Parmesan recipe, few questions, feedback appreciated.

[iratherfly]

Minamyna
Repeating what I said to Nitai above:

Parmesan is a fairly low yield cheese, expect it to be in the neighborhood of 8%-10%.
7 gallons of milk are about 60 Lbs. 8%-10% of that are 4 to 6 Lbs. is that what you have?

Also, you must stir the milk when you heat it up. Otherwise you scold areas of it where other areas remain cold. You need it to warm up as evenly as possible. Give it a nice stir every 5 minutes when you warm it up

[Minamyna]

Opps I missed that part. There are so many things to remember about each cheese.

Thanks for the reminder.

[BigCheese]

Well I am thinking this Parm turned out very nicely. It is already quite hard on the outside. How long do you all normally wait before oiling, and after that before putting into the cave?

The only thing I would change at this point would be using CBN (plyban) on the sides. I did not have a piece big enough so I used cheesecloth and I did not get nearly as nice a rind as I did on the top and bottom where I did use CBN.

[DeejayDebi]

Depends on the cheese. I normally air dry for a few days 2-3-4 depending on the time of year, then in the cave for a few weeks 2-3-4 if it appears to be dry I oil it then after that I take it out of the cave vacuum seal and throw it it a cool corner of the basement and flip it every few days for 1 to 2 years.

[BigCheese]

Uh-oh, I don't know where I got the idea but I oiled my first Parm after 4 or 5 days.... Is there anything I can do to undo that. It has been at room temp for approx. 2 weeks now. Is this bad?

My cave situation has been less-than-ideal but I am hoping to improve it shortly.

[DeejayDebi]

It won't hurt it. Sorry I left you hanging I was on vacation.

[BigCheese]

Hope you enjoyed it. With all the volunteer time you put in at your local cheeseforum.org, you deserve it.

[DeejayDebi]

I was visiting my forum members at our annual BBQ in PA, KY and WV then family in TN. Great fun long drive!

[BigCheese]

Here is a stack of Parms I have made recently. The top 2 I am quite pleased with. The bottom one will not get hard enough because I tried a new curd cutting technique that failed. The second pic is for size reference, the cheese on the left is a 7 lb Pepper jack. The three Parms total around 16 lbs.

As you can see, I experimented with annatto in one of them, never again.

By the way! I cracked open a 9 month parm the other day. This was made at a time when we knew nothing significant here about cheese making. Thus it is far too soft inside, more like a nice semi low fat cheddar or something, but the flavor! The flavor is excellent, and quite sharp. And this with no added lipase. I am very happy and hopeful for my future parms.

[iratherfly]

Look fantastic! Is this the shape of your mold? Or are they bulging? I like your kitchen!

[BigCheese]

Bulging. Anyone have any ideas why? Is it bad? I recall this happened last year too. I rather like the look.

[DeejayDebi]

Great looking cheeses Nital. It is not neccessarily bad but shouldn't be happening in a parm. You might have added a few bacteria you weren't expecting. As it ages forever I wouldn't worry to much but keep an eye ope so they don't crack.

[iratherfly]

I have had cheddars bulging to a point where they cracked and exploded with gas before. if you have a cheese trier/tester maybe you want to use it to release gas buildup pressure and then return the removed paste back to its place? I am no expert on these so I don't know if that I just said is a good idea or a no-no

[Gina]

Nice looking cheeses. Making a parm is moving closer to the top of my list.

[BigCheese]

Hmm, I wonder why it is that all my parmesan's bulge, but nothing else does... sometimes the sides of other cheeses bulge a bit during drying, but I think that is just it pushing out under its own weight..