewes udder while you were milking her. Once you have strained the milk you should heat it at 86 degrees F.
4. When the milk is warm, add rennet. Rennet is a product that is made from the fourth stomach of multi stomached animals. The easiest way to acquire it is to purchase it from a cheese supply store. Within two hours the milk should be curdled.
5. Once the mixture of milk and rennet is curdled, you will have to drain the excess liquid from the curdles. When the liquid has been removed from the curdles, you will pour the milk curdles into cheese molds. Your cheese molds should measure eight inches across and four inches wide.
6. Add a small pinch of penicillium to the curdles. Use your hands to mix the penicillium into the curdles.
7. When you have finished mixing, you will sprinkle a light layer of salt on all sides of the cheese mold. Let the salted cheese sit for one week. When the week is finished you need to brush off the excess salt and use a very fine needle to poke several holes into the cheese. These holes allow damp air to penetrate the cheese while the carbon dioxide is released.
8. Place the cheese molds in a cool dark place. Make sure there is enough space for air to flow between each of the cheese molds. The room where you are aging your cheese should be kept at 35 degrees F, and it should remain dark.
9. Your cheese will have to age for a minimum of three full months before you can even think about eating it.
Tags: Roquefort cheese, vein cheese, cheese molds, blue vein, cheese that
