Author Topic: Trust in Tradition  (Read 3870 times)

Offline OzzieCheese

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Trust in Tradition
« on: November 04, 2012, 02:04:05 AM »
Below is a link to a discussion I thought to invigorate the tradition of  Cloth Banding - Cloth Wrapping - Lard/Fat Covered hard cheese --  way to go !
http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10146.0.html

My Christmas offering is going to be a cloth banded cheddar with an English Pale Ale and I wanted to make sure what was going to be served was aable to be consumed because let tell you is was looking horrible in the cheese cave.

So this is 1 of 2 @ 12 weeks.  The other, after tasting today is going all the way to Christmas.
The first image is what was developing after 4 weeks and we decided to go a bit further.
The second is the outer layer as it was removed
The third is the layer next to the cheese and believe it or not the under side was relatively free of mould.
The fourth is the other side with the crusty stuff - a big patch of mould was settling in so I rubbed salt and it dried it out and halted the spread.
The last is the underside - note that nealy all the mould has stayed on the outer of the layer of cloth but very little had reached the cheese by 12 weeks.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2012, 02:13:20 AM by OzzieCheese »
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Offline OzzieCheese

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Re: Trust in Tradition
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2012, 02:26:09 AM »
The End Result --

Wiped the remaining lard off along with the remaining mould and what you see is a piece of Cheese tradition.  It sliced wonderfully, had a nice cheddar bite with smooth feel on the tounge and it left a slight tingle at the side.  And a beautiful After taste - Just what I'd expect of a good cheese.

I kid you not - this is the best one to date..

So, Trust in tradition - it works.

-- Mal
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Offline Boofer

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Re: Trust in Tradition
« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2012, 02:57:40 PM »
Kudos to you, Mal. Job well done.

Kind of scary-looking when you were ready to open it, huh? Only 12 weeks? I imagine the one at Christmas will be even more stunning.

Your efforts are encouraging to me. A cheese for that.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

Tomer1

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Re: Trust in Tradition
« Reply #3 on: November 04, 2012, 03:47:04 PM »
Looks great, how does it taste?

JeffHamm

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Re: Trust in Tradition
« Reply #4 on: November 04, 2012, 05:45:34 PM »
Nicely done!  I've not tried a cloth bound cheddar, so a cheese to you for such as nice result.  Sounds like you've got a good taste at only 3 months too.  Lovely.  Christmas should be a real treat. 

- Jeff

Offline OzzieCheese

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Re: Trust in Tradition
« Reply #5 on: November 04, 2012, 11:29:07 PM »
The taste profile is great.
It has a wonderful tangy smell.  The paste cuts well, so I'd put this at a 'Tasty' cheese but not a 'Mature' or 'Vintage'.  I'm hoping the other will, at Christmas reach the vaulted heights of Mature.  The taste on the tounge is slightly sharp around the side and dissolves in the mouth feeling very velvety, no traces of graininess yet  - I presume that comes with age.  We cut the rind off as that had a few funky tastes going on but because the lard kept the rind moist there is hardly any loss.  We actually used a peeler to remove the rind so nothing really wasted.  I have found a supplier of Pasturised only milk and I'm going to create some large ones (15 Litre makes, as thats my pot and press limit) for the Brisbane Cheese awards next September (2013) and see if I can replicate this one for entry.
This years Link http://www.brisbanecheeseawards.com.au/
This has been the most rewarding cheese I've made not just for the taste but also the thrill of whole making process.  I'm wondering what other cheeses might be matured this way ?

-- Mal
 
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tnbquilt

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Re: Trust in Tradition
« Reply #6 on: November 17, 2012, 02:42:05 PM »
I just made a Monterrey Jack out of my Making Artisan Cheese at Home book. It says that the recipe came from Beecher Hand made Cheese, and it is called Just Jack. Anyway, the recipe says that they cloth band their Just Jack. I just made it a few weeks ago and mine is all moldy now. I was looking on this forum to see if that was alright and found your post. It made me feel better.

tnbquilt

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Re: Trust in Tradition
« Reply #7 on: November 17, 2012, 10:46:04 PM »
The cheese competition sounds great too. I have looked for stuff like that but have not found any where I live. I went to a cheese festival for business cheese makers and it was delicious, but I would like to enter some competitions as well. If they do it like beer competitions, it would help you to learn a lot. At beer competitions you get the judges score paper and comments back.

Offline OzzieCheese

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Re: Trust in Tradition
« Reply #8 on: November 19, 2012, 02:31:50 AM »
I'm by no means an expert on the topic but thinking about it logically the mold will always find something to grow on and my poor little cheese cave gets a range of things stuck it  - I haven't done a blue yet.  So, if it looks like getting too overgrown I take it outside, dry salt the mold and gently brush off what I can.  I didn't add any more layers of cloth.  I just kept the big patches under some sort of control.  One thing I discovered late in the process (I think I saw a picture on a web site somewhere) was that if you rested one edge of the cheese on a thick piece of dowel (I cut up a small broom handle) about 1/2 inch round, it kept the air circulating and the mold really didn't have a place to hide.
   
I'm hoping for the feedback myself.  The competition allows a single person to enter 3 cheeses so I'm entering a Cloth Banded Cheddar, a Caerphilly and a Camembert.  All go well with beer !!

-- Mal
Usually if one person asks a question then 10 are waiting for the answer - Please ask !