Author Topic: Pressed Cheese Rind Options  (Read 2475 times)

arifainchtein

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Pressed Cheese Rind Options
« on: November 21, 2010, 10:17:11 PM »
Hello,
One of the types of cheese I make is a Mexican cheese called Queso Fresco (fresh cheese).  You heat the milk to 52C, col it down to 35C, rennet, cut it, hang it, air dry it for a few hours and consume it.  Recently I left a round in the back of the fridge for a couple of weeks and it the outside became really hard.  When I cut it, the inside had started to develop the texture of colby/monterrey. 

I would love to perfect this so that the outside dries out but the inside hardens.  My fear is that if I leave it in the fridage too long, the outside texture will become the texture of the whole cheese.  Does anybody have a recommendation on what to do so that the minimize the thickness of the outside that hardens?  I also have a wine fridge where I normally rippen cammambert, but I am afraid that keeping the cheese at 12C might spoil it.

Any recommendation will be greatly appreciated.

MrsKK

  • Guest
Re: Pressed Cheese Rind Options
« Reply #1 on: November 22, 2010, 01:57:26 AM »
You could try drying it for just a few days, turning it on a regular basis (1-2 times per day).  Once it is consistently dry you could lard and bandage it for further aging.

arifainchtein

  • Guest
Re: Pressed Cheese Rind Options
« Reply #2 on: November 22, 2010, 02:21:25 AM »
I am new at this.  What do you mean by lard and bandage?  lard as in pig fat?  and how do you bandage?

MrsKK

  • Guest
Re: Pressed Cheese Rind Options
« Reply #3 on: November 22, 2010, 03:09:34 AM »
See this link, reply #2 in the thread for my method of larding and bandaging cheese.

When you see something you don't understand, try using the search feature.  You'll be amazed at the amount of info you can dig up that way!

iratherfly

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Re: Pressed Cheese Rind Options
« Reply #4 on: November 22, 2010, 03:29:46 AM »
To create a rind on the cheese that will seal in the moisture and allow it to age, you will need to brine it instead of salting it.

Make a brine: mix water (or the whey from making the cheese) with 18% kosher salt (if you don't have a scale to measure, do 1 cup salt + 4.5 cups liquid). There should be just enough salt to cause the cheese to float and its surface kind of scratches the surface of the water. Dip it in for 3 hours per side per each Lb. of cheese. Then dry in a rack in room temperature, turning occasionally so that it dries evenly. Give it 2, 3 days to dry.  The exterior will feel like a tougher yellower rind, dry to the touch with a bit of oily matter on it (butterfat)

HOWEVER
This isn't a proper way of making Colby.  Your milk was overheated and no starter culture was used so it will develop a poor texture and may enable the growth of pathogens. You also have no control over the acidity of the milk so even if the cheese looks and smells good, wrong acidity could translate to gummy or dry texture, it could be overly crumbly, dry or chalky and maybe not even melt if you heat it up.  Seems from your technique that you are ready to make a proper aged colby or jack. why not just do it from scratch, the right way? Do it!

arifainchtein

  • Guest
Re: Pressed Cheese Rind Options
« Reply #5 on: November 22, 2010, 07:28:35 PM »
Dear iratherfly.
You are completely correct in that I should follow the Colby recipe.  I have been making fresh type cheeses for a while and just recently moved on to camambert type cheese.  Hard cheeses are next.

Your comment made me realise that I forgot to say that when making the cheese, I also added salt.   What happened in this case was more of an accident than anything else.  I ate the cheese that was left in the fridge and it was delicious.  It had a nice texture and a decent flavour.  Out of curiosity I will try making it again using the suggestions in this thread as well as set up a proper cheese press to do it right.

iratherfly

  • Guest
Re: Pressed Cheese Rind Options
« Reply #6 on: November 22, 2010, 08:52:57 PM »
Accident? Cheese is an accident! The entire history of cheese is a series of unlikely events... "and they ate it anyway". If you can replicate it, maybe you can claim the invention of a new cheese type!