Author Topic: Romano 12 month  (Read 4734 times)

linuxboy

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Re: Romano 12 month
« Reply #15 on: September 16, 2011, 08:20:49 PM »
Hande, how much fat in the milk and what size wheel? Those determine timing. I think for grana, yes, need to use saturated.

Offline Hande

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Re: Romano 12 month
« Reply #16 on: September 16, 2011, 08:45:21 PM »
Pav, I don't know fat content exactly, because I pic up milk at local farm.
For parma style I scoop pit of fat on top out, but not example for Asiago or Romano.
For 8" mold I use 5 gallon and it came out about  3inch high and  6" mold I use 4 gallon and came out 4inch high.

Hande

edit.
I found some paper where fat content was 4.4 %.
« Last Edit: September 16, 2011, 09:10:32 PM by Hande »

Tomer1

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Re: Romano 12 month
« Reply #17 on: September 16, 2011, 09:09:54 PM »
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so maybe it's more to do with ageing time, or after first developing a nice dry rind.
It's the brine schedule that sets the stage. You have to create a lovely dehydrated layer by using saturated brine and a long brine period.
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I'd love to hear what suggestions Parmesan/Romano makers have to achieve that finish.
  Make a huge wheel,

So I guess you have to make a large wheel so you dont oversalt the cheese yet condition the rind to a crust.
What would be an alternative for smaller formats? 1-2 kg ?
Dry salting after brining?

linuxboy

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Re: Romano 12 month
« Reply #18 on: September 16, 2011, 09:32:01 PM »
Got it, then for saturated, salt at about what you were doing, 3.5-4 hrs/lb for a wheel that size.

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So I guess you have to make a large wheel so you dont oversalt the cheese yet condition the rind to a crust.
Exactly. Somewhat hard to do with a smaller one because if you have ever tried to nibble on a piece of real parmiggiano crust, it is solid, almost like a rock.

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Dry salting after brining?
No, still brining. But keep humidity higher to prevent excess moisture loss, and try to increase the cheese moisture by a few percentages. Crust formation is about dehydrating the rind. Best way for that is to fuse the outer surface of the rind by using cloth or other method, and then brining in saturated brine.

smilingcalico

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Re: Romano 12 month
« Reply #19 on: September 17, 2011, 02:45:41 AM »
LB,  I know the parmaggiano is a huge wheel, but do you think a 25 pound wheel would be large enough to accomplish it?  I've been trying to talk the owner into letting me do a grana, but he doesn't want to have to hold onto the cheese that long.  I did finally get him to agree to hold onto 1 wheel (gouda) a month for the purpose of ageing for 18 months. 

linuxboy

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Re: Romano 12 month
« Reply #20 on: September 17, 2011, 04:01:45 AM »
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but do you think a 25 pound wheel would be large enough to accomplish it? 
For what term maturation? I think the best practice assuming you can control affinage is about a 6x6 cylinder for a 12-14 month maturation, if you want a decent rind, and cheese with good paste. Assume 25-28% water loss at 85-88% RH over 12-14 months, if you're watching the MFFB. So 25 lbs is definitely enough with a good cylinder. If you're doing an alpine/gruyere shape, then you can still do it, but up the MFFB by a tad, but also keep the room more humid.

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I've been trying to talk the owner into letting me do a grana, but he doesn't want to have to hold onto the cheese that long.
IMHO, hard sell. You're competing with real parmiggiano at $10/lb when on sale. Unless you did grass fed/organic grana clone using whey starters for the marketing angle, then you could do $25 ish/lb retail at 16 months. Hard market for parm.

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1 wheel (gouda) a month for the purpose of ageing for 18 months. 
Nice. Hard there, too, because there's so much competition from specialties like Old Amsterdam and great domestics like Marieke. Are you using classic undefined strain DL culture to get that complex amino acid profile? Makes for some amazing cheese right at 14-24 months. If you're doing gouda, I would do the classic Dutch rindless system to reduce waste. Not sure what a rind would accomplish? Maybe if you did an adjuncted gouda with 35% MFFB and washed it with a morge, that would make for a fun rind. I've done ones like that (pediolacti, helveticus, acidophilus adjunct) for some really tasty and fairly unique flavor profiles.

smilingcalico

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Re: Romano 12 month
« Reply #21 on: September 17, 2011, 04:17:36 AM »
We actually don't have an issue selling our cheese.  We are having a difficult time keeping up with the demand from our distributor.  I'll brag more about that in a separate thread. Actually, I feel like I'm thread jacking, sorry Hande, so I'll pm you.

linuxboy

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Re: Romano 12 month
« Reply #22 on: September 17, 2011, 04:49:42 AM »
Nice, love to hear news like that. Hande, your cheeses look fabulous. Use saturated brine and keep the humidity fairly high, brushing back mold growth, and you should continue to make some tasty treats :)

Offline Hande

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Re: Romano 12 month
« Reply #23 on: September 17, 2011, 05:26:05 PM »
Thank you LB, I go next time saturated brine.
Not worry smilingcalico  :)

Hande