Swelling Pressed Cheese - During Pressing > Chest Freezer For Aging

[Gustav]

Iratherfly-> We have our own dairy farm, so it's pasteurised jersey milk.

[Gustav]

Dthelmers. You in Cape Town? Good.

I use the Cultures from Dairy Charade (Vandler Foods)
They produce their own cultures Here in Midrand.
They have 3 different ones.

* Choozit Probat 222 (Fizzy Flavour From Gas Production)
* Choozit MAO11/MAO14/MAO19 (Aromatic  Flavour)
* Choozit RM32/RM34 (Aroma & Gas Production)

I used the RM32 For my amasi & it came out exellent with nou xtreme sour taser, And extremely THICK!

[Gustav]

I got a Small 130l Box Freezer, replaced the thermostat with that of a stove(3-40 Celcius)
& Atached a 100w lightbulb. Takes about 5 min to regulate the right temp. This keeps the temp 100% constant for ever.

I use another boxz freezer for the cheese cave. I replaced the thermostat with that of a double door fridge, but it still got too cold. Then I plugged it to a timer switch that switches on 15min every 5 hours. That keeps it at 12 degrees celcius. I am wondering though if the water that creates inside the freezer & melts is going to create a problem? Any thoughts? It's not alot, but it's there.

[dthelmers]

Gustav,
My CT is Connecticut, part of the New England area of north east United States, though I was born and bred in the Hudson Valley region of New York State.
Dave in CT

[Gustav]

I used the culture from Daity Charade(Vandler Foods)

I used their Choozit R32 culture.
They produce the cultures themselves. They got a real great variety of cultures. I'll post a pic of the Amasi tomorrow.

[Gustav]

I thought you meant Cape Town here in South Africa. lol

[Gustav]

Here is the spec sheet for the culture I use to make amasi & gouda.
Hope it helps.

[dthelmers]

Interesting. The same cultures as MM100 with the addition of Streptococcus thermophilus, the same mix of cultures that Pav uses for the Fresh Curds recipe at the Washington State Cheese Guild site. I just made several cheeses with a mix of MM101 and Thermo Type C, S. Thermophilus and L. helveticus, because I didn't have any straight S. thermophilus. I'm not finding this mix at any of the usual cheese suppliers here.
Dave in CT

[Gustav]

These guys got some pretty cool stuff they sell. And the bio chemist lady that makes the cultures are very friendly & helps out alot on infi via e-mail.

Here are some other cultures I got as well.

[Gustav]

I've just cut the cheese open and it looks a bit better. it's only 10 days old, but is starting to taste nice. Sealed it up again. Will wait till it matures nicely.

[linuxboy]

the same mix of cultures that Pav uses for the Fresh Curds recipe at the Washington State Cheese Guild site

Mine is actually L diacetylactis+S thermophilus. Best of flavor, body, and shelf life stability . Similar concept, though, but they use O culture +D instead of straight D.

Big trend lately to adjunct many classic O, D, etc cultures with ST to decrease phage risk.

[dthelmers]

Right! I had forgotten that I substituted MM101 for the straight diacetylactis. I wish I had remembered to order it; I just got my TA in, so I'll use that instead of the Type C this weekend and observe the difference. Is there a difference in the acidification curve with straight D vs. MM100? Big or slight flavor difference?
Dave in CT

[linuxboy]

acidification with MM100= much faster
Flavor with LD = moderately more diacetyl.

Bigger aspect is the shelf life. MM100 has lower terminal pH unless you up the salt to 2.2% or so at a pH of 5.3-5.4. (normal salt in cheddared curd should be 1.6-1.8%)

[Gustav]

This was my very first  heese that I've made & I'm pleased to say it's a HUGE SUCCESS!!!

It's only 1 month old now, but I couldn't resist taking a peek inside & tasting it.
It has a extreamely nice creamy,moist texture & tastes rich. I'm surprised that it's that rich after only 1 month.

I've waxed the other half up again totry & age it to a year as I never tasted cheese that old before.

I'm struggling to get a nice clear photo tonight, but I'll post a photo of it tomottow.

Now to wait for the cheddars. I've made about 10kg of cheddar & 12 kg of gouda since I made this cheese.

[KosherBaker]

I got a Small 130l Box Freezer, replaced the thermostat with that of a stove(3-40 Celcius)
& Atached a 100w lightbulb. Takes about 5 min to regulate the right temp. This keeps the temp 100% constant for ever.

I use another boxz freezer for the cheese cave. I replaced the thermostat with that of a double door fridge, but it still got too cold. Then I plugged it to a timer switch that switches on 15min every 5 hours. That keeps it at 12 degrees celcius. I am wondering though if the water that creates inside the freezer & melts is going to create a problem? Any thoughts? It's not alot, but it's there.

Gustav many members of the forum have tried to use a freezer as a cheese cave and they all have given up. The humidity is just too high, and as you have noticed the water droplets will find their way onto your cheese.