Author Topic: Jarlsberg take two  (Read 5802 times)

shaneb

  • Guest
Jarlsberg take two
« on: March 30, 2015, 02:58:08 AM »
Hi all,

Yesterday I made a second attempt at a Jarlsberg based on the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company recipe http://www.cheesemaking.com/learn/recipes/norwegian-style-cheese.html.

This time around I halved the batch size so that if this is a flop again I won't have wasted so much milk.  :) The make went quite smoothly this time around. There were some minor temperature control issues as normal. I used a water bath this time around. Last time I used direct heat due to the amount of milk involved and not having a bigger pot.

The curds were pressed under whey and I'm quite happy with the end result. The cheese was brined and has just come out for drying. This time around I think I'll go the easy route and vacuum bag it.

Photos and make sheet are below.

All the best.

Shane

Stinky

  • Guest
Re: Jarlsberg take two
« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2015, 01:38:16 PM »
Looks good! May your luck be twice that of a happy penguin at Christmastime!

Offline Danbo

  • Old Cheese
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Re: Jarlsberg take two
« Reply #2 on: March 30, 2015, 05:04:40 PM »
A beauty! :-) A cheese for you now and one when it's ready... ;-)

shaneb

  • Guest
Re: Jarlsberg take two
« Reply #3 on: March 30, 2015, 08:39:51 PM »
Thanks Guys.  :D I've read real Jarlsberg is taken out to a minimum of 12 months. Its this how long you take your cheese to? The recipe says 3-4 months in phase 3, so around 6 months all up including phases 1 and 2. If this one gets through phase 2 happily I'll try another larger one.

All the best.

Shane

LoftyNotions

  • Guest
Re: Jarlsberg take two
« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2015, 10:11:05 PM »
Looking good, Shane. Have a cheese.

Larry

shaneb

  • Guest
Re: Jarlsberg take two
« Reply #5 on: March 30, 2015, 10:20:22 PM »
Thanks Larry. The side walls are starting to get a slight rounding on them (not sure what the correct term is) overnight, rather than the straight walls post pressing.

Shane

John@PC

  • Guest
Re: Jarlsberg take two
« Reply #6 on: March 31, 2015, 02:27:49 AM »
Another cheese to stack on the others.  Keep us posted.

shaneb

  • Guest
Re: Jarlsberg take two
« Reply #7 on: March 31, 2015, 03:51:26 AM »
Thanks John. I'll try and post some photos before I bag it. Still a fair bit of drying to go. Unlike the problems I had with the warm phase in the Australian summer, I now have problems with the rapid change into Autumn and the cool mornings. My "porta cave" has been modified to heat instead of cool now. I'll test it out in the lead up to the warm phase.

Shane

qdog1955

  • Guest
Re: Jarlsberg take two
« Reply #8 on: March 31, 2015, 09:35:44 AM »
Shane-----looking good----will keep our fingers crossed------AC4U
Qdog

shaneb

  • Guest
Re: Jarlsberg take two
« Reply #9 on: March 31, 2015, 09:34:42 PM »
Thanks Qdog. Here is a photo from this morning. It is still quite wet, but is getting dryer.

Shane

shaneb

  • Guest
Re: Jarlsberg take two
« Reply #10 on: April 04, 2015, 04:01:38 AM »
Here are a couple of photos (not brilliant, so apologies in advance) of my cheese before I bagged it. I'll leave the first cold stage a little longer than my last failed attempt.

Shane

shaneb

  • Guest
Re: Jarlsberg take two
« Reply #11 on: April 30, 2015, 09:58:50 PM »
Four weeks have now passed since the start of the warm phase. There has been some sign of swelling. This was in a vacuum bag that wasn't quite fully vacuumed out. There were no signs at all of any mould growth on the surface. Today I've taken it out of the bag to have a smell and give it a dry with paper towel. It smells good, so I'm looking forward to the end result. I've now bagged it properly and it's been put back into the cave for the remainder of it's maturing.

Shane

John@PC

  • Guest
Re: Jarlsberg take two
« Reply #12 on: May 01, 2015, 02:46:59 PM »
Anyone out there know how to prevent wrinkles from vac. bagging with softer cheeses?  I always wondered if you could wrap the outside with a hard plastic or bark strip to help support when bagging. 

shaneb

  • Guest
Re: Jarlsberg take two
« Reply #13 on: July 15, 2015, 12:02:36 AM »
An update on this one. It was bagged, but there was a small leak in the bag. No mould was growing, so I let it be. Over the last couple of leaks, some small external cracks appeared. I assumed this was due to the holes inside not appreciating having been bagged. A large crack appeared this week, so I decided it was time to take a look inside. The smell isn't great. It's quite a strong aroma, but not something I'd expect from a Jarlsberg. I cut it open and the holes are not what I'd expect. I'm not game enough to try eating it. Is this a late blowing?

Thanks.

Shane

qdog1955

  • Guest
Re: Jarlsberg take two
« Reply #14 on: July 15, 2015, 10:34:39 AM »
My Jarlsberg and Leerdammers have a wonderful dairy smell----very pleasant, certainly nothing that would make me hesitate to try it---might be time to start using lysozyme?
Qdog