Author Topic: First Cheese EVER  (Read 8708 times)

Digitalsmgital

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Re: First Cheese EVER
« Reply #15 on: October 16, 2013, 01:55:34 AM »
Started with the bi-weekly treatment, alternating between B. Linens/G Candidum wash and this lemon-infused vodka two or three times a week. My "cave" is a joke compared to what I have seen on this forum. Today the temp reached 70 F and I am preparing to tell the wife we are out another $150 in pursuit of cheese. It will not go well.

Offline Tiarella

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Re: First Cheese EVER
« Reply #16 on: October 16, 2013, 02:35:56 AM »
know what you mean about cheese caves.  I'm using a small chest freezer with a Johnson controller but it's not so great and we've got enough animals to butcher this year that I think we'll need it as back up to our big freezer so now I'd like to justify an upright freezer to use as cave.  Don't have the money or know where exactly in the basement I'd put it........

Offline Boofer

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Re: First Cheese EVER
« Reply #17 on: October 16, 2013, 12:47:28 PM »
I am preparing to tell the wife we are out another $150 in pursuit of cheese. It will not go well.
Courage, grasshopper! It's all for the common good. ;)

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

Digitalsmgital

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Re: First Cheese EVER
« Reply #18 on: October 18, 2013, 02:46:19 AM »
I am preparing to tell the wife we are out another $150 in pursuit of cheese. It will not go well.
Courage, grasshopper! It's all for the common good. ;)

-Boofer-

She loves cheese too, she grew up in a family that has a cattle ranch, made cheese and butter, dairy products of many types. She says "the cave will be more expensive than a whole 7 pound wheel" of our favorite gouda. "Precisely!" says I! "Imagine the savings!" LOL I have yet to produce a single pound of edible semi-hard cheese and I am promising a lifetime of results. I am not the scientist-type, more the artistic-type. A dreamer. But I am pressing the issue! It IS for the common good!

Digitalsmgital

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Re: First Cheese EVER
« Reply #19 on: October 21, 2013, 02:58:12 AM »
got my first ever view of B Linens today and i could not be more cocky! "That's right! I grew that!" I know it's pitiful but I am a proud Daddy!

Get out yer magnifying glasses!

Digitalsmgital

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Re: First Cheese EVER
« Reply #20 on: December 14, 2013, 11:52:18 PM »
Well folks, it is official.

Having read so many stories and recipes and tips and warnings from this fine community, I had steeled myself for an emotional rollercoaster upon cutting into this, my First Cheese EVER!

I like a fine washed rind as much as the next cheese aficionado, stinky and moist on the outside, creamy and sweet on the in. I naively thought that my first cheese could be a goats milk washed rind, as that was the type of milk available raw, and the kind I like to try but can't afford regularly.

After three other makes, I was afraid my first try had retained way, way, WAY too much whey in the curd. I expected an acidic catastrophe.

Aged seventy days for safety's sake, washed with PC brine and lemon-infused vodka, this unpasteurized attempt smelled of Odor of Manly Men. The first few weeks of it's affinage were in the stifling California Indian Summer, forcing it from my styrofoam cave (LOL) to the fridge during the daytime heat.

I liked the looks of it, orangy and slimy.

I cut into it. I didn't expect or want a gooey, frothy foam, and was surprised by the texture. Creamy and smooth, with a hint of crumb near the orange colored rind. Wow!

I slathered the paste onto a cracker. Tangy and lightly sweet, with overtones of  fresh-cut grass, and citrus. And asparagus. But overall that pungent odeur du Schwarzenegger. Not bad!


Spoons

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Re: First Cheese EVER
« Reply #21 on: December 15, 2013, 03:40:38 AM »
Congrats on your first cheese! Nice to see its a success  :) A cheese for you for your "Odeur de Schwarzenegger No. 1"

Offline Boofer

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Re: First Cheese EVER
« Reply #22 on: December 15, 2013, 02:45:59 PM »
Hooray, Dave! :D

Good job on the cheese and for the spritely dialogue...a cheese to you for keeping the forum interesting.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

Digitalsmgital

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Re: First Cheese EVER
« Reply #23 on: December 15, 2013, 03:48:44 PM »
Ha! Thanks guys!  :)

And lets not overlook the other benefit of a finished cheese; more room in the cave for my next project! ;)

Geodyne

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Re: First Cheese EVER
« Reply #24 on: December 15, 2013, 07:13:06 PM »
First cheese: check
Patience enough to see it to fruition: check
Total success: check
Now room for more in the cave: check

It's got to be a good feeling to have your first cheese be an ambitious one, and yet have it turn out so well. 'ave a cheese. ;-)

jwalker

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Re: First Cheese EVER
« Reply #25 on: December 15, 2013, 07:51:23 PM »
That's a great result for a first cheese , have another well deserved cheese for that !

Not only does the cheese look good in that pic , but looks like the weather is nice down there as well , all I see in my back yard right now is bare branches , snow and ice .

Quote
But overall that pungent odeur du Schwarzenegger. Not bad!

Such eloquent review , gotta love it ! ;D ;D



Digitalsmgital

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Re: First Cheese EVER
« Reply #26 on: December 15, 2013, 09:27:53 PM »

Not only does the cheese look good in that pic , but looks like the weather is nice down there as well , all I see in my back yard right now is bare branches , snow and ice .



We are enjoying a fine weekend, temps in the 70s and sunny! (But I am fixing the sprinklers instead of playing golf)  ::)

Thanks for the cheeses!

jwalker

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Re: First Cheese EVER
« Reply #27 on: December 20, 2013, 02:50:13 PM »
You're fixing sprinklers instead of golfing , as I'm shoveling the snow from my driveway , I just can't seem to find much sympathy for you. ;D




High Altitude

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Re: First Cheese EVER
« Reply #28 on: January 02, 2014, 02:19:48 AM »
That looks truly amazing, really!  Amazing job for a first cheese especially...you're obviously a natural  ;D.

A cheese to you, our odoriferous friend  ;).