How Quenby Hall Stilton is made

A Stilton cheese should always be sliced horizontally for optimum freshness, moisture and tastiness.

To scoop out a good, young Stilton is sacrilege. Traditionally, an old cheese that had become pungent and dry on the outside was scooped out and filled with port to soften the hard outer layer. A creamy wedge of Quenby Hall Stilton deserves better: a crisp cracker, a dollop of homemade damson chutney and a palate-cleansing sip of port is a classic combination. Or try melted into a flaky caramelized leek tart, blitzed into a hearty broccoli soup or scattered sliver-by-sliver into a bowl with grapes and sweet lettuce leaves. Take a look at our recipes page for more mouthwatering ideas for Quenby Stilton.

A window on our world

The Quenby Hall dairy may be shiny and modern, but ancient traditions and handmade techniques still prevail to give our Stilton its unmatched reputation for quality and flavour. Head Cheesemaker Sara Strong walks us through the process from start to finish.

“Since reforming the dairy in 2005, we’ve worked hard to re-establish traditional farming cycles at Quenby. For starters, we only use milk from local herds here in Leicestershire; and rather than discarding the whey, we pass it onto local pig farmers to use as feed. Their meat is then used in Melton Mowbray pork pies.”

“The gentler the curds are placed into the drying trough, the better. We think of it like laying a sleeping baby down in its crib.

“Next, we hand-mill it. While some Stilton makers use machines for this part, we prefer not to. It’s not as gentle and it compromises the creaminess of the end product.

“Now we pile the curds into big plastic ‘hoops’, where they fuse together over a period of five days to create an open, crumbly cheese.

“After removing the hoops, each cheese is rubbed by hand to prevent it from blueing prematurely. This helps achieve the beautiful, moist mildness that our customers love.

“Each cheese is transferred to shelves in a specially controlled environment, where they develop a smooth, creamy interior and distinctive golden crust.

“Every stilton is pierced at various intervals as it matures, allowing air to enter in just the right quantity for optimum blueing. The whole maturation process takes about 12 weeks.”