Three-cheese weekend

[awakephd]

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.

[Al Lewis]

Been on a bit of a tear myself lately.  My problem is that I've run out of space in my cave so until something gets waxed, vacuum packed, or eaten I'm shut down. Making my decadent chocolate-mocha ice cream today. 

[qdog1955]

Andy ---keep your fingers crossed----i have had at least three Alpine style cheeses hit the 5.0 to 5.1 ---and they turned out great----good texture, good flavor and melted great-----that's why the final pH kind of remains a mystery to me. Plus still haven't solved the mystery of the different readings on the top and bottom of the cheese.
Qdog

[awakephd]

Okay, as promised, here are some pictures. First is the three cheeses -- Lancashire on the left, Montasio in the middle, and the Cantal on the right after its first 24 (actually just 22) hours of pressing. The next picture shows the Cantal after milling and salting, then in the mold, then in the press -- I'm starting this second cycle of pressing with 200 lbs (25 lbs on the lever, and 8x setting for MA).

I tested the pH of the Cantal before milling, and it was 4.96 -- again, not nearly as low as I had expected. Of course, as I mentioned, it was "only" 22 hours in the press, not 24, but still ... It will be interesting to see how it turns out ...

[awakephd]

The Cantal was well consolidated this morning, but still lots of cracks and felt like it could crumble apart with a good shake -- all as expected. I have upped the press to 300 lbs. for the next 12 hours, and then will up again to 450 and 600 if/as necessary.

[John@PC]

Andy, very nice trio of cheeses.  For that and that wonderful press of yours I'm compelled to give you a cheese.  Just one question though: with such a beautiful press why would you use such a mundane draining tray ?

[awakephd]

Ha! I wondered if you would recognize that. My old draining tray -- actually a "stainless burner cover" from Wallyworld with a spout cut into it -- is too small for this press. I have a larger version of the same, but haven't yet cut a spout into it; I want to experiment a bit to see if I can do so more elegantly than I did with the smaller one. I've actually been able to use it without a drain spout for the other two cheeses this weekend; neither of them expressed a large amount of whey once in the press. But for the Cantal, for which the volume is still half whey at the beginning, I needed something that would actually drain; in fact, I needed to position the press spanning across the sink and let it drain directly, since any bowl I might use would probably have overflowed. Then I got a bright idea -- I know just where to find a tray that was made for draining ... and presto, it fits perfectly!

For those of you who are wondering what this conversation is all about -- the tray is from a prototype Perfect-Cheese press that John sent me. Speaking of which ... John, have you made any further moves towards offering the press for sale? Is it time to give my product review?

[Danbo]

Three cheeses in one weekend - that's ambitious... AC4U!

[JeffHamm]

Three cheeses, and one of them a cantal!  Well, why not make it a challenge! ha!  Nicely done.  I've never tried a Cantal myself, but it looks like an interesting make.  I should have a go at a 2 day Lancashire make, where some of the curd is done up the day before, so it acidifies a lot more (I think the real traditional make uses curds from 3 batches, so a morning milking, an evening, then the next morning as well, and one could do that too).  Anyway, nice looking trio.  Would give a cheese, but I'm not allowed for another hour.  Sigh.

[Flound]

Bravo!

A doff of the cap and AC4U.

[awakephd]

Jeff, one reason I included a Cantal was because it is supposed to be such a quick make -- very little ripening, no cooking or stirring. All true ... but one problem was not evident, and that is getting the curds drained enough to fit in the mold. My colander was not nearly big enough to contain them, so I had to do it in stages, and it took quite a while.

I've now ordered and received a BIG colander -- actually, a bit frighteningly big when it arrived -- so now I am ready to try another Cantal make and see if it goes faster. But this time I'm thinking I'll use two pots and go for a 6 gallon make; the Cantal I made above is a bit on the thin side after its final pressing.

To be honest, the other reason I put a Cantal in the mix was to try out the upper reaches of the new press -- which I was not fully able to do, because my follower couldn't hold up to the pressure without bowing. So I've gathered the materials to make a new, thicker PE follower, plus a wooden follower on top of that, which hopefully will solve the problem when I try the 6-gallon make. Maybe today. Maybe.

[JeffHamm]

Ah.  I just see the double milling of the cantal, which makes me think it's a long make.  Haven't noted the time for the other steps!   Anyway, good luck with the increased pressing power.  Have now delivered on that cheese to you as well. 

[awakephd]

Thanks! Unfortunately, the Cantal did not happen today. But maybe some evening this week -- since it doesn't take all that long before going into the press, it should be do-able in an evening after work, especially with my new mondo colander to drain it. It is a very long pressing, but dealing with the pressing doesn't take very long -- it is basically flip-it-and-forget-it for 12 hours at a time.

[John@PC]

By coincidence Andy I was going to do a 5 gal Cantal this week but had to go out of town so it will have to wait as well.  I plan to do Rikki Carrol's recipe.  Her's uses a series of flat pressing in cheesecloth which should work well with a rectangular pan.  Like you, I picked it in part because of the high pressure requirements as I want to find the upper reaches of the XX press.  By the way, we use 3/4" thick HDPE for our 8" mold followers.  If you mold is less than 7.75" ID I could send you a blank if that would help or cut it to size for you. 

[awakephd]

John, thanks for the offer. 3/4" would definitely be a better choice than the ~3/16" material I used in some earlier followers!! I now have acquired some 1/2" thick material that I plan to cut for the follower, and I plan to back that up with a slightly smaller diameter of 3/4" thick wood. Hopefully this combination will do the trick ... but if not, I will come a-callin'