Hello from Texas

[vonknabe]

This is my 2nd time trying to post an introduction. I apologize if this turns out to be a duplicate!

My name is Susan and I am from Texas. New to cheesemaking. Jumped straight to cheddar, since it is my favorite cheese. Have had a few successes, and several epic failures. Having fun, though. And I have a ton of questions for all of you "experts"!

I also make homemade kahlua, wine, beef jerky....and am getting my first hive of bees this spring. My poor husband is about to lose his mind over all my "hobbies". He says (and I think I agree) that I woke up one morning and became Amish!

[anutcanfly]

Hello vonknabe!    You'll find a lot fellow Amish here! 

[iratherfly]

Welcome to the forum Vonknabe!

Yep, my wife keeps discovering new cheese moulds in the closet and cultures in the freezer. Find your inner Amish!

Cheddars are not easy as a first cheese because they are sensitive to over-acidification and it usually takes a bit of time until you get a feel for the time and the texture of curds etc. to get it right (and, who wants to wait 3-6 months for a taste of your very first cheese?)

Are you planning other cheeses? How many cheddars have you made thus far?

Really curious about the bees. Fun!

[vonknabe]

Thanks for the welcomes!

I have made 7 or 8 cheddars, so far. We ate the 1st two wheels that I made back in February. Other than being a little dry and crumbly, they were awesome. I have made 6 more wheels since then. 2 of them were complete disasters. 2 more are "iffy", and the last 2 look like they will be okay. Very good-looking texture.

The only other cheese I have made so far is ricotta, from the whey leftover from the cheddar curds. But I have made butter (so easy I cannot believe everyone doesn't do it!) and buttermilk biscuits.

I bought 2.5 gallons of whole, fresh cow's milk from a dairy near me. This is what 2.5 gallons renders:

2 lb cheddar wheel
almost 1 lb ricotta cheese
1.5 lbs sweet cream butter
2 cups buttermilk

I LOVE getting a good deal, and using up every bit of the product, so there is no waste.

My husband is very worried, because now I am researching miniature cow breeders, and will probably be getting my own miniature dairy cow within the next 6 months! LOL!

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

Welcome to the forum Susan.

Ah yeah the other half. My wife is happy when she is eating what I make but yes equipment takes a lot of space. I don't keep it tidy so new additions went missing 

[iratherfly]

Susan, the dry crumbly cheddars are very typical of early cheddar makes. They are mostly related to uncontrolled acidity (which you will quickly learn to perfect) and sometimes too dry of a cave (if they are not wrapped in vacuum or wax). This is even more likely to happen if you are using store bought homogenized milk. They will improve with time. You would need to be very watchful of your flocculation timing and milk quality. The first 30-60 minutes of making it pretty much decides its texture and quality for months to come.

[vonknabe]

Thank you!

I do wax my cheese (ruined 2 of my husband's best pots, to make a double boiler system!), but I am considering vacuum-sealing, as I have read on the forum that many of you use this method....seems like I would see imperfections easier, and be able to unseal the bag, clean the mold with vinegar, and reseal. Is this what y'all do? I already have a FoodSaver that we use for storing deer sausage and other wild game we process.

I bought a 2nd hand wine cooler from a lady at work. This is what I keep my cheese in. The red wine temperature setting keeps the box at 56 degrees F. I didn't realize until my 2nd or 3rd wheel that I was supposed to put a bowl of water in the bottom of the cooler, to control humidity. This may also have contributed to my cheeses drying out.

All of y'all are right, though....I have not paid any attention to acidity, and now realize how important that is.

Last question....I have been saving my "bad" cheeses. I thought I would just age them out anyway, even if they turn out real dry and crumbling. Maybe crumble them for use in salad toppings, or something? Do y'all do that? Do you try to "save" a cheese, even after you know you've messed it up somehow?

Thanks! Susan

[iratherfly]

There is no need for any water or humidity control for those vacuum sealed cheeses. the vacuum in the plastic is their micro humidity climate and you are not attempting to grow any rind flora on them.  But if you have cheese that needs that moisture (anything that isn't vacuumed or waxed) then I use gravel on the bottom of the fridge instead of a bowl of water. This is aquarium type of gravel and I add 1/2 cup of water to it every day or two. It absorbs it and releases it slowly. I find that it works better than water in a bowl. The gravel also is more like a real cave and you can spray it with morge if you want. You can grow a heirloom of microorganisms in it which will improve in time as you age more and more cheese. Another good thing I do is use an aquarium pump to get some faint air movement in the cave constantly. It helps the cheese and helps the moisture to distribute more rather than collect as water beads on the back wall. Put a thermometer/hygrometer on your center shelf as well so you can monitor this.

I use FoodSaver. It's very nice and is sufficient. You should not have any mold growing with a proper vacuum but if you do it will likely to be a local spotting. I would not open the vacuum pack to clean it up and re vacuum. This mold is not harmful and your cheese is fine. I have had cheese for 6 months at a time in vacuum bags in the cave and these spots were never a serious thing and didn't spread. Moreover, I found that the mold comes back to the same spot after I have dug it out and cleaned with vinegar so I figure it's useless anyway. The beauty of vacuum aging is really the "set it and forget it" aspect of it.

[Cheese Head]

Welcome Susan, we're in Katy, West side of Houston probably close to you, have fun here!