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Cheese from England, Dorset

Dorset Blue Vinny PGI

Cow milk is skimmed to about 3% fat, set with starter and rennet, cut, warmed and left in its whey overnight. Next morning the curd is cut into blocks and turned until acid enough, then broken, salted, moulded and lightly pressed for 4 hours. After four weeks the cheeses are pierced so the blue mould grows, and they ripen a further 12 to 20 weeks.

Fully documentedCheese3.8 months – 5.7 monthsPGI (EU, registered December 1998 as 'Dorset Blue Cheese')Family: Blue-veined cheese family (Roquefort as template)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification gives the method, not amounts.
Cow milk from the farm's Friesian herd and neighbouring farms, skimmed to about 3% fatSkim milk powder is added at some times of year to reach the fat level. The specification describes unpasteurised milk; the dairy's own site says its milk is pasteurised.[dorset-spec][dorset-farm]
Starter culture[dorset-spec]
Rennet[dorset-spec]
Blue mould ('penicillin mould' on the dairy's site)[dorset-farm]
Salt[dorset-spec]
Starterstarter culture with blue mould

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.8 months – 5.7 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Cream is skimmed off the milk, leaving about 3% fat

Step 1 of 9
Skim the milk
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

At a glance

Cow milk is skimmed to about 3% fat, set with starter and rennet, cut, warmed and left in its whey overnight. Next morning the curd is cut into blocks and turned until acid enough, then broken, salted, moulded and lightly pressed for 4 hours. After four weeks the cheeses are pierced so the blue mould grows, and they ripen a further 12 to 20 weeks. Made in 9 steps over 3.8 months – 5.7 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 2.8–4.6 months (Defra). Blue mould in the curd, activated when the cheese is pierced; the dairy adds it with the starter does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2.8–4.6 monthsSet[dorset-spec]Ripen

What makes this one different

Made from milk skimmed to about 3% fat, as farm cheese once used the milk left after cream was taken for butter, and the curd is held warm overnight before it is cut into blocks.

Milk
Cow milk skimmed to about 3% fat
Ripening
Pierced at 4 weeks, then 12 to 20 weeks more

Related ferments

Safety

The specification describes unpasteurised milk, while the dairy says it pasteurises; check the label of the cheese. If the milk is unpasteurised, the US FDA says ageing raw-milk cheese for 60 days may not remove E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella, and Listeria may grow in certain cheeses during ageing. The CDC says people at higher risk, including pregnant women, people 65 or older and people with weak immunity, should avoid cheese made with raw milk unless it is heated to 165 °F (74 °C) or until steaming hot.

History and sources

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

The name comes from 'vinew', an old English word for mould, used in the 17th century. The specification says that in the 18th and 19th centuries it was made from milk left after cream was removed for sale or for butter. Slow Food UK says that since the Second World War it was made only in very small quantities on one or two farms until Michael Davies revived it. The Davies family's own page says they have made it at Woodbridge Farm for almost 40 years. The cheese was entered in the EU register as a PGI named 'Dorset Blue Cheese' in December 1998. The recipe is printed in R. Scott's Cheese Making Practice (1981).

Temperature, salt and pH
The sources we found give no temperature, salt or pH figure for any of its steps.
  1. [dorset-spec] Defra, Product specification 'Dorset Blue Vinny Cheese' PGI (protected food name 'Dorset Blue Cheese'), GOV.UKspec
  2. [dorset-farm] Dorset Blue Cheese Company (Woodbridge Farm), 'Dorset Blue Vinny' and 'History' pagesweb
  3. [slowfood-ark] Slow Food in the UK, Ark of Taste, 'Dorset Blue Vinny'web
  4. [oj1998] Commission Regulation (EC) No 2784/98 of 22 December 1998 supplementing the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 2400/96 on the entry of certain names in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications, Official Journal L 347, 23.12.1998 (Annex lists 'Dorset Blue Cheese' as a United Kingdom PGI cheese)spec
  5. [fda-rawcheese2016] US Food and Drug Administration 2016, FY 2014–2016 Microbiological Sampling Assignment Summary Report, Raw Milk Cheese Aged 60 Daysgov
  6. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov