Author Topic: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?  (Read 17134 times)

John@PC

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Re: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?
« Reply #15 on: February 10, 2014, 11:37:59 PM »
Digging deeper into Munster (boy, that would be a dream wouldn't it  :)) I looked at "The World Encylopedia of Cheese" which is a great reference book (by the way with great pictures) and it looks like there are two European Munsters (Meunsters).  The classic (I assume) is Munster / Munster Gerome from Alsace that is AOC with the type description "Traditional, farmhouse and cremery unpasturized washed-rind cheese".  There is also a Munster from the Schwarzwald region of Germany that has a similar description.  Here it gets a bit confusing, geographically that is, so I'll just quote it:
Quote
In the Middle Ages the cheese was made by the monks at Munster Abby in modern-day Alsace.  When Alsace became part of Germany, the name of the cheese gained an umlaut [ed. those two little dots above the "u"] and it became Munster, after the Westphalian town.  Ownership of Aslace switch from Germany to France several times after that, but the cheese continued to be made on both sides of the border.  Today it is also produced in the USA, where it is know and Muenster
...  no doubt because we Americans don't know what the hell an umlaut is so we faked the pronunciation and adding insult to injury substituted paprika for the real thing. :-\.

JimSteel

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Re: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?
« Reply #16 on: February 11, 2014, 12:39:54 AM »
Wow, this is quite a development.  I decided to make a cheese myself, just yesterday and followed the same recipe from 200 Easy for a muenster. What a coincidence.  I changed the recipe slightly though.  I checked a few online resources and they all raised the temp from 32celsius to 38celsius during the "30 minute hold the temperature" waiting period in her recipe.  So I did that.  Followed the same recipe, exactly, but with a bit more cooking.

This is really cool though.  I just salted mine and placed it into the cave a few hours ago.  I'm excited to see how they compare.

What does concern me, is that this recipe seems VERY similar to the Limburger recipe I used.... Here's to hoping.

JeffHamm

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Re: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?
« Reply #17 on: February 11, 2014, 01:23:36 AM »
That is cool Jim!  The raising the temp should help force out more whey.  I added 15 minutes of stirring, which would do something similar.  I drained longer than the book suggested too because with other soft French cheeses (cams and brie) my curds have generally been too wet and they turn to soup as they soften. 

Post your notes and a photo of your cheese so we can compare the progress.  It's funny how sometimes a bunch of us end up making the same cheese simultaneously.  I remember a while back when Lancashire was being made by everyone.  We've recently had a large number of caerphilly threads too.  This makes for a great way to compare between different makes and procedures.  In general, it's nice to see that the outcomes often sound quite similar.

Thanks for the Limburger warning.  I've got a glass full of bleach nearby to help cleanse the palette. :)

- Jeff

Pete S

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Re: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?
« Reply #18 on: February 11, 2014, 03:33:08 AM »
  I find the taste of my Limburger and Muenster to be much alike.How strong the taste is is up to you. the longer you wash the stronger the taste, also the more surface area vs mass the stronger the taste, This all takes place in weeks instead of months.  these are my favorite cheeses and my most successful.     Pete

JeffHamm

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Re: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?
« Reply #19 on: February 11, 2014, 04:12:47 AM »
Hi Pete,

Thanks.  I quite like washed rinds myself, though I've never seen or tried Limburger.   I stopped by "C'est Fromage" on my way home from work and it was "Munster", and the map indicated it was from a North Eastern province of France.  This was quite mild, so obviously very young.  I'll not age this out too long as I'm hoping to replicate that particular cheese since it was a big hit with my wife.  And it will let me know if my make is on track.  If so, I might age a second one out a bit longer and see how things go from there.

- Jeff

The cheese is fairly dry in the cave already, due to the efforts during the make to expell wehy I suspect.  So, I started the brine wash today.  Hopefully I haven't dried out the curds too much.  Will see.  If I have, perhaps reducing the drain time after whey off would be the first place to try easing back (maybe only drain 10 minutes rather than 30).
« Last Edit: February 11, 2014, 07:42:57 AM by JeffHamm »

jwalker

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Re: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?
« Reply #20 on: February 11, 2014, 07:48:55 PM »
Where Munster cheese REALLY comes from.

