Just out of curiosity....

[Frumunda]

I was wondering,with the queso blanco and lemon cheeses,has anyone ever pressed these types of cheeses and aged them like the other cheeses?It seems that the moisture content is what causes the short shelf life,so if it were pressed would it age like other cheeses?

[Cheese Head]

Good question, I don't know.

But I suspect they won't age as well as all the aged cheeses I know add a starter culture, either mesophilic or thermophilic depending on recipe/cheese type, which introduced many different microbes that through aging, have time to work. Whereas Queso Blanco and Lemon Cheese just use vinegar or lemon juice to coagulate the milk, so during aging it would be which ever natural microbe in the milk is strongest would take over. What this would result in I don't know . . . let us know if you try .

Hope others with better knowledge will reply!

[Frumunda]

I think I wil try this,and just see if it will,1.) keep longer and 2.) maybe be a kind of a 'short cut' to making a harder cheese.

[MrsKK]

Like 30-minutes mozzerella, the cheeses you mention are acidified with vinegar or lemon juice, the mozz with citric acid.

Cultured cheeses are acidified through the growth of the culture, so that they are a living entity, whereas the acid processed cheeses are heated up too much for them to still be living.

My experience with queso blanco and citric acid mozz are that they last about a week or less, then they start melting into a smelly, yucky mess.

It isn't the moisture content, it is the lack of life that destroys them.

[goat lady]

I have made the ricotta and pressed while it is warm and dried it vacuum sealed it the cheese had a provolone taste very mellow

[goatherdess]

I always press my Queso Blanco in a cheese press, then slice it and fry it for breakfast like bacon, since it doesn't melt. Nice and crispy! I don't add any herbs or salt, but I use lime juice as the acid. I read somewhere once that that's the way they do it south of the border. The lime juice adds a unique flavor. I use a heavy bottom pot and heat very slowly - about an hour. I don't have to stand over it until just at the end when it starts to simmer. It won't scorch that way.

[FRANCOIS]

Fascinating question, it got me thinking.  These farmer cheeses are typically heated way beyond pasteurization, so there's no way to add culture before hand.  You could possible dip the curds (or curd bag/colander) in a pot of whey left over from another recipe, this would get the bugs back.  I'd drain till firm and then try to brine them.  I don't recall the consistency of this cheese but you should be able to age it a few months at least, just be sure to develop a rind on it.

In thinking about it, for the effort, just make a tomme.