I had a bit of extra time this weekend, and decided to try making three cheeses. Once before I've done a two-cheese weekend ... three is definitely a challenge, at least for my schedule. But there have been too many cheeses backed up on my "need to make that" list, so it was good to whittle it down a bit.
Make 1, Friday afternoon, was a Lancashire -- nothing unusual, and went as expected. Target age is 6 weeks.
Make 2, Saturday morning, was a Montasio -- basically following Boofer's makes, but without the PS. This one didn't go quite as expected -- the cooking stage went perfectly, with lovely curds at the end, but in the press, I hit a pH of 5.2 after only 30 minutes. What?? I'm not sure why it acidified so quickly; I followed the same protocol as I did with my first Montasio, which didn't drop so quickly. I guess next time I will cut back on the cultures a bit. I went ahead and pressed it another 30 minutes to get a decent rind, at which time it was at 5.05 and still felt rather soft. I put it into the brine and meant to take it out this morning before heading to church ... and forgot. And now I'm waiting for a meeting that will last until mid-afternoon, so it may be extra-salty by the time it finally comes out of the brine -- it will have been in there for about 24 hours. Between the acid and the salt ... who knows what this will actually taste like in three months! Maybe I'll have to let it age out and become a grating cheese for cooking.
Make 3, Saturday night, was a Cantal -- 200 Easy Cheeses recipe -- the first time I've tried this make. The hardest part was getting the uncooked curd to drain enough to fit into the mold! It pressed for 12 hours overnight at 24 lbs. and was reduced to half of its former size; when I flipped it this morning (I did remember to do that!), I expected the pH to be through the floor ... but it was only 5.15. Interesting ... perhaps because I used about half the normal amount of culture that I would use for a 4-gallon make. 12 more hours in the press, then I'll mill and salt it, then back into the press at 300 - 600 lbs for 48 - 72 hours (we'll see what is needed).
I'll post pictures this evening after I get home.