Here are the makers whipping up a batch now ! ;D ;D ;D




Pete S

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Re: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?
« Reply #21 on: February 11, 2014, 08:47:57 PM »
Quote
[quote

- Jeff

The cheese is fairly dry in the cave already, due to the efforts during the make to expell wehy I suspect.  So, I started the brine wash today.  Hopefully I haven't dried out the curds too much.  Will see.  If I have, perhaps reducing the drain time after whey off would be the first place to try easing back (maybe only drain 10 minutes rather than 30).
[/quote]

  I don't drain mine. I go from the pot to the mold. I then set the mold in the empty pot in the water bath to keep it warm till the 2NT flip. I also use a lite weight to help it knit.    Pete

JeffHamm

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Re: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?
« Reply #22 on: February 11, 2014, 11:09:11 PM »
Thanks Pete.  I've moved cam curds direct to the mould, and in that case I often end up with overly wet curds that never seem to drain properly.  So, this make I'm making a concerted effort to avoid that problem.  Seems to have worked, but only time will tell if I've gone too far the other way.

- Jeff

Love the Munsters jwalker!

Pete S

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Re: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?
« Reply #23 on: February 11, 2014, 11:57:40 PM »
   I have a mold with a lot of drainage holes. I think keeping it warm (near 100d ) also helps it drain.
My cheese comes out like a blue cheese. which  is what I want.   Pete

JeffHamm

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Re: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?
« Reply #24 on: February 12, 2014, 01:44:53 AM »
Yes, I think keeping the curds warm helps.  My tomme mould has a lot of holes, but they are fairly small.  The holes in my 1/2 brie moulds are bigger, but still, my curds are too soggy.  I think part of my problem (with bries and cams) has been I'm not stirring enough, but then, there are make protocols that do not involve any stirring!  (just ladel the soft curd over - but you need to slice the curd really thin when you do this).  It's all a matter of finesse.  I usually make hard pressed cheeses, so I'm dialed into a different point.

- Jeff

JeffHamm

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Re: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?
« Reply #25 on: February 13, 2014, 05:31:35 PM »
Got a bit of b.linens showing up.  A nice pinkish/red, just right for Valentine's Day.  Nothing says love like a stinky!  :)  Not getting any schmeir going just yet, but the appearance of b.linnes is encouraging. 

- Jeff

JimSteel

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Re: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?
« Reply #26 on: February 13, 2014, 08:09:27 PM »
No Schmear?  Are you just doing a light wash right now, or you haven't washed at all yet?

The cheese is looking good though.

JeffHamm

  • Guest
Re: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?
« Reply #27 on: February 14, 2014, 12:10:32 AM »
Just started washing a couple days ago.  Being a bit gentle still.  I'm sure it will start to pick up soon.

- Jeff

JeffHamm

  • Guest
Re: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?
« Reply #28 on: February 15, 2014, 06:15:45 PM »
Washing is developing a schmeir, and although I've never made this before, the cheese feels good when I pick it up.  So, hopefully the surface texture and tactile feedback I'm getting are what they are suppose to be.  At least it won't take too long to find out.

- Jeff

andreark

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Re: My 1st Muenster - or is it Munster?
« Reply #29 on: February 22, 2014, 05:22:44 PM »
Jeff,

How is your Munster going?  I LOVE stinky cheeses but have actually had great luck only with the Taleggios.  I will try Epoises next (after many attempts) using some of the information Caldwell has in her book. 

Do you happen to know anything about the OULEOUT recipe in the book.  Just started that 2 days ago.  I was hoping that it's similar to a Taleggio.  The photo in the book shows it being a little more solid than I would like.  I hope that aging it longer will
make it softer and creamier.

Please post photos of your munster.  The real stuff is GREAT!

andreark