Buttermilk Blue

Ingredients:
2 quarts whole milk
1 quart cultured buttermilk
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 tsp. mesophilic culture
1/16 + 1/8 tsp. penicillium roqueforti mold powder
1/4 tsp. calcium chloride (if using pasteurized milk), diluted in ¼ cup unchlorinated
water
1/4 tsp. liquid rennet, diluted in ¼ cup unchlorinated water
1 ½ tsp Cheese salt or other non-iodized salt

Instructions:
Heat milks and cream to 90°F. Turn off the heat. Sprinkle the culture and 1/16th tsp
of mold powder over the surface of the milk, and allow it to rehydrate for 5 minutes.
Stir in using up-and-down motions, for about 1 minute. Cover and maintain
temperature for 30 minutes to ripen.

Add the diluted calcium chloride and mix using up and down motions for about 1
minute. Add the diluted rennet and mix using up and down motions for about 1
minutes. Cover pot and let set for 1 1/2 hours.

Check for a clean break. Cut the curds into 1-inch pieces and let sit for 10 minutes.
Gently stir for 10 minutes to shrink curds slightly and firm them up. Let stand for 15
minutes. Ladle off enough whey to expose the curds.

Line colander with damp cheesecloth and ladle curds into colander. Drain for 10
minutes. Tie corners of cloth together to form a draining sack and hang for 15-20
minutes, or until the whey stops draining.

Line a 4” Camembert mold with cheese cloth and place it on a rack over a tray.
Ladle curds into mold filling about ¼ of the way. Press together with hand. Lightly
sprinkle curds with one third of the mold powder, then add more curds to half way,
repeat with mold powder. Repeat until full. Pull cloth up tight and smooth and cover
curds with cloth tails. Let cheese drain for 4 hours at room temp then unwrap, flip,
redress and let drain for 4 hours.

Carefully remove cheese from mold, unwrap and sprinkle one side with ¾ tsp of the
salt. Flip cheese and place the mold over it. Place it on a mat in a ripening box and
sprinkle with remaining salt. Let drain for 5 hours then remove the mold. Dry salt
the sides of the cheese. Put cheese in ripening box, cover loosely and age at 54%
for up to 1 week. Flip cheese daily, draining off any accumulated moisture.

Use a sterilized needle or skewer and pierce the cheese all the way through, four
times horizontally and four times vertically.
 Buttermilk Blue

Secure lid of ripening box and ripen at 50F. Blue mold should appear on the outside
within 10 days. Watch cheese carefully, flip daily. Over next 2 weeks, pierce the
cheese one or two more times in the same manner as the first.

Ripen for 6 weeks, rub off any excess mold with dry cheesecloth, then wrap cheese
in foil and store in refrigerator for up to 3 more months.