Blues of the Midwest CJ Bienert - The Cheese Shop of Des Moines, Des Moines Iowa Mark Johnson - Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research, Madison Wisconsin US Code of Federal Regulations 133.106 Blue ≤ 46% moisture ≥ 50 FDB (fat in solids portion) Must be aged at least 60 days No legal standard for -milk type used -color -flavor -body characteristics Milk Preparation • Blue cheese can be made from any milk • Roquefort is only made from sheep milk in France and aged in specific caves • Optional milk preparations: • Pasteurization of milk • Homogenization of milk or cream •Increases flavor development •Makes cheese whiter and smoother Make Procedure •Starter bacteria are added to produce acid •Rennet is added to clot the milk •Coagulum is cut into cubes Penicillium roquefortii •Added to milk or to curd after whey drainage •Different strains produce different flavor profiles and different colors

PR1 PR4 PR3

PRG2 PR5 PRG1

Provided by:

PRG3

Cooking/Curd Transfer/Hooping •Curd/whey is heated •From 94ºF to 100ºF •Whey is separated from curd •Salt and mold spores may be added to dry curd •Curd is placed in “hoops” and allowed to drain •Cheeses are brined or dry salted •Cheeses are pierced Brine System

Ripening Process Mold Ripened Cheese

Ripen all the way through, mold needs oxygen to grow Blue Ripening Room

• Moderate air flow • ~95% humidity • 59º F • ~21-30 days to grow Penicillium roqueforti Cheese Ripening Full flavored, softer mature cheese

Lactose Proteins Fat

Fermentation Proteolysis Lipolysis Lactic acid Peptides Fatty acids Free amino-acids

CO2, Water KETONES ALCOHOLS Lots of flavor compounds Ripening Blue Cheese Packaging Blue Cheese • Aroma Evaluation of Blue-Veined Cheeses • Lack of ammonia • Appearance (paste: white to golden) • Even mold color and distribution • Can be almost black to “Carolina Blue”) • Flavor • Can be mild to strong but must be balanced • Will be saltier than most other cheeses • Body and Texture (mouthfeel) • Smooth but not pasty but should lacks particulate feel (grainy) • Not immediately crumbly upon cutting Smell

Chew Retronasal respiration Orthonasal respiration Push it around

Warm it up

Frog it Basic Flavor of Blue Cheese

KETONE/MEDICINALKETONE / MEDICINAL Comments • Aroma NOTES • Blue cheese family Danish Blue • Produced by Penicillium

2-Heptanone

Crumbly, short body

Top 10 Defects in Blue Cheeses

Defect % of cheeses Ammoniated 22 Bitter 47 Medicinal 28 Unclean 27 Too salty 25 Pasty 29 Leaky 22 Crumbly 20 Weak 19 Inadequate mold growth 21

Values represent % of total entries in an ACS Competition several years ago with defect regardless of whether v. slight or definite. Body and Texture Defect Definition CLOSED Texture of the cheeses has practically no openings CORKY Hard, tough and overly firm cheese texture CURDY If worked between the fingers it is rubbery not waxy FIRM Body of the cheese feels solid and is not soft or weak GASSY Cheese contains gas holes of various sizes GREASY Indicated by free butter fat between particles of curd MEALY Cheese has a short body texture, does not mold well OPEN Contains irregularly shaped mechanical openings, not gas SMOOTH Surface of the cheese feels silky, not dry or rough TRANSLUCENT Cheese has the appearance of being partially transparent WAXY When worked between the fingers, cheese molds like wax or cold butter WEAK Weak, possibly wet, soft, too much whey in the cheese Appearance

Defects Definition MOTTLED Uneven color in the cheese, most noticeable in colored cheese CROOKED CHEESE Overly lopsided wheel BANDAGE Wrinkled, torn, dirty, too long or short at one end, loose from cheese DEAD Bleached appearance WAVY Similar to mottled CHECKED Open structure possibly due to poor workmanship Flavor Characteristics Defect Definition ACIDIC Cheese is sharp, puckery to the taste (lactic acid) BARNY Flavor trait characteristic of the odor of the milking barn, stable or cow yard BITTER Distasteful flavor of quinine, which is most often found in aged cheese varieties FEED Presence of one or more feed flavors such as weeds, alfalfa, sweet clover, silage FERMENTED FRUIT Indicated by fermented whey or fermented fruit smell Flavor Defect Definition FRUITY Sweet fruit-like flavor resembling apples FLAT Cheese contains no undesirable flavor and very little MALTY Presence of a distinctive harsh flavor suggestive of malt METALLIC: Flavor trait suggestive of metal (copper, iron) MOLDY Musty aroma or flavor SOUR Pungent acidic flavor resembling vinegar. Sour smell UNCLEAN Unclean smell or flavor; lingering aftertaste WHEY TAINT Slight sweet-acidic flavor and odor of fermented whe Caves of Faribault, Amablu “St. Pete’s Select” Thermalized Cow’s milk, Faribault, MN

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Montchevré, Chèvre in Blue Pasteurized Goat’s milk, Belmont, WI

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Shepard’s Way Farms, Big Woods Blue Pasteurized Sheep’s milk, Nerstrand, MN

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Hook’s Cheese Company, EWE CALF to be KIDing Pasteurized Cow/Goat/Sheep’s milk, Mineral Point, WI

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Blues of the Midwest CJ Bienert - The Cheese Shop of Des Moines, Des Moines Iowa Mark Johnson - Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research, Madison Wisconsin