bleu cheese- 68 days old

It has been a few weeks since I have updated our bleu cheese. He is doing well but I wasn't super happy with the looks of him so after watching how they prepare Stilton I decided to do some minor surgery on him... just to make him look a little prettier. Here he is before and what you can see is that the chunks are very firm around the edges so I shaved them down just a bit to soften the edges.

I then took my supplies and began salting him down with a little water and using the cheese brush to scrub and smooth out the edges even more.

Now that he is all scrubbed and salted Joel suggested I poke holes in the top & bottom to make sure there is proper air flow to the center. If you see bleu cheese with long veins running down it is due to this process and allows air to penetrate the middle. Anywhere there is air present bleu mold will grow.

He is now aging again in the basement and keeping the humidity level up is the biggest challenge since Utah is so dry but I tend to him every day. He will be ready for eating by the end of February. And yes, I did sample a small shaving and what I found so far is it is quite firm in texture but possibly more moist on the inside. The flavor is there and it does taste like bleu cheese but what was the most impressive was the numbing of my mouth the second it melted. I know a good bleu cheese makes your mouth numb but this was right at the onset so not sure how that will turn out... interesting stuff! Let me know if you'd like a sample.