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Understanding the Different Types of Blue Cheese

Understanding the Different Types of Blue Cheese

If the onlyΒ blue cheeseΒ you’ve ever tried is the pre-packaged clumps of blue cheese that goes on wedgeΒ salad, then get ready to have your mind blown. There are many kinds of blue cheese out there that are distinct from one another asΒ parmesanΒ is from gouda.β€―Β 

Blue cheese gets its start like every other cheese, but is then aged withΒ PenicilliumΒ mold. While mold or fungus might sound gross, it’s completely healthy and safe – as well as delicious! –Β toΒ eat. Blue cheese is spotted because the cheese is pieced to create airways, giving the mold oxygen. If you think of blue cheese likeΒ wine, you might lose your hesitancy. Like the fermentation process that wine goes through, the mold gives blue cheese its signature funkiness as well as acidity and flavor.β€―Β 

That said,Β blue cheese might not be for everyone. It is often an acquired taste, but please don’t write off blue cheese after only trying one varietal. Different blue cheeses have differing types of milk and processing, giving distinct types of flavors, textures, and smells.Β Some blue cheese is soft,Β someΒ areΒ firm. Some is mild and some is pungent. Typically, the softer and creamier cheese is the most mild.Β 

01.

RoquefortΒ 

Roquefort is one of the most popular blue cheeses as well as perhaps the oldest known blue cheese. Roquefort is made from sheep’sΒ milk, specifically from the milk of theΒ Lacaune,Β Manech, andΒ BascoΒ BearnaiseΒ sheep. To make it more specific, Roquefort cheese is aged only in theΒ CombalouΒ caves in Roquefort-Sur-SoulzonΒ (whereΒ PenicilliumΒ roquefortiΒ can be found). β€― Rennet (Rennet is enzymes that coagulate milk and separate the curds from the whey) is added to the ewe’s milk within 48 hours of milking, where it is heated and then fermented into curds in large vats. It’s pierced before being placed in the caves for a few weeks, and then wrapped and aged for 3 to 10 months longer.

02.

Danish BlueΒ 

Danish Blue cheese is a semi-soft varietal made from cow’s cheese. AΒ cheesemakerΒ named MariusΒ BoelΒ created Danish Blue in the early 20th century when he tried toΒ mnicΒ Roquefort cheese. Danish Blue isΒ more mild, compared to Roquefort, and commonly aged for 8 to 12 weeks and sold in wedges, drums, or blocks.Β 

03.

StiltonΒ 

Once of the strongest blue cheeses, Stilton has a pungent smell and taste, aged for at least 9 weeks. The English cheese is required to be made in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, or Derbyshire from one of seven dairies to be called β€œStilton.” The cheese is made from local, English pasteurized milk mixed with rennet and rotated regularly as the cheese ripens.β€―Β 

04.

Gorgonzola

CrumblyΒ gorgonzolaΒ is one of the best known types of blue cheese, offering a salty, delicious bite of blue cheese often sprinkled on burgers and salads. The Italian cheese ages about 3-4 months at low temperatures from a base of either goat milk or cow milk. It’s named after the small Italian city near Milan, Gorgonzola, but is now made anywhere within the Lombardy and Piedmont regions and infused with lactic acid bacteria in addition to the traditional PenicillinΒ glaucumΒ bacteria.Β 

The cheese comes in two styles: Gorgonzola Dolce is aged for less than two months and GorgonzolaΒ PiccanteΒ is aged up to five months. Gorgonzola Dolce is one of the least β€œblue” blue cheeses, because it is so creamy that when it is skewered to allow in oxygen, the cheese caves back it on itself. The result is a light, creamy blue cheese that is almost as mild as blue cheese can get.β€―Β 

05.

MaytagΒ 

One of theΒ best knownΒ American blue cheeses, Maytag was first produced in 1941 from just outside Newton, Iowa (home to the appliance corporation Maytag). The cheese begins by separating the cream from the fresh Iowa farm milk, homogenizing the cream, and then adding the homogenized cream back to the original milk that’s been skimmed.β€―Β 

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We hope you enjoy yourself today and keep checking back for ongoing tips, guides and great shopping!

About The Author

Michelle Stansbury

Michelle Stansbury is a San Diego-based blogger and freelance writer who writes about travel, food, cannabis, and relationships. Follow her Instagram @discoverwithmichelle or visit Eat, Drink, Be SD. Her work has appeared in national magazines like Marie Claire, Forbes, Cosmo, Reader's Digest, and Bustle.

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