My first parmesan

[GlennK]

So this little fella is my first parm that I made last November from a Rikki Carroll recipe. It's very hard. I can't even bite it. It grates nice though and tastes like it should. I think these smaller parms don't have to age as long.

[John@PC]

It grates nice though and tastes like it should.

Sounds like a good result to me.  Certainly worth a cheese for you for waiting that long.  Thinking about it maybe the low profile of the cheese contributed to the hardness?

[awakephd]

Glenn,

Did you use any lipase in the recipe? I made a parma style back in January from the recipe in Carroll's book, and coming up on 9 months now, it is still rather bland. Texture is right, grates nicely, and has a *little* of the taste I'd like to get, but still a long way from what I'd hoped. I'm hoping maybe it will improve by 12 months -- still have half continuing to age in the cave -- but ultimately I think I'm going to need to make it with lipase to be satisfied.

[GlennK]

Thinking about it maybe the low profile of the cheese contributed to the hardness?

That's what I think also.  I tried finding some kind of reference for aging time versus mass (or thickness or weight etc.), but couldn't find one.  This cheese started to turn yellow about 3 months ago,which I suspect is when it really started to harden, so the next time I make this I'm going to age it 6-7 months and see how that goes.

[GlennK]

Did you use any lipase in the recipe?

No. I don't have my recipe book handy, but I remember I didn't