Maybe I better not serve it to anyone with compromised immune system.
. But it's interesting to me the level of crap, literally, that can be in milk and still have it produce cheese that kills no one. A friend with milking Devons was milking his cow in the shed, it was summer, they were cooped in the shed that day (3-sided, plentry of air, breeze, etc) and the milk in the bucket had tons of cow hair in it and I knew from seeing the cow that she'd been laying in dirty bedding (a given with any livestock not assigned personal maids) and that the hair had to have manure on it. Along with all the hair was just plain specks of dirt/manure floating around. He said he'd be filtering it but that's not going to do a lot at that point and yet I've eaten cheese from that milk and not gotten sick. I confess to being a bit less excited about that cheese now bit I'm still into trying it.
I try to find the same medium territory. I am careful to not have stuff fall in the milk but yes, occasionally a hair or two fall in and I do fish them out immediately but I'm aware that's not deleting all potential impact. I'm assuming the good bacteria can out compete the bad. I have never pasteurized any milk and any bad tasting cheese is likely a result of my lack of skill in cheese making and affinage.
With this batch of cheese I'm a bit challenged on how to deal with it. It's not very firm yet and may never be. I guess I'll try putting it in small molds and letting it drain to see if it firms up. Then I'll salt and ash as usual. I will report back unless/until I am sickened and unable.
