Like all that are new to a new hobby, we tend to buy inappropriate pieces of equipment in our quest to get on as quickly as possible, it usually hits the wallet far more effectively than the learning curve. I have been there many times, and hope to short cut that route by listening to others that have been down that path before me.
Having read as much as I could find on this fine portal ( I am no Hercule Poirot, and so may have not been able to find all the threads that I have been searching for) about vacuum packing, I would like a little more advice.
Do I follow the recipe for airing times exactly the same for vacuum packing?
Will I still get a crust on the cheese, albeit not as thick as a none Vacuum cheese?
How long can I store sections of a wheel when it is cut open, resealed and replaced back in the Cave, and will it still age without adverse effect?
I also assume that the cheese will have a different flavour dependent on which way it is stored?
Any other advice would be of great help no mater how insignificant it may be to you, it will probably be a treasure to me
And no doubt you will pass on threads that I have totally missed.
Lastly, the vacuum bag machine. Any advice on these, there seems to be so many out there and I would hate to buy a wholly inappropriate one. Preferably one we can find here in the UK. I guess there must be one or two UK cheese makers here that use them.
It may be also worth saying that we are now moving up from making 1lb cheese wheels to 3lb to 4lb wheels as we have now bought a small 27 litre temperature controlled pasteuriser.
We are loving our new adventure in cheese making and one again would like to thank you all for making it a relatively stress free hobby.