Author Topic: My 7th Butterkase  (Read 16866 times)

Offline H-K-J

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Re: My 7th Butterkase
« Reply #30 on: November 18, 2012, 03:19:07 AM »
LOL  ^-^
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Offline Boofer

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Re: My 7th Butterkase
« Reply #31 on: November 18, 2012, 09:49:59 PM »
...is it okay to vacuum bag a natural rind?
I would agree with Jeff. I have also bagged cheeses with linens rinds (Esroms) which may be a little more moist than natural rinds with PLA, mycodore, etc. My Rebs (Geo & linens) also bagged very well. I sealed up my Fourme d'Ambert cheeses too.

I've had to vacuum-seal several times to free up shelf space in the Boofer cave network.

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Offline Tiarella

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Re: My 7th Butterkase
« Reply #32 on: November 19, 2012, 03:42:57 AM »
I read some  report comparing bagging and air aging on flavor development and it scared me to think I might lose some flavor by vacuum bagging but I have no choice.....out of room just like everyone else it seems. 

Boofer, at what point have you bagged Rebs?  I've got a washed rind similar cheese going from Mary Karlin's book.  Don't know if you saw the thread .....but I didn't have annatto so I dyed it using onion skin and beets to make a color to add to the brine.  I was trying for sunset peach but it came out golden yellow.  I like it anyway though.....

My latest washed rind is still in the yeasting room stage......although as my thread stated, it jumped ship from the Karlin recipe so now we're lost at sea and I'm not sure what to do next with it. 

Offline Boofer

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Re: My 7th Butterkase
« Reply #33 on: November 19, 2012, 05:44:42 AM »
Boofer, at what point have you bagged Rebs?
When they have ripened and are ready to eat.

Because they can't all be eaten in one sitting (may I have a mint, please?), vacuum-sealing holds them in stasis. I enjoyed a wedge of vacuum-sealed Reblochon #4 this evening with some water crackers.

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Offline Tiarella

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Re: My 7th Butterkase
« Reply #34 on: November 19, 2012, 12:29:09 PM »
Do you vac seal your Rebs whole or in wedges?  I'm assuming whole given how "gooey and sinful" you aim for.
 ;)

Offline Boofer

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Re: My 7th Butterkase
« Reply #35 on: November 19, 2012, 04:39:51 PM »
Do you vac seal your Rebs whole or in wedges?  I'm assuming whole given how "gooey and sinful" you aim for.
 ;)
Wedges.  :)

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Re: My 7th Butterkase
« Reply #36 on: January 06, 2013, 06:22:56 PM »
Well, this is now 134 days old.  As we were away for the holidays, this sat in a vac bag, which seems not to have had a very good vacuum.  As a result, it got a bit damp, and the mold got wet and pasty.  I thought it was b.linens, but on this I think it was just the rind getting a bit squooshy (sorry for the technical jargon there).  Anyway, I removed it from the bag a few days ago, and the surface has been drying out.  You can see in the centre of the top face, and extending to the left, a sort of grey patch.  That's where it's still a bit damp, but it will dry out to look like the rest of the surface.

Anyway, it weighs 1224g, and the dimentions were 15.0 x 6.4 cm, for a volume of 1130 cm3, and a final densisty of 1.08g/cm3.  I've cut into it, and the internal paste has a good knit to it.  The smell of the cheese is fantastic, and very clean but definate cheesy aroma!  The few crumbs I tasted have a very good creamy mouthfeel, and an excellent flavour.  This has much more oomph to it than butterkase normally has (as it is normally cut around the 4 week mark for a gentle and mild cheeese).  However, it's not the kind of oomph that would put someone off if they don't care for sharp cheese.  This has turned out really good, and I think I'll probably keep more or less to this make procedure and age it out 3 to 6 months regularly.  It probably isn't really butterkase though, but it is a nice cheese.

