Fourme d'Ambert

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The process of making Fourme d'Ambert complex and it involves six stages.
1) In the first step cultures containing lactic acid bacteria are added to the milk to make the mild curdle.
2)The curdled milk is then cut into small cubes and shaken for over an hour to help separate the cheese grains from the whey.
3) Next the curds are placed in a mold and lightly pressed to drain the cheese. During the molding phase, small pockets form between the cheese grains because the cheese grains do not adher to each other.
4) Once being molded, the cheese is immersed in a concentrated salt solution for several hours (brining).
5) Blue mould needs space and oxygen to develop, so the cheese is pricked with a large needle. Thus the blue will have the air it needs to spread through the little pockets into the center of the cheese while the cheese ripens.
6) The downy white fur that grows on its surface is regularly smoothed down so that the rind forms slowly. After a few days, the blue mould begins to appear and the cheese paste begins to ripen.