Author Topic: Parmesan - 1st attempt  (Read 6442 times)

wattlebloke

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Re: Parmesan - 1st attempt
« Reply #15 on: April 12, 2016, 02:47:57 AM »
I've been having a lot of fun playing with the salt slurry technique. Best advice I can give is to make sure there is a good amount of undissolved salt : you don't need all that much depth of free water. My slurry covers the bottom of my mini cave to a depth of about 1/4 inch.

Kern

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Re: Parmesan - 1st attempt
« Reply #16 on: April 12, 2016, 04:11:36 PM »
Amazon lists potassium chloride but the product is not pure according to the reviews.  I don't know about the quality of the e-Bay product.  I got mine from Bulkfoods, a company I buy lots of dried fruits and nuts from.  Their KCl is food grade pure and costs about $2.50 per pound in 5-pound bags.

ksk2175

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Re: Parmesan - 1st attempt
« Reply #17 on: April 13, 2016, 02:12:17 AM »
Wow, pretty cool. I had salt around so tried that first. I put just enough water in the bottom of my box to cover it about 1/4" or less then added a lot enough salt so that it wouldn't all dissolve.  I did this last night then shut the lid tight. I went to work today and when I got home I checked it. It's pegged at 80% RH and 55f. Not bad at all.

Kern

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Re: Parmesan - 1st attempt
« Reply #18 on: April 13, 2016, 02:30:36 AM »
A saturated common salt solution (NaCl, sodium chloride) should line out pretty much at 75% RH within a temperature range of 45-90F.  that you had 80% means one of several things:

Your gauge was off.
Your solution was not saturated with NaCl
The NaCl was not pure enough
The air and salt solution were not at equilibrium as there was not enough air circulation.

If it holds steady at 80%RH over several days and salt is lying on the bottom of the solution then I'd expect that the humidity gauge was incorrect.  Incidentally, saturated salt solutions are used to calibrate humidity gauges so I suspect that your gauge is reading high. 

ksk2175

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Re: Parmesan - 1st attempt
« Reply #19 on: April 20, 2016, 03:44:13 AM »
A saturated common salt solution (NaCl, sodium chloride) should line out pretty much at 75% RH within a temperature range of 45-90F.  that you had 80% means one of several things:

Your gauge was off.
Your solution was not saturated with NaCl
The NaCl was not pure enough
The air and salt solution were not at equilibrium as there was not enough air circulation.

If it holds steady at 80%RH over several days and salt is lying on the bottom of the solution then I'd expect that the humidity gauge was incorrect.  Incidentally, saturated salt solutions are used to calibrate humidity gauges so I suspect that your gauge is reading high.

Well it held at around 80-81 on the meter but I noticed when I removed the cheese there was no visible salt in the liquid at the bottom so had too much water or not enough NaCl... Or like you said my hygrometer could be off ... It is a $20 cheapie.  I bagged it yesterday as it was pretty dry and getting a shadow of blue showing up here and there.  I wiped it down, dried it, then bagged it.  Now it sits.

ksk2175

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Re: Parmesan - 1st attempt
« Reply #20 on: June 03, 2016, 02:45:06 AM »
2 months in and I'm getting some swelling and larger white patches ... Concerns with this thin wheel?

Offline awakephd

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Re: Parmesan - 1st attempt
« Reply #21 on: June 03, 2016, 03:34:52 PM »
The swelling concerns me. Is there any P. Shermanii in the culture mix? If so, that could account for the swelling, though if you've kept it at cave temps, there shouldn't be much. If not ... I'd worry about late blowing. I've never had it happen, so I don't really know the timeline or ways to diagnose, but hopefully some others can chip in.
-- Andy

ksk2175

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Re: Parmesan - 1st attempt
« Reply #22 on: June 03, 2016, 04:21:51 PM »
The description on the culture doesnt say it contains any of the P.Shermanii  .... lactose, streptococcus thermophilus, lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. Lactis, lactobacillus helveticus, sucrose

Its been 55f and vac sealed since day 1.   Hopefully the vac seal will keep it from splitting or it may explode .... lol


ksk2175

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Re: Parmesan - 1st attempt
« Reply #23 on: August 05, 2016, 03:54:31 AM »
Decided to cut this one open .... ugh!   >:( 

Gonna try this one again.... into the trash bin it goes....

Offline awakephd

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Re: Parmesan - 1st attempt
« Reply #24 on: August 05, 2016, 05:07:22 PM »
How did it smell? That looks like what I would think would be some sort of blowing (presumably late blowing), but I just don't have enough experience - actually, don't have any experience** - with blowing, so I'm guessing based on the fact that it doesn't look like the "normal" gas bubbles from PS or even from one of the aroma blends.

**Knock on wood ... hopefully I haven't just jinxed myself!
-- Andy