- Jeff

Offline Tiarella

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Re: My 7th Butterkase
« Reply #37 on: January 06, 2013, 07:51:10 PM »

I've had to vacuum-seal several times to free up shelf space in the Boofer cave network.

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Ummm, do you need spelunking gear to enter the Boofer cave network?  Or is it already completely outfitted with handrails, elevators, climate control, hardwired lighting, etc.?

Offline Tiarella

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Re: My 7th Butterkase
« Reply #38 on: January 06, 2013, 08:58:20 PM »
Jeff,  I just opened something that looks very similar to yours.  It's a washed curd with Belgian Ale and I took it out of it's mini cave and the rind cracked being exposed to a drier than expected air in the wine fridge.  It is incredibly tasty though so I cut and bagged it. 

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Re: My 7th Butterkase
« Reply #39 on: January 06, 2013, 10:18:13 PM »
Very nice looking cheese, and wonderful photography.  A cheese to you for the presentation.

- Jeff

Offline Boofer

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Re: My 7th Butterkase
« Reply #40 on: January 06, 2013, 11:17:51 PM »
Well, this is now 134 days old.  As we were away for the holidays, this sat in a vac bag, which seems not to have had a very good vacuum.  As a result, it got a bit damp, and the mold got wet and pasty.  I thought it was b.linens, but on this I think it was just the rind getting a bit squooshy (sorry for the technical jargon there).  Anyway, I removed it from the bag a few days ago, and the surface has been drying out.  You can see in the centre of the top face, and extending to the left, a sort of grey patch.  That's where it's still a bit damp, but it will dry out to look like the rest of the surface.

Anyway, it weighs 1224g, and the dimentions were 15.0 x 6.4 cm, for a volume of 1130 cm3, and a final densisty of 1.08g/cm3.  I've cut into it, and the internal paste has a good knit to it.  The smell of the cheese is fantastic, and very clean but definate cheesy aroma!  The few crumbs I tasted have a very good creamy mouthfeel, and an excellent flavour.  This has much more oomph to it than butterkase normally has (as it is normally cut around the 4 week mark for a gentle and mild cheeese).  However, it's not the kind of oomph that would put someone off if they don't care for sharp cheese.  This has turned out really good, and I think I'll probably keep more or less to this make procedure and age it out 3 to 6 months regularly.  It probably isn't really butterkase though, but it is a nice cheese.

- Jeff
Great-looking cheese, Jeff! You must have had this one in the back of the cave for it to age out soooo long. ::)

Jeff,  I just opened something that looks very similar to yours.  It's a washed curd with Belgian Ale and I took it out of it's mini cave and the rind cracked being exposed to a drier than expected air in the wine fridge.  It is incredibly tasty though so I cut and bagged it. 
Another beautiful cheese! Man, this cheese-making must be really easy. ??? Looks quite tasty, Kathrin.

Ummm, do you need spelunking gear to enter the Boofer cave network?  Or is it already completely outfitted with handrails, elevators, climate control, hardwired lighting, etc.?
Ah, there's a smile...see the corners of my mouth? :)

Tasted a Walnut Gouda last night. A Pecan Gouda might be tasty too.

A cheese to you both for yet again inspiring me.

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Offline Tiarella

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Re: My 7th Butterkase
« Reply #41 on: January 07, 2013, 12:54:42 AM »
Thank you, Boofer! How do I type a round of, "For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow," etc.?   ;D

Hey, your pecan idea makes me think of something.  There's a recipe called something like crispy pecans in a Sally Fallon cookbook "Nourishing Traditions" and in it you soak the pecans in salt water to rinse away the enzyme inhibitors and then roast slowly.  I may not be remembering it correctly since I read the recipe a year or so ago but I just did it and it creates a nut that has no bitterness and is somehow more "available" and less oily.  I bet doing that to pecans or walnuts and then making cheese with them would add a whole other dimension of yumminess.

