First off , we would sure love to see that recipe from your grandmother. And I will swap you a digital cheese for it
Well, I'd love to show it, except I'd have to translate it, and my Greek isn't as good as Nanna's was...
And I don't know what it means to "swap a digital cheese"... Sorry.
The only reason for the initial ripen after adding culture is for them to wake up start multiplying and lowering the ph of the milk. This gives a better rennet set.
There must be more to it than you're telling. Otherwise, why would all those different cheeses have different ripening times? Why would it even be called "ripening" and not "acidifying" or "deacidifying" if there weren't something more to it? There's a reason for it, and I don't know enough to know what that reason is. Which is why I asked.
And as for flavor , I would assume that your grandmother used raw milk for her cheeses so you will find it hard to come to the same flavor profile as she did.
Great Grandmother.
Why would you assume that I am
not using raw milk?
I happen to have a source for it, and it is indeed my intention to use it in this process. It is, I am told, a little richer than store-bought whole milk, around 4.5%. I even posted in another thread asking about how to save and reuse the whey for a pressed and aged whey-ricotta-type cheese I've read about. For various technical reasons, I won't be saving the whey from my first few attempts making Nanna's cheese. It is partially due to the expense that I wish to understand the process as well and as much as possible, so that I'm not doing things I don't understand, and don't thereby arrive at results by accident. Isn't the point of following a recipe to ensure repeatability, consistency, and predictability?
You do not mention if hers was the non wait or wait version.
You're right. I didn't.
Mostly I didn't mention it, because it isn't relevant to my inquiry. I asked what the effects were of ripening times versus no ripening times on final flavor profiles. I'm trying to understand the variables as they apply to cheesemaking in general, so that particular information can be applied to specifics about a given type of cheese. Why does one action end up with the results that it does, as opposed to another action in the exact same recipe ending up with differing results?
It isn't important to anyone who already knows these things, but to those of us who do not know what everyone else knows, these things are how we get to a better understanding of how to use recipes to get particular and specific results. I wish people who are expert would remember that there are those of us out here who do not know what they know, and respond accordingly. We can't, by definition, understand these details unless they're explained to us in a manner that allows for our lack of specific knowledge.
I'm sure you understand. I wouldn't any more begin discussing architecture with my students by talking about
Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore and Brunelleschi's impossible dome, without first covering the Minoans, Mycenaeans, the Greeks, and the Romans. One can't understand Cologne's Gothic magnificence, without understanding the foundations laid in the early Renaissance.
For example, I read a thread (elsewhere) about someone who had made Bleu Cheese, but ended up with two different results. One of them was a very soft, almost runny cheese (not unlike a Brie) and the other was more crumbly and dry, like a Feta. It took me several read-throughs of the thread to discern the very minor difference in the maturation process which caused the specific difference in the end results. It turned out that the maturation container wasn't big enough for both cheeses (made identically at the same time up to this point) so one of them was put in another identically-sized container, but upon a much taller mat/platform. The taller platform allowed for greater air circulation, and ensured that the cheese wasn't down in the bottom of the container, because of the flatter mat, and thus sitting in the outgasses from the maturation process. Hence, the two different results from the exact same cheese. This is the type of thing that interests me, as I will be able to pick and choose the alterations in process that will result in the type of cheese I wish to produce. I wish to understand these details ahead of time, so that there are no surprises, failures, or waste involved. It's an academic outlook on the process of artisanship. Once I am confident of my ability to produce a cheese that not only meets my expectations, but also is what I intend to produce (and not by accident, but by design) then I'll be more than happy to share my Great-Grandmother's recipe (and my variations) with anyone who wants it.
So, again, I ask, Why does one action, such as a lengthy ripening time, end up with the results that it does, as opposed to another action such as no ripening time, in the exact same recipe ending up with different results? How does that cause the final flavor of the finished cheese to be one thing or another, sharp or creamy? Earthy, or buttery? In this case, the only variable is length of ripening.
