Well , been extermely busy this year , and wasn't paying attention to my cheese making , and with the new cave being so big , it's looking really empty now.
In the last few weeks , I've made four Goudas , (one with garlic and one with Dill) , two Gruyere as per this recipe
http://naturesharmonyfarm.com/make-cheese-gruyere-alpine-style/ , and two Stiltin type , one from Caldwells book , and one is kind of experimental , I feel I know just enough about making cheese now to try some custom makes.
I've just taken a new job for the winter , hauling compressed bales of hay in sea containers to the docks in Tacoma , so I will be coming thru Idaho 3 or 4 times a week , I can stop and get proper milk for my makes on the way home.
All four gallon makes , that's my standard now.
The one I customized is this:
3 oz. container of finely crumbled Blue cheese.
4 gallons low temp pasteurized creamline milk.
2 tbsp salt
1 pkt. m101
pinch Flora Danica
1/2 tsp. Lipase
1/4 tsp. Kazu
Anatto for color (I have all these new additives and have been dying to try some , never used Anatto before either).
Added anatto to milk while heating to 80 degrees , then added cultures.
Raised temp to 95 and held for 30 minutes.
Added Calcium Chloride and wait 15 min.
Add rennet and let sit for 60 min.
Cut curd let rest 15 min.
Stir gently at 95 for 30 min.
Press in bottom of pot , pour off whey and keep draining/cheddaring in warm pot for 30 min.
Break up curds , add salt and Blue cheese crumbles and mix well.
Put in unlined mold to drain.
Flip at 15 min. 3 times , then every hour for four hours , then twice a day for 3 days.
Smooth on 4th day and put in container in cave.
At day six I have mold appearing on outside.
I've been keeping both blues in one of those trays with a hood for starting seedlings , it seems to keep just the right amount of moisture in.
The new cave is staying nicely at 52-56 degrees.
I've never used anatto and didn't measure , just added until I liked the color , and I do kind of like it.
Plan on aging it for 6-8 weeks .
I tried using my new ph meter , it started out at 7.4 , and never went below 7.1 , just as in 3 previous makes , so , I have my doubts that it is working properly , even though I did calibrate it , and it seems to read the calibration solutions correctly.
It should be interesting anyway , I will keep updating as it progresses.