 I think I'll leave the nut cheeses to you nuts  ::)  to make because whacko me is having other crazy ideas.   My son and daughter-in-law gave me some yummy food items and among them was some Meyer lemon infused olive oil and it's got a lovely strong flavor and aroma so I'm wondering about oiling a cheese with it during affinage.  Also having crazy ideas about cheese adornment.  Okay.....don't laugh but I was wondering about using a stencil and dusting the cheese with tumeric or something, even cinnamon.  Yes, it probably wouldn't hold up under washing, brushing etc. so maybe it would only work on cheese that got a coat of cheese cream sweater coat.  Still having other strange cheese ideas too.....more colors, more texture ideas.  My dad has a laser thing-a-ma-jig in his wood shop and I think it would be able to make some cool medallions.  I just don't know how to deal with lining up the imprints during different pressings or if you just use it for the last naked press.  Yes, I'm sure there's a thread on the forum somewhere in the dusty attic but I have emails to write and orders to bottle and ship so I won't be looking up medallion usage until I have one to use.


Quote from: Boofer
Another beautiful cheese! Man, this cheese-making must be really easy.  Looks quite tasty, Kathrin.

Oh, so if I can do it, it must be easy???  That's what you think?   ::)   Well, I agree, it must be easy because it came out great.  Of course I do start with really awesome milk.  But I am not so picky about anything else.  I do enjoy the washed curd and Tomme cheese makes most of all other than the bloomies.  oh, and other than the Caerphilly makes.

And Jeff, how on earth DO you wait so long and so patiently????  I have to eat all my cheese before the summer comes because my affinage has taken over part of the cellar and once it warms up I'll be restricted again to the tiny 44 bottle wine fridge.  I'm in so much trouble.   :-\ 

Oops, better go.  I can hear the livestock guardian dogs talking back to the coyotes.  I think they cuss fluently in coyote. 

Boofery Jim, I do hope your birthday has been absolutely wonderful because you are such a cheesey gentleman  (hey, that's supposed to be a compliment here at least!) and I really appreciate all the graciousness you bring to this forum.  I hope the coming year is totally smooth sailing for you and your family and that all your cheese makes will be splendiferous successes!!!  I pronounce it to be so!  Tada!  (magic wand waving)



Offline Boofer

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Re: My 7th Butterkase
« Reply #42 on: January 07, 2013, 02:43:06 AM »
Wow, I am blessed. A) :-[

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Offline Tiarella

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Re: My 7th Butterkase
« Reply #43 on: January 07, 2013, 03:09:01 AM »
Wow, I am blessed. A) :-[

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You deserve it!   ;D

JeffHamm

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Re: My 7th Butterkase
« Reply #44 on: January 07, 2013, 08:25:57 PM »
Hi Tiarella,

Aging the cheese isn't too hard to do if you make a lot of it! And really, 134 days isn't that long, it's only about 4.5 months.  What I typically do, is make some cheeses that I intend to age out, like cheddars or gouda (I like aged gouda).  Then, I make cheeses that can be eaten quickly, like caerphilly, lancashire, butterkase, and some semi-lactics.  These "fast food" cheeses only need to be aged a few weeks, to a couple months, and so those can be eaten and made while the others are aging away.  The trick is to always have something you can be eating in the fridge, and making a "fast cheese replacement" at the appropriate time. 

Some of the washed rind cheeses are also ready in about two months, so they are good makes too.  By having a collection of makes that are quick to the table, you can distract yourself from wondering about the ones that need more time to get there.  I went on a cheddar frenzy last year in Jan and Feb, so I have about 4 different cheddars (and a gouda) that are now at or just about 1 year old.  Looking forward to opening some of them, but I have this butterkase to go through, and probably after that I'll cut into a wash rined tomme that should be around 5 months or so.  I might stretch that out to 6 months if I can make a caerphilly this weekend.  Will see how things go.

This butterkase has a really clean, milky, flavour.  I will definately make #8 following this procedure again.  Hmmm, then again it might be nice to try washing it with ale, or pear or apple cider? 

- Jeff