Author Topic: Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?  (Read 5317 times)

Offline Danbo

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Denmark, Europe, Earth, Universe
  • Posts: 1,277
  • Cheeses: 116
Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?
« on: January 28, 2015, 08:33:12 PM »
My 13C cave was beginning to smell kind of basement-bad, so I decided to remove all the cheeses and give the cave a good wash and treatment with StarSan.

All cheses was washed with a light brine with a little vinegar. The cheeses was dried with paper towels and left to airdry for a couple of hours.

I chose to vacuum-pack all the cheese...

Now I'm starting to wonder... Is it a good idea? I assume that the cheese will ripen the same way inside and at the same speed.

Is there anything that I need to be aware of? I don't have much experience with this...

:-) Danbo

qdog1955

  • Guest
Re: Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2015, 09:42:01 PM »
Danbo,
  I vac bag 90% of my cheese, as long as they are dry, I've had no problems----every once in awhile the vaced bag puts enough pressure on the cheese to expel some whey, I just keep an eye on them for awhile, and if it does happen, I just take it out and dry and repack---I used to wax most of them----but I think I like the vac bag better because I can see what's happening and it doesn't seem to change the aging.
Qdog

Offline Danbo

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Denmark, Europe, Earth, Universe
  • Posts: 1,277
  • Cheeses: 116
Re: Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2015, 10:13:04 PM »
I'm glad to hear that you have good results with vacuum packing.  I think that a natural or washed rind is beautiful but also a lot of work.

When do you consider a cheese to be dry enough for vac.?
Is drying 2-3 days at 13C usually enough?
Is it OK to first grow a natural rind and the vac. at a later time?

A lot of questions... :-)

:-) Danbo

Offline Al Lewis

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Port Orchard Washington
  • Posts: 3,285
  • Cheeses: 179
    • Lou's Food & Drink
Re: Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?
« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2015, 10:17:59 PM »
I let them sit out for at least three days to get them good and dry.  If they can develop a rind in that time I let them.
Making the World a Safer Place, One Cheese at a Time! My Food Blog and Videos

Offline Danbo

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Denmark, Europe, Earth, Universe
  • Posts: 1,277
  • Cheeses: 116
Re: Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?
« Reply #4 on: January 28, 2015, 10:22:26 PM »
Just at normal room temp.?

Spoons

  • Guest
Re: Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2015, 02:17:06 AM »
Semi-hard cheeses; I let them air dry at cave temp for about 1 week, them cream coat them and age another 3 weeks, then vac seal them.
Hard cheeses (milled or curd salted): air dry at cave temp 3-4 days, then vac seal.

Most people will tell you that vac sealing or waxing leaves an unpleasant taste. This is because there is a an additional step to take that is not well documented:

When the cheese is ready, take it out of the vac-seal and put it into a ripening container and back in the cave for 2-3 days. flip daily. Your cheese requires that time to air out.

Offline Danbo

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Denmark, Europe, Earth, Universe
  • Posts: 1,277
  • Cheeses: 116
Re: Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2015, 05:53:58 AM »
Is the cream coat primarily to do with looks or does it play a role regarding taste and vac.? It sounds like a good idea to let the cheese breathe for a couple days when our of plastic... Thanks for the advice! :-)
« Last Edit: January 30, 2015, 06:04:45 AM by Danbo »

qdog1955

  • Guest
Re: Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?
« Reply #7 on: January 29, 2015, 11:54:03 AM »
Sir Danbo,
  I usually dry mine at room temp for 2-3 days---but some have taken 5-6 days----you don't want the rind to dry to quickly and you want to make sure the whey has stopped dripping. I even vac bag my cheese that was olive and coconut oil coated after a couple weeks. The olive oil cheese develops a rind very much like a commercial Jarlsberg.
Qdog

Offline Al Lewis

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Port Orchard Washington
  • Posts: 3,285
  • Cheeses: 179
    • Lou's Food & Drink
Re: Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?
« Reply #8 on: January 29, 2015, 02:05:15 PM »
Just at normal room temp.?
  Yes, 68-70 degrees farenheit normally.  Same with baby bries when doing the intial flipping in the molds.
Making the World a Safer Place, One Cheese at a Time! My Food Blog and Videos

Offline Danbo

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Denmark, Europe, Earth, Universe
  • Posts: 1,277
  • Cheeses: 116
Re: Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?
« Reply #9 on: January 29, 2015, 02:12:02 PM »
Thanks folks.... I feel much more calm now... :-)

Offline OzzieCheese

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Australia
  • Posts: 1,507
  • Cheeses: 171
  • Sun-Grass-Cow-Milk-Cheese-Happiness
Re: Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?
« Reply #10 on: January 30, 2015, 02:00:24 AM »
My lovely Wife bought me a Vac Packer from Aldi yesterday - just in time for the Blue :). I hope they work better than the manual hand pump baggies from Korea ?

-- Mal
Usually if one person asks a question then 10 are waiting for the answer - Please ask !

shaneb

  • Guest
Re: Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?
« Reply #11 on: January 30, 2015, 03:23:11 AM »
I have one of the Aldi machines from a couple of years ago. It is brilliant. I bought some of the refill bags during the week. Hopefully you are as happy with yours as I am with mine. Is it still model VS-2501 or have they made a revision?

Shane

Offline Danbo

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Denmark, Europe, Earth, Universe
  • Posts: 1,277
  • Cheeses: 116
Re: Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?
« Reply #12 on: January 30, 2015, 04:26:38 AM »
OzzieCheese: First an Extech PH100 PH-stick and now a vacuum packer... Did you buy her flowers or something? If not, she deserves it... ;-)

Offline OzzieCheese

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Australia
  • Posts: 1,507
  • Cheeses: 171
  • Sun-Grass-Cow-Milk-Cheese-Happiness
Re: Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?
« Reply #13 on: January 30, 2015, 05:45:11 AM »
It was whatever Aldi are selling at the moment but Oh I know, my lovely lady is a wonder - and would you believe it she doesn't want flowers. I'm blessed !! So, I wouldn't tell you that I'm also getting a proper digial Thermometer and Cave Cube for RH control. 

So, some serious cheese I hope :)

-- Mal
Usually if one person asks a question then 10 are waiting for the answer - Please ask !

Offline Danbo

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Denmark, Europe, Earth, Universe
  • Posts: 1,277
  • Cheeses: 116
Re: Vacuum-packed my cheeses today. Good idea?
« Reply #14 on: January 30, 2015, 06:10:02 AM »
Come on, Mal... Now I have to buy more gear in my lousy attempt trying to keep up... My whife doesn't demand flowers but she has a serious shoe fettish...