My First Muenster

[Al Lewis]

Nice even growth of B. Linens Al. Must have a beautiful smell of a barn yard....

John

Smells like a dirty sock factory! LOL

[AnnDee]

The colour is impressively orange! I can imagine the smell

[Al Lewis]

Finally cut this today and vacuum packed most of it.  A bit crumbly but absolutely delicious.  It will still slice as thin as commercial slices without breaking.  I'm calling this one a success!  The smell has seeped into the paste giving it that awesome Muenster flavor!

[Duntov]

Looks picture perfect.  Congrats Al!

[Al Lewis]

Thanks John!

[DoctorCheese]

OOOOOOH, I love how it is appears very developed but is not runny! How do you do that. Both of my B linens cheeses so far are soft in the middle. Maybe more pressing on my part. I need to get back in to making cheese, schools been keeping my busy  Have a cheese for your inspiring result!

[Al Lewis]

This one weighs around 5 pounds so that might have something to do with it.

[DoctorCheese]

Well color me jealous 

[Gregore]

Looks yummy

Also if one makes it lower ph it takes longer to get runny , and will have a little crumble to it

I some times play with this with the reblochon , let the ph go a little lower and it keeps a sharper flavor when ready and if i push it a little lower ph than standard I can even get the cheese past the 60 days needed for raw milk.

Could be good if I was ever crazy enough to do this for a living .....not !

[AnnDee]

Wow, it looks delicious! AC4U Al.
Is the rind a little tacky or is this quite dry?

[Duntov]

"I am a cheese loving college student headed towards a PhD in Psychology working with what I have to produce some yummy morsels. "

Cheese addiction is an enjoyable psychological disorder.   

[Al Lewis]

Wow, it looks delicious! AC4U Al.
Is the rind a little tacky or is this quite dry?

  Thanks guys!  Ann, the outside is quite dry.  I misted it almost daily and did a schmeir about once a week with a small brush.  It would stay tacky for a day or two and then dry again despite keeping it in a ripening container.  I just kept a close eye on it and made sure it didn't dry too much.  The crumbliness, is that a word, would be due to the pressing weight I used.  I think the next one will have a little less weight.

[AnnDee]

How long did you dry the cheese before putting it in ripening container?
I'm tempted to make this one but prefer to have a dry schmier rind than tacky.

[Al Lewis]

Ann I put this into the ripening box after brining and held it at room temp with the lid nearly closed for about three days draining the whey daily and misting with the brine with the B Linens in it.  It stayed tacky nearly the entire ripening period and only started to dry about the last two weeks.  Once that started I paid close attention to it and continued to mist it and do the schmier to keep it from cracking.  You will want it at 90-95% RH during the initial period and then into the cave at 85%.  I placed wet paper towels in the bottom of the ripening container to get the 95%.  I use some of the directions from Tim Smith's book.  I would however press with less weight than called for if you don't want it to become crumbly.  Good luck!  This one will really stink up the room when the cave is open. 

[Boofer]

This one weighs around 5 pounds so that might have something to do with it.

Wow! 

Hefty, hefty, hefty.... Seems like someone made a hefty Reblochon not so long ago. It's difficult to ripen to the core with that large a mass of curd. 200 Easy Cheeses calls for a little smaller form factor (500g).

Awesome color, Al. I'm afraid mine won't have color that deep.    Have a cheese.

-Boofer-