Maytag Blue Cheese
In 1938 Iowa State University created a new process for making blue cheese from homogenized cow’s milk and ever since, Clarence Lane and Bernard W. Hammer have been credited for the creation of the delectable Maytag blue cheese. As for the process itself, it can be rather complex.
The process of creating Maytag blue cheese begins with homogenizing the milk that is used for the cheese. To begin, the cream must be separated from the milk, homogenized and added back into the skim milk. In order to get the correct results, this must be done between 80 to 100 degrees and 2000 to 35000 pounds-force per square inch of pressure.
Now that the homogenizing has been completed, which affects the flavor of the cheese, there is a ripening period before adding rennet to the cheese. When adding rennet, you will add 3 ounces per 100 pounds of milk and allow it to set in a temperature around 85 degrees. However, you can use 4 ounces per 100 pounds and let it set at a temperature of 90 to 92 degrees as well.
By increasing the ounces and temperature, the time of making the Maytag blue cheese was cut in half in regards to setting, cutting and dipping. In addition, after dipping the cheese the draining time can be reduced drastically.
The final touch to the process is adding Penicillium, which gives it the green veins people have come to know. From there, the rounds of cheese are made by hand and aged in specially designed caves. This gives it exposure to high humidity and cool temperatures to finalize the taste, texture and overall process.
