Aging Many Different Cheeses - Logistics!

[DaggerDoggie]

I now have thirteen cheeses maturing in my "cave."  I spent over an hour just maintaining each cheese tonight.  It's a lot of work.

Right now I have:

1) waxed stirred curd cheddar, my first

1) Parmesan (kind of ugly looking, but seems to be aging well)

1) Romano

2) Gruyere - one is several weeks old, one I just made.  Each slightly different techniques and aging methods.

1) Tomme au Marc - I have no idea what that is doing since I don't want to disturb it, but it looks like it's doing something.  At least it has not turned disgusting.

1) Cabra al Vino - left over from part of my failed English Cheddar.

2) English Cheddar's - one I cheddard and one I stirred since it did not set up well enough.

1) Manchego - part of which turn into...

1) ??? - Smoked waxed hard cheese

1) Danish Blue

1) Reg's Alpine cheese

Trying to keep track of all this...turning many cheeses daily, washing, and keeping any mold in check is a fair amount of work.

[Cheese Head]

Well I can see that you get around ;D, you're certainly not the type to stay on one cheese until 100% satisfied, but at least you are paying them all some attention ;).

Also, you have way more patience than me, all of mine have been eaten, most before their time.

Soon I too will have a freezer cheese cave with lots of room and as wife and kids flying to Calgary for wedding in the family :-[, lots of time to make cheese 8).

[DaggerDoggie]

Aah, time with the house to yourself.  Once in a while, that is nirvana.

[merlin]

If nothing else seeing all the cheeses that the members are working on has made me sure that I'll be trying my hand at making cheese instead of just buying and eating it. 

[Cheese Head]

Merlin, is that the start of a new hobby we can hear? Your knowledge of cheese and cheese making would be a very powerful combination . . .

[DaggerDoggie]

Since we are getting married at my house in almost exactly one month, my fiance said, "Enough trashing the kitchen and making cheese.  We have more important details to worry about."  She's right, I still may make one or two more before then, but there is still a fair amount of time taken in maintaining my little cave.

My Danish Blue is going on three weeks.

My stirred curd is a few days older, growing a nice mold, if that is good, while my cheddared cheddar is a month old and getting less mold, and looking nicely aged, although still young.

The Cabre al Vino I just washed again with a little wine.

I am hoping that something is ready and tasting good for our reception here so everyone does not think I am crazy.

[DaggerDoggie]

The bigger picture:

[Cheese Head]

Huge congrats, 1 month left being a bachelor :o. Priorities, fiance and wedding first, cheese will follow. Honeymoon?

Beautiful and colorful! But, I think I wouldn't show the Cheddared Cheddar as a bit too colorful, unless you can scrub it down real good. I'm vary envious of your Danish Blue.

You're expecting your cheese to set the record straight on not being crazy? While only a 1% possibility, it is a very very important day, so you may want to have a few nibbles beforehand so that you don't unintentionly confirm it :'(.

[reg]

DD your regular Cheddar looks fantastic ! great job.

does the stirred curd cheddar have a fairly strong odor ? mine is fairly strong so i decided to brine it yesterday. just not sure all is well with it. i may end up putting it in solitary confinement today

everything else you have going looks great. you should have some good tasting samples on the big day

[DaggerDoggie]

Thanks!

No strong odor coming from the stirred curd yet.  I'm going to let it go for now and see what happens.

[cheeseboy]

 English Cheddar's  don't like Danish Blue ,becaues of mold ！

[Cheese Head]

cheeseboy, I agree, the problem is that in a too high humidity environment, the strong Penicillium Roqueforti mold in Blue Cheeses can easily jump to and contaminate other cheeses.

DD and most of us only have one "Cheese Cave" so no ability to isolate different types of cheeses.

[reg]

morning CH. going to remove my Manchego and the stir curd Cheddar from the one cave and put them into a cave all by themselves. will be removing from the vac pac and waxing the faces only as i want them to dry and firm up a bit more. hope that will work

reg

[Tea]

I have been wondering if it wouldn't be easier to have two caves.  One dry one for general maturing, and one moist one for the cheeses that need a moist environment.
Just thoughts going around in my head.

[reg]

i'm also having those same thoughts. when the cheese is just out of the press they need high humidity, after five or six weeks and they have formed a good rind i don't think they need much more than 70-75% to finish aging. that is the path i will be taking with the Alpine style natural rinds.

reg