Author Topic: First cheese of the season....Crap!  (Read 3726 times)

Likesspace

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First cheese of the season....Crap!
« on: October 18, 2009, 07:38:07 PM »
Well at 12:30 this afternoon I started my first cheese of the season, a Romano. I was so excited to be getting started once again.
Well now it is 2:30 in the afternoon and I'm still waiting for a clean break...
Although the milk seems to slowly be coagulating, there is no doubt that I have a problem. I will usually get a nice clean break in about 40 minutes and the only other two times that this has happened I have ended up pitching the milk.
I'm guessing that my rennet has lost considerable strength since last year. I have had it in the refrigerator for right at a year and although I have gotten by with using older rennet in the past it has also bit me a couple of times as well.
Oh well, live and learn.
I just ordered a new bottle of animal rennet from the dairy connection along with some other supplies I need. I just wish I had done so LAST week.
I guess there is still hope for this batch but in the past if I don't have a clean break within an hour it's a lost cause. I should know for sure within another half hour if this has any chance of making a cheese.
Not quite what I had in mind for my first make of the year, but it is something else to add to the old experience box. :)

Dave

Tea

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Re: First cheese of the season....Crap!
« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2009, 07:52:23 PM »
Oh Dave what a let down.   Did it finally set?

Likesspace

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Re: First cheese of the season....Crap!
« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2009, 10:18:31 PM »
Tea,
Thanks for checking in on this....
It's now 5:00 and I have a cheese in the press.
It took nearly two hours to get a good clean break but it did finally turn out for me.
I can't begin to express how frustrated I was when it didn't look like this one was going to turn out. I mean come on...you ALWAYS want the first cheese to be a success.
All in all I was pleased with the curd and the make. I ended up with a very nice yield and things appear to have gone as planned.
I'll be giving it a flip in another 25 minutes or so and then flipping again about 30 minutes after that. Then I will settle her in for the final 12 hour press and by then I'll have a good idea of how this went.
I did go ahead and place an order for new rennet earlier so hopefully my next cheese will be stress free. I've decided that I will use up the rest of this rennet on Mozerrella since I only make two gallon batches of this style.
Thanks again for checking in and I'll be sure to let you know how it looks out of the press.

Dave

goatherdess

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Re: First cheese of the season....Crap!
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2009, 01:06:51 AM »
What was the ambient room temperature? Could that have been a factor also?

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: First cheese of the season....Crap!
« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2009, 01:32:04 AM »
At least you won't have a bitter aftertaste from too much rennet.  ::)

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: First cheese of the season....Crap!
« Reply #5 on: October 19, 2009, 07:00:57 AM »
Glad it finally worked for you Dave. After all this time I would be very frustrated!

Likesspace

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Re: First cheese of the season....Crap!
« Reply #6 on: October 20, 2009, 02:02:11 AM »
Well, the cheese is now in the brine and I have to say that it looks really good.
Hopefully it will taste as good as it looks.
I really don't think that the slow set had anything to do with room temperature (about 74 degrees F) but if anything it was my decision to cut back on the rennet.
Last year I had a couple of cheeses that had a bitter after taste.
With this first cheese I decided to cut back on my rennet to see if that had any effect.
I did make a couple of cheeses last year with a lessened amount of rennet, but the rennet was fresh at that time.
With the age of the rennet and the reduced amount I think this caused the slow set. Regardless I did turn out a cheese and hopefully a good one.
Anyway, I now have my first cheese of the season under my belt and I'm already looking forward to next weekend.
Since I have some vacation time scheduled I plan on making a Manchego, a Stilton and possibly a Swiss or a batch of Camembert. All of this depends on how long it takes me to repair one of my laptops that has experienced the "blue screen of death".
Thanks for the response everyone and happy cheese making.

Dave

Tea

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Re: First cheese of the season....Crap!
« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2009, 07:58:28 PM »
Congrats Dave, happy cheese aging from here.

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: First cheese of the season....Crap!
« Reply #8 on: October 20, 2009, 09:21:44 PM »
Is your "blue screen of death" from blue mold?  ;D

Likesspace

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Re: First cheese of the season....Crap!
« Reply #9 on: October 20, 2009, 11:18:54 PM »
Thanks to Tea and LOL at Sailor.....
I'm pretty sure that the blue screen of death came from a little fit I threw a couple of weeks ago.
I came home from a bad day at work.....the bad day continued at home....the computer was acting all funky so I basically slammed my hand down on the keyboard and then tossed it to the floor.
When I did this I heard my two youngest daughters whispering to the oldest "Dad just threw his laptop on the floor!" I honestly didn't know they were in the room or I would never have acted that way.
What's funny is that last night I told my wife I had ordered a new laptop to replace the dead one. I also told her that I felt confident I could fix the old one since it's probably a problem with loose inductors on the mother board.
Well my youngest daughter (8 years old) asked if she could have my old one when I got it fixed and my answer was no....
Of course being 8 years old she asked "why not" and I replied "because you are too young to have a lap top.
Now honestly I felt that this was a pretty good answer. I mean sheesh the older girls didn't get theirs until they were 14 and 16.
Well the 8 year old's response to me was "Well at least I know enough not to throw it on the floor, even if I AM ONLY 8 YEARS OLD!"
Hmmmmm......
How do you answer that?  ;D
Anyway, if I get it fixed I guess my 8 year old has a lap top coming.
Sorry to get so far off topic.

Dave

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: First cheese of the season....Crap!
« Reply #10 on: October 20, 2009, 11:49:47 PM »
You have a smart 8 year old!   ;D

Likesspace

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Re: First cheese of the season....Crap!
« Reply #11 on: October 21, 2009, 12:40:14 AM »
Oh Debi, you don't know the half of it. This kid is so smart it worries me.
She must get it from her mom. :)


Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: First cheese of the season....Crap!
« Reply #12 on: October 21, 2009, 01:01:52 AM »
My son was like that when he was little. At four he asked for groliers encyclopedias and could program in BASIC. Unfortunately he burnt out by 17. And found girls more fun. Now he's 32 and FINALLY going to college.

Likesspace

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Re: First cheese of the season....Crap!
« Reply #13 on: October 30, 2009, 01:28:45 AM »
Well Debi, that just shows me that he is a smart kid......GIRLS ARE MORE FUN! :)
I've made the comment that I'm not sure what my little one will eventually be in life. I figure it will be somewhere between a rocket scientist and an axe murderer.
The good news is that I did tear into my lap top on Saturday and did find a loose inductor on the motherboard. A little bit of solder and a lot of luck and the laptop is now performing better than it has in a couple of months.
Now I just have to decide if the 8 year old really IS ready for her own computer.

Dave