This was one of the first cheeses I made, way back in October. I didn’t have any cultures then, so I used buttermilk and yogurt. I also didn’t have a Penicillium roqueforti culture, so I used some blue cheese from the grocery store blended in a bit of water, which I added while molding.

After 2-1/2 months, I cracked one of them open, but wasn’t very happy with the taste, which was very mild. So I decided to try an experiment — I wrapped the one I had cut into carefully, then left it in the fridge. The other one I left in my “cheese vault.” That was four months ago . . .

The one on the left is from the fridge (it’s shorter because I cut off the top, now bottom, to taste it). As you can see, even though the vault one was kept in the correct humidity (at last for the last three of four months) it has shrunk considerably by comparison.

“Fridgy” (that’s his nickname now) looks pretty good, although I wish the blue had been a bit more evenly dispersed. Same for Vaulty. Vaulty’s paste is much drier, and as you can see has been infected with something making him orange/red (maybe B. linens?) that doesn’t look very appetizing.

But, you ask, how did they taste?

Well, I had some misgivings about Vaulty, but tried a bit. It wasn’t bad, but wasn’t very good either. At least it didn’t make me sick. But I think this is one for the trash bin . . .

. . . on the other hand . . .

. . . Fridgy was delicious, very sharp, as I prefer my blues, and surprisingly, almost as sharp in the places where there wasn’t much mold.

So, lesson learned, just like the books say: after a certain time, keep your blues locked away!

-R