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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from England, Derbyshire

Buxton Blue PDOBuxton Blue

Buxton Blue is a russet, blue-veined cylinder made from pasteurised cow milk with a little whey cream, coloured with annatto. After cutting, scalding, salting and milling, the curd is pressed, bound in cloth and pierced so the blue mould can grow. It matures at 8–14 °C and is usually sent out at 4–10 weeks. Made in 6 steps over 28 days – 2.3 months. The longest step, pierce and mature, takes 28 days – 2.3 months (UK Defra 2006) and runs at 8–14 °C (UK Defra 2006). Salt is 0.3 % (UK Defra 2006). Starter culture and Blue mould culture, added with the starter and annatto do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step28 days – 2.3 monthsSet[uk-spec][eamb-buxton]Pierce and mature
Temperature8–14 °CSet[uk-spec]Pierce and mature
Salt0.3 %Set[uk-spec]Break, salt and mill the curd
Fully documentedCheese28 days – 2.3 monthsPDO (EU, 1996; now on the UK GI register)Family: Blue-veined cheese family (Roquefort as template)More blue cheesesMore from United Kingdom

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceTypical recipe in the PDO specification, as percentages of the whole batch. Each cheese weighs 7.5–8.5 kg.
98.505%Whole cow milk, pasteurised · Mostly from cows grazed in Derbyshire within 15 miles of Buxton; at peak times blended with milk from Shropshire and Cheshire[uk-spec]
1.1%Whey cream[uk-spec]
0.035%Starter culture[uk-spec]
0.01%Coagulant[uk-spec]
0.02%Blue mould spores[uk-spec]
0.3%Salt[uk-spec]
0.03%Annatto (E160b) · Gives the even russet colour[uk-spec]
Starterstarter culture with blue mould spores

Total time across the recorded steps: 28 days – 2.3 months

Start
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What changes: Starting material: pasteurised cow milk with a little whey cream

Step 1 of 6
Blend pasteurised milk and whey cream
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Buxton Blue comes from a creamery that has made Stilton since 1886, but it is coloured russet with annatto and kept in cloth binders, so it never forms a coat. The specification says its starter, fat, acidity and moisture differ from other blue cheeses.

Rind
Clean cloth-bound surface, no mould coat
Composition
At despatch: moisture at most 48%, fat in dry matter at least 48%, fat about 37.5%, salt about 1.5%
Size
Cylinder about 8.0 kg (7.5–8.5 kg), height 190–220 mm, diameter 200 mm

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is pasteurised. The specification sets despatch limits for E. coli (reject above 500 per gram) and coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus (reject above 100 per gram), and the cheese is shipped chilled at 5 °C.

Hazards the sources name: Escherichia coli and coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus, with reject limits of over 500 and over 100 per gram at despatch.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The Hartington creamery opened in the 1870s and began making Stilton in 1886. Its workforce came from the same local families for generations. Buxton Blue was registered as a PDO in 1996, with Dairy Crest's Hartington creamery as the applicant.

  1. [uk-spec] UK Defra, Product specification 'Buxton Blue' PDO (summary under Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006)spec
  2. [eamb-buxton] Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Application for registration of the PDO Buxton Blue under Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, national file 02213, eAmbrosia attachment 64003archive