Author Topic: Caerphilly #7  (Read 2131 times)

Offline Tiarella

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Caerphilly #7
« on: December 07, 2012, 03:05:52 AM »
Used a cross of Mary Karlin, Gianaclis Caldwell and Gavin at Little Green Cheese. 
2 gallons raw Nigerian Dwarf Goat milk
milk at 90.4 F
6:27 added cultures:
1/4 tsp MA4002
1/4 tsp Therm. B
6:30 stirrred and put to rest for 1 hour
7:30 added 1/2 tsp rennet
8:15 cut curds to 1/2 inch
raised temp on stove instead of water bath in sink.
8:45  97 F waited 45 minutes
ladled curds into cheesecloth and let drain 5 minutes. 
Cut into slabs and let drain in the pan.
broke into pieces and added about 2 tsp salt
lifted bundle of curds into mold and did my best to squish them into the bottom edges of mold
pressed at 10 pounds for 10 minutes, flipped, rewrapped and repeated pressing
pressed at 15 pounds for 20 minutes, flipped, rewrapped and repeated pressing
pressed at 24 pounds overnight
put in brine for about 3 hours
let dry for 2 days
smeared with local raw honey and adorned with scented geranium leaves that had been frozen and thawed

This worked out so well last time and I am saddened that the last cheese is almost all eaten so I am repeating this one.  The last one had a variety of rind treatments over it's aging.  I smeared with honey a second time, washed with white wine, salt and water a few times.  Even did an olive oil smear at one point.  It's a bit difficult to work on without destroying the leaves but I managed last time and am hopeful about this time also.  This could become a signature cheese for me.  I call it "Caerphilly Adorned".  (get it?  "carefully adorned"?)

rolsen99

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Re: Caerphilly #7
« Reply #1 on: December 07, 2012, 03:12:02 AM »
That is much prettier than mine!  What are the dimensions of the mould you use?

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Caerphilly #7
« Reply #2 on: December 07, 2012, 03:18:41 AM »
My mold is about 7" wide at the top and has a small amount of taper.  It is about 6 1/2" tall.  What size mold do you have?

rolsen99

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Re: Caerphilly #7
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2012, 03:26:20 AM »
Mine is 4.75" by 5".  You can see my cheese in the next thread.  It is my first, and didn't know which mould to buy.  I like your cheese shape better...I think.  Not sure how I am going to cut mine.

Offline Schnecken Slayer

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Re: Caerphilly #7
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2012, 06:48:34 AM »
When you say "scented geranium leaves" what exactly are they?
-Bill
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Offline Tiarella

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Re: Caerphilly #7
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2012, 12:44:27 PM »
The common name is actually Scented Cranesbill and the latin is Geranium macrorrhizum.  It was a mistake when I wrote Scented Geranium.....that is usually in the Pelargonium family but it's winter and the plant names are hibernating inside me so I made this mistake.  It is a simple ground cover perennial geranium.  The leaves are a bit scented when you brush past them.....a bit of citrus smell.  I didn't choose them to create a scent on the cheese although it is possible.  For me it is more about decoration and a delicate impact perhaps by limiting air flow on a bit of the rind.  I'm going to keep doing this and see if I can come up with a clear set of rind treatment ideas to keep it going well throughout it's aging. 

Try this for yourself with any leaf that is not toxic.  Freezing first makes it easy.  The first time I froze them vacuum packed and that left me with very flat leaves which worked best.  This time I froze in a container and it was a little bit harder to get them to lay flat but they are pretty limp after thawing. 

Try it and post your results.  I like this plant because it is evergreen so I am still picking leaves since we don't have snow cover yet.  It is a great ground cover under other plants, roses for instance, and it's great on steep banks.  Has pretty flowers and looks good always!   ^-^

Offline H-K-J

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Re: Caerphilly #7
« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2012, 03:47:44 PM »
Tiarella
That is very prity :P
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Offline Schnecken Slayer

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Re: Caerphilly #7
« Reply #7 on: December 08, 2012, 04:34:28 AM »
Thanks for the info.

My wife has about 1/3 of the yard covered with geraniums and I wouldn't think of using them. (Pelagonium family)

I do have a grape vine though....... ;)
-Bill
One day I will add something here...