Photos of our cheese

[sprocket]

Hello all -

Still a relative newbie here, but wanted to share some photos of some of the cheeses my wife and I have made over the last several months!

Several years ago, we left city life to start a small goat dairy and after a long, uphill process to get our cheese facility licensed, we received final approval this past June. 

Here's an album of some of the cheeses we're currently selling or will be selling in the next several months:

  http://imgur.com/a/psbZZ

A brief description of each one:

• Photos 1 & 4 are actually the same variety of cheese, but from different batches.  They were a bit of an accident, and weren't anything like what we were going for, but turned out lovely nonetheless.  They're both hard, crumbly, raw milk cheeses, with a natural rind and a layer of ash through the center.
• Photo 2 is our version of Manchego, save for being made with goat's milk.  We opted for a natural rind on these ones instead of oiling with olive oil.  We brush the rinds every couple days or so to knock back the molds.
• Photo 3 is a small 1kg round that we've coated with rosemary, savoury, and crushed juniper berries, before allowing the natural rind to grow over the herbs.  These ones are still about a month away from being ready for sale.
• Photo 5 is our Tomme variety - the original ones (seen in the background as two stacked on top of one another) didn't seem to want to develop that natural white rind, despite our best efforts.  At some point in August, however, the rinds started coming out exactly as we'd intended, as seen in the wheel leaning against the other two.

Feedback and tips for improvement is very welcome; we're just at the beginning of our journey and want to improve at our craft!

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Thanks for the photos, Sprocket. Really interesting looking cheeses.
Good luck with your commercial venture. If they taste as good as thay look you should do well.
A cheese for you.

[John@PC]

Good luck Sprocket.  All are nice looking (and I'm sure tasting) cheeses but your Manchego caught my eye.  Do you use a band of raffia around the perimeter to get the surface or is it an embossed mold?  Also how large are the cheese you make (lb. or kg)?

[ArnaudForestier]

Wow, sprocket - those are gorgeous, well done!  Some tasting notes would be helpful in terms of some feedback, maybe?  Aroma, acid level, musty/mold/cellar and/or bacteria notes, mouthfeel, texture? Keep us posted...

[sprocket]

Good luck Sprocket.  All are nice looking (and I'm sure tasting) cheeses but your Manchego caught my eye.  Do you use a band of raffia around the perimeter to get the surface or is it an embossed mold?  Also how large are the cheese you make (lb. or kg)?

Thanks, John!

The Manchego style cheeses are about 4.5lbs/2kg each.  The mold has a removable, embossed insert that creates all the texture on the surface of the cheeses.

[sprocket]

Wow, sprocket - those are gorgeous, well done!  Some tasting notes would be helpful in terms of some feedback, maybe?  Aroma, acid level, musty/mold/cellar and/or bacteria notes, mouthfeel, texture? Keep us posted...

We just cracked the rosemary/savoury/juniper berry coated cheese yesterday, and it was spectacular.  A very smooth, creamy, mild flavoured pasted that had infused flavours of the herbal coating.  It was interesting watching the progression of molds take over and envelop the herbs - it was a real battle between the blue/black molds, and the white Geo. candidum.

We've aged the Tomme-style cheeses for between 3-6 months, and the flavours are really starting to come out now.  It's a firm texture, with a buttery, slightly salty aftertaste.  They made with raw goat's milk, though we tend not to get a goaty flavour coming through.

The Tallentire's (the one's with the ash layer) are hard and crumbly, with a strong salt profile and piquant goat flavours.  A lot of blue molds tend to develop closer to the ash, and the rind has a mix of B. linens, Geo., and blue.

[scasnerkay]

Sure would like a taste!! Where are you located? Those are beautiful cheeses!

[Danbo]

I love my Manchego molds. Oh, I wish that my Manchegos will look as beautiful as yours! :-)

[awakephd]

Danbo, that looks beautiful to me! I'll try to give you a cheese, but just gave Jeff one, and if I recall correctly, the forum software only allows 1 per hour, or something like that.

On edit -- it did allow me to give you a cheese. I guess there is not a limit after all!

[Danbo]

Thanks, Awakephd. :-)

I hope that it will turn out as good as Sprocket's...

:-) Danbo

[sprocket]

Thanks, Awakephd. :-)

I hope that it will turn out as good as Sprocket's...

:-) Danbo

Danbo - I agree with Awakephd, that's looking good!

What size of mold were you using?  Ours are about 2kg/4lbs each and I was just wondering if yours is a bit smaller, or if the texturing is larger.

Are you treating the rind with oil at all?  In the pictured cheeses I'd posted, I just do a dry brushing treatment every two days or so, to knock back the blue/black molds.

[sprocket]

Sure would like a taste!! Where are you located? Those are beautiful cheeses!

We're in southwestern British Columbia. 

[Danbo]

What size of mold were you using?  Ours are about 2kg/4lbs each and I was just wondering if yours is a bit smaller, or if the texturing is larger.

Are you treating the rind with oil at all?  In the pictured cheeses I'd posted, I just do a dry brushing treatment every two days or so, to knock back the blue/black molds.

Hi Sprocket,

I just realised that. the mold in the image is actually not the mold that I used for the cheese - sorry. The mold that I used was a multiperforated mold that does not require a cheese cloth. I have lots of different molds (in different sizes) but this one is one of my absolute favorites. I think that the mold is about 1,5 kgs - my batch was only around 1 kg.

I actually sell molds but maybe the shipping/taxes from Denmark are not the cheapest - I don't know...

I haven't treated the rind - I just brush a little and use a bit of saltwater if needed. But I'm not that experienced yet...

[Danbo]

Sorry that the images are upside down. Click the image and it will be rotated...