Propagating Penicillium Roqueforti

[Owly055]

Using Ascher's methods, I'm propagating Roqueforti on a slab of sourdough bread which I made using kefir as a starter. I cheated a bit, and rubbed some gorgonzola on it for a faster start. It's been a week, and the mold is rapidly spreading, and blue spores are starting to show up. Considering the fact that a packet of roqueforti mold spores from New England Cheese Supply ranges from $32 up to $58 plus shipping, this will produce a lifetime supply from less than a dollar in materials and a bit of time.

My intent is to make some Cambizola, a very nice soft ripened Brie type cheese with some threads of blue in it. I have very little tolerance for blue cheese, but a little of it adds a lovely bite to a soft ripened cheese.

H.W.

 

[passedpawn]

Make some butter and add a bit of that mold. The butter won't turn color, but you'll definitely have a slight roquefort flavor in there. I did this completely by accident (when I was propagating my own PR).

 

[Owly055]

Make some butter and add a bit of that mold. The butter won't turn color, but you'll definitely have a slight roquefort flavor in there. I did this completely by accident (when I was propagating my own PR).

What else have you added PR to. I really like Cambizola, and it makes me wonder what other cheeses could benefit from tiny threads of blue. I'm "hanging fire" on my next cheese until I have my PR culture complete enough to use. I currently have two Brie ripening... not yet showing mold, and something resembling a Taleggio....... my "pit washed" experiment. Cheese, unfortunately doesn't appear to have nearly the room for experimentation that beer does ;-(

H.W.

 

[passedpawn]

Just the butter. And stilton blue.

 

[jbc930]

Ok.. so now I have a piece of bread with some gray mold all over it...what do I do next?

 

[passedpawn]

Ok.. so now I have a piece of bread with some gray mold all over it...what do I do next?

If your intent is to make blue cheese, mix it in with the milk. Just scrape some mold off and mix it in. If you mix thoroughly, you'll get blue cheese.

Not sure why yours is gray, I'd expect the following (I grew on plates of agar agar, not bread, but you should get the same result):

which will make this