Salt - Forgot To Add Before Pressing

[bigfish_oz]

I just made my first hard cheese - a Monterey Jack from a recipe that came with a kit I purchased from Greenliving Australia.

With the cheese now several hours into the pressing, I have realised that I forgot to salt the curd before I put it in the mould.

Is there a way of retrieving the situation? I thought perhaps a short brining might do the trick?

All suggestions gratefully received.

Fortunately it was only 10 litres of milk.

Thanks,
Alan

[MrsKK]

Sorry, Alan, I really don't have an experienced answer for you, but my instinct tells me to take it out of the press, break up the curd and get it salted.

I've had a couple of cheeses where the curd remained very soft and I pressed them for up to 12 hours, removed them from the press, re-salted if they tasted like they needed it, then put them back in the mold and pressed again.  So far, they turned out good.

I hope someone with practical experience will chime in soon.

[FarmerJd]

The brine is one possibility but the best idea if you have a good press is just to take it out cut the curd into 1/2 inch cubes or maybe a little bigger and then repress. I have done this before on a Colby and it turned out fine. This is assuming you can put a good deal of pressure on it because it will be harder to knit since it is cold. good luck.

[MrsKK]

With the last cheese that I re-pressed and re-salted, I broke up the curd and salted it, then put it in a kettle in a sinkful of hot water until the curd reached 90 degrees.  Then I put it in the mold.  It knit beautifully.  I haven't cut into it, though, as that was only a little over two weeks ago.

[Cheese Head]

Alan/Bigfish, it's not the 10 liters of milk, it's the investment of time and love into your cheese . Of course I've never forgotten an ingredient .

Salt is a critical ingredient, if you feel it is too late to break up and salt and re-press then I would brine the cheese. From 10 liters of milk you probably have about a 1.1 kg cheese out of the press. Directions on making one here, easiest if you kept your whey. For smallish one off cheese like yours I would make a saturated brine, 2 liters should be enough as saturated, and then brine for about 10 hours, maybe 12 as yours is a harder cheese than normally brined washed curd type cheeses. Don't forget to turn after 3-4 hours and salt shaker the exposed side.

Good luck!

[Lennie]

I've forgot salt once, and thought I forgot it once only to find later that I was supposed to brine after the press.

I did like Mrs KK, milled it again, salted and warmed prior to re-pressing.  Worked just fine.

[bigfish_oz]

Thanks, everyone.

I ended up cutting it into 1cm cubes, dipping it in water at the required temperature (38C) for about two minutes, drained quickly and salted per directions. Its now back in the press, at a slightly higher pressure.

Put me back about 12 hours.

The positive side of things is that I believe I now have the temperature control thing worked out. Using the double boiler method, a 15 litre boiler inside a 25 litre one filled to about 3cm of the rim on the lowest setting on the smallest gas ring heats 10 litres of milk by 5C in almost exactly one hour. My temperature was within 0.1C of target at all times (as measured by 2 digital thermometers). I've discovered that the outer boiler needs to sit about 2.5C above the target temp. Oh, and turning on the exhaust hood over the stove drops the temperature surprisingly quickly 

I guess time alone will tell now!

Cheers,
Alan

[bigfish_oz]

Well, 12 hours later and I have a chees ethat looks like a whole bunch of Lego in a bag!

I guess the curd was too hard to knit again properly. Its now drying.

As there are lots of spaces between the small blocks of curd, I think it will be a challenge to wax. As I don't have a vacuum bagger, I'll see if any friends have one.

I think if I ever make the mistake again, I might try brining and see how that works out.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions.

Cheers,
Alan

[MrsKK]

Aw, I'm sorry!

[judec]

Yes, I forgot the salt in a Cotswold, (mainly because the recipe was wrong!!) but thought when it was finished that it would not taste any good, so I brined it the same as I do gouda's and it was yummy, so yeah, next time (I doubt you'll do it again) try the brine.