My attempt at a generic "alpine" cheese

[DoctorCheese]

I was feeling hungry and bored so I cut this cheese open today. With each cheese I make I learn a new lesson (or sometimes many!). The lesson this cheese taught me is how vital humidity control is in cheese caves. When I cut it open it was nearly completely dried out. In an attempt to salvage the edible parts (the middle) I did some cheese surgery and ended up with some cool blocks of cheese that taste like a funky parm. As someone said to me once before on here, if it is edible, then it is a success.

[reg]

Wow that is dry for an Alpine style at that age. Also I have never heard of an Alpine with a washed curd before so maybe that could be cutting down on your curd yield (loss of fat in the curd) depending on the heat of the wash water.

Just a thought, maybe try skim mild then add heavy cream to bring the milk up to the % you are looking for in the milk. I gave up on trying to use homo milk in cheese making and everything is much better now

[awakephd]

Save the hard parts for grating!

[AnnDee]

I say, this might be Alpine parm. Must be good for grating on to salads, soups and pastas etc. I put some hard rinds into my soup and stew as well, not too often now though