I Wanted to try something different. My friend and I pretend to be Remy-Martin connoisseurs (even though we hate the stuff) due to some deep-rooted-inside-joke-tradition. I told him I'd make a cheese and wash it with some fine VSOP cognac. As per my usual routine, I didn't read deeply into "alcohol washing" until after I made the cheese. Turns out people don't usually wash the rind with pure liquor in the cheese biz much. (I see lots of curd washing and also adding a bit of alcohol into a brine solution like Alp) Oh well, I'm going ahead with it anyway.
I initially was not going to make a thread about this cheese since it's success hangs in the balance, but JeffHamm convinced me otherwise. Hopefully this make doesn't go the same way as my Chocolate milk cheese did........ yikes.
Here is what I want to accomplish:
1. A cheese that tastes a bit like cognac.
2. A natural rind cheese, free from the tastes of mold and B.linens (I do not want a traditional wash as in Alp's post where linens is a big player.)
Here's my abbreviated make:
4L PH whole milk.
Cacl, 1.5ml Rennet
1/8tsp meso, 1/8tsp aroma
1. Raise to 29C, add CaCl
2. inoculate with cultures, stir, add rennet, stir
3. wait 45 mins, cut curd 1.5cm (very poor curd set)
4. rest 5, stir 5, rest 5, stir 5, rest 5. (curd was demolished into rice grain sized pieces)
5. Remove 10% of whey, replace with 60C water
6. stir 10
7. remove 1/3 of whey replace with 45C
8. temp is now 37C, hold for 20 mins, occasional stirring. (recipe calls for 20 mins of stirring, but I figured enough water was removed from curd already)
9. rest 10
10. pack, press at 10lbs, flipping occasionally. pressed over night
11. ~20% brine for 2 hours.
12. Air dry for 2 days.
13. Began washing with a mixture. 50% St. Remy cognac, 50% water. "pinch of salt" then i poured in a tbsp of my linens brine.
(brine should be at ~18-20% alcohol.)
If you have any tips or thought, please feel free to ask or tell. Here's a picture