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• The cheese is usually pierced with a thick needle first so
that oxygen will flow into its crevices and kickstart the
growth. The cheesemaker would repeat this process every
seven to fourteen days until sufficient growth of blue has
taken place.
• At this point, the cheese is wrapped in foil to prevent the
blue from growing out of control. The cheese is then immediately
moved to cooler temperature and aged for the
remaining period, allowing the processes of proteolysis
and lipolysis to take place and develop deep and complex
texture, flavor, and aroma. In some cases, this last stage
could take up several months past the development and
stoppage of the blue mold.
Bluing cheese at home
Trying to blue an unsuspecting cheese at home may prove
difficult. The cheese you purchase is often already aged, ripe,
and stable. It lacks sufficient nutrients to support the growth
of new blue mold. Competition from other well-established
molds and yeasts in the rind may be too much for the blue to
overcome at such late stage.
Having said that, this is not an impossible experiment.
one just needs to find a cheese that is very young and has little
or no rind. It must be moist enough to support the growth
of this mold, yet it firm enough to enable the puncture a hole
through it with a knitting needle. To "blue" it, one would need
blue mold (can be purchased or scraped off moldy rye bread
or another blue cheese, or simply pulverize a piece of blue
cheese in a blender with a little bit of water and a pinch of
salt). The procedure would be to sanitize a knitting needle
or metal skewer and dip it in the mold to "contaminate" it
with blue. Use it to pierce the cheese through from both ends
to assure ample mold seeding and clear air passages. Set the
cheese on its side so air can flow through it. It is best to start
it at about 55°F or 13°C (temperature of a wine cooler) with
high humidity (90%–95%). When the growth of blue is sufficient
(one to three weeks) wrap with foil and move to the
fridge for a few more weeks or months. In theory this should
work but blue cheese are finicky and tricky to get right. Many
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