Author Topic: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.  (Read 11544 times)

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.
« Reply #15 on: October 27, 2009, 01:18:14 AM »
You never know Tea - maybe the cheese fairies will come and sprinkle them with green fairies dust when you not looking.  ;)

Tea

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Re: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.
« Reply #16 on: October 27, 2009, 01:32:33 AM »
No NO I don't want any green fairy dust on the outside.  It's supposed to stay on the inside.

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.
« Reply #17 on: October 27, 2009, 01:41:20 AM »
Uh oh! Better watch those fairies!

Tea

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Re: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.
« Reply #18 on: October 27, 2009, 08:11:08 PM »
Dave I guess I need to say that I suck at pressed cheeses.  I had come to the conclusion that people who press homemade cheeses, could never hope to have a nice smooth looking cheese, bar using one of the Kadova moulds.  Then I saw Reg's Alpine  :o   No matter how hard I try, I still can not master a nice looking pressed cheese.  My hat off to all who can do it.

Bella

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Re: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.
« Reply #19 on: October 27, 2009, 09:00:39 PM »
Great job, Tea
I look forward to hearing how they turn out when ready. You've given me confidence to give it another go!
B

Likesspace

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Re: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.
« Reply #20 on: October 27, 2009, 11:32:39 PM »
LOL Tea.....
The secret to a nicely pressed cheese is simple, really......
Make sure you begin the press with nice warm curds and do your pressing with one of Carter's "Master Series Cheese Presses". :-)
Yep, almost a year later and I'm still trying to sell people on how great this press works.
Honestly, I've seen some of your pressed cheeses and the only problem that I see is that they sometimes turn out a little lopsided. This will in no way affect the taste or the texture so what does it really matter?
I've done a lot more pressing with stacked weights than I have with the pneumatic press and it is problematic. Regardless I've enjoyed 99% of the cheeses I've made despite how they might have looked.
One question that I'd like to have answered.....
On the wheels you ashed, what type of ash did you use?
Also, what is the purpose of ashing a cheese? I have heard of doing it, but I don't understand what the benefits are.
Okay, I guess that was two questions but what the heck. :)

Dave

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.
« Reply #21 on: October 28, 2009, 02:26:20 AM »
Tea looks isn't everything! Taste is what really counts. ONe trick I learn a while ago about pressing before Wayne got me hooked on kadova molds is press for 15 minutes or so, redress press another 15 mintes and remove the cloths and continue without them. They come our smooth without the little lines or mesh prints.

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.
« Reply #22 on: October 28, 2009, 02:36:54 AM »
Do you need to redress with Kadova molds?

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.
« Reply #23 on: October 28, 2009, 02:48:09 AM »
No redressing but you still have to flip. The liners are a plastic sort of mesh that fits exactly in the mold. SAve a lot of time if you flip a lot like I do to get smooth edges.

Tea

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Re: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.
« Reply #24 on: October 28, 2009, 08:39:57 PM »
 Dave hopefully this will answer your questions http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,2330.0.html

Yes I know that Carter has a wonderful press, but postage is the killer for me. 
It is the lopsidedness that is a pain.  They never look like I took any time in pressing them.

I have tried trying to smooth the cheesecloth, but I always seem to get wrinkles some where.  But I will keep trying.

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.
« Reply #25 on: October 28, 2009, 11:23:55 PM »
Have you tried cutting it? For my PVC molds I cut the cheese cloth in strips about 1/4 the size of the mold press it enough to form and then no more cloths. I comes out very smooth. Sometimes I ge a leaner on the weights though and even in kadova molds they will get lop sided.

Tea

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Re: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.
« Reply #26 on: October 29, 2009, 08:46:07 PM »
Well I suppose I probably should cut a piece of cheese cloth to fit a mould.  I have been leaving it in a whole piece, as the thought of cutting it up... :'(    I hope to make a parmesan this weekend, so will try again.

Ok back to the blue/white cheese, there is a light covering of white mould over the surface of all the cheeses, and I can see a darker growth underneath the surface of the cheeses.  No over powering off smells coming from the cave as of yet.  So far, so good.

Likesspace

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Re: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.
« Reply #27 on: October 30, 2009, 12:58:08 AM »
Tea...thanks for the information concerning the ash coating.
This is something I might want to try in the future.
One question....
Have you eaten any of your cheese that has received the ash coating? I'm curious as to the flavor of this type of coating.
Concerning Carter's press......
I keep forgetting that you are on the other side of the world. Although this press has a small footprint, I'm sure the shipping charges would be extreme.
I once sent a one pound package to Australia via UPS and the charges were unbelievable. I can only imagine what it would be like to ship one of these presses.
One thing that you might try on your pressed cheese is to take small (maybe 6" long level) and set it on top of your weights. If your weights are level then the pressure on the cheese should be even.
I'm just guessing that this will work, but it might be worth a try.
Hope this helps and thanks again for the info.

Dave

Tea

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Re: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.
« Reply #28 on: October 31, 2009, 08:06:12 PM »
Dave thanks for the suggestions, anything at this stage is worth a try.

So, the flavour of the ash, none!!  My favourite cheese that I purchase is an ash brie, (that's what started me on this journey), and apart from seeing that there is some black on the cheese, there is no added flavour at all.

Update on the cheese.  All of them have a beautiful covering of white mould and a couple of the white have just the hit of green there too.  One of the ash brie's has definately got a wonderful goth look going, as it is a beautiful shade of black and green.  I am wondering if the water cooled a little too much with the successive additions of the cheese, so it hasn't worked quite as well on some cheese as it did on others.  Also I can't detect any over powering ammonia/off smells yet, so that is encouraging too.
My computer has crashed again, (using my SIL's), so will update with pic when it is up and running again.

Tea

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Re: John, this is the year....I'm going to try a Cambozola.
« Reply #29 on: November 07, 2009, 08:03:01 PM »
I am careful to talk very quietly around these cheeses, but they are doing great.  I can hardly believe it.  There is no smell that I have become acustomed to when making this style of cheese.  No slippage, no sticking to mats, althought I am turning once a day to try and aleviate this.  Only one cheese, an ash one, has any exterior blue mould.  I just can't beleive it.  I have been taking update photo's and will down load them when I get my computer running again.
The recipe said to age for two weeks before wrapping and transfering to a cooler environment.  I also nearly didn't do this as previous experience haven't turned out well at the prolonged aging at higher temps, but as they were doing so well I decided that I would perservere and pull them at any time if I thought they were going down hill. 
So we wait a bit longer.  Should be wrapping Tuesday, all going well.