Please excuse if Ihavent put this in the right place, but this wonderful forum is soo huge, I have trouble finding answers. Sometimes I post a question in an area and then I find it - by accident elsewhere! So I go back and delete my original question..
But in saying that I still dont know where to post my crazy newbie questions!!!
I have made so far ...
2 cream cheeses - yummmo and very forgiving product.
2 feta - one on my course and one at home, both melted in my brine and for the next Feta I will be brining it in the whey from the Feta? I think that will solve my problem.
I have my second batch 'rescued' and sitting in some oil.. it looks rubbery, tastes vaguely like Feta, but I wll probably mix it in with a cheese ball to serve on the table at some time.
2 Gouda - one from my course, which I introduced all sorts of black mould. I am a dairy farmer working on the farm and even tho my hands were clean, my scrubbing didnt get those gnarly cracks and crevices on my hands clean enough, so I have moved to yellow gloves when handling my cheese.
My second Gouda, is sitting in my vege bin in my fridge at 10DEGC. It smells devine, I tasted some at about 6 days and yum!!! So I am excited about that one... but the making process was really a comedy of errors..
My mold was too big and my wooden follower swelled when I sterlised it and wouldnt fit, but a breadandbutter plate did. Ended with a lopsided flat looking cheese. On top of that the bamboo mat I got somehow had a dye in it and it leached onto my cheese and I got blue lines on the bottom, which I cut off.
A few questions -
my Feta in oil, even tho I mixed olive oil with standard isue 'salad&cooking' oil, it is going cloudy and hard in my fridge. Is there a recommended mix for oil??
My Gouda in my vege bin, looks great. I dont have any wax or a vacuum sealer, but I am hoping to eat it in 2 weeks. It is dry to touch - definitely. Can I just leave it there and everything will be ok? Or do I need to do something to ensure my cheese lasts for the next 2 weeks. It is just starting to get a yellow colour on the outside.
I may have purchased a wine cooler/chiller... mostly coz my vege bin will not hold all my cheese. I am hanging out to make more but I wont have room.
The wine chiller has those hooped racks for holding wine. I intend to replace them somehow, what is preferable? wire with bamboo slatting? Until I get the racks replaced I will put some bamboo matting over the wine racking.
I have made my own mother culture for my cultures and froze them. When I add them to the milk I pop them in frozen. Should I defrost them first? Or it doesnt matter.?
Sorry If I have this in the wrong place, these are very newbie questions.
Cheers
Cath