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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Hard Grana (Grating Cheesee) => Topic started by: Jaspar on May 06, 2011, 09:08:43 PM
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The kids and I are going to try our first parm this weekend. I want to label it the Mothers Day parm, only to be opened next mothers day by my wife. Its a way to get the kids involved and give them the gift of being able to make cheese for the rest of their lives.
Ive been doing a lot of reading of different recipes, many are quite different, some with Lipase, some without, some with LH, some without (wow that's alot of commas).
Also i am shooting for a floc time of 2.5 times, does this sound right?
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Cool idea Jaspar.
I would definitely use Lipase. Makes a huge difference. I personally use a floc time of 2 and cut the curds the size of rice grains.
How old are your kids? Going to be a great present - this year and next.
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Kids are 23,19,13,13 identical twins,12 and 8.
The four younger are at home still and are going to help. They are girl,girl,girl and boy.
They are really starting to like eating the cheeses, a little afraid of the blue(daddy's frankencheese). :D
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Blues are great. Search Blue Honey and you'll find a great blue recipe from Captain Caprine.
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Parm make went well, see post: http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,7029.0.html (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,7029.0.html)
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I saw that post. I thought you were newish to cheesemaking, but your equipment looks a bit more advanced than most newbies. How long have you been making?
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Just been making Renneted cheese since Dec.28 2010, so only about 5 months now.
Realized early that it takes as long to do 2 gallon cheeses as it does 10 gallon cheeses.
I started with a pot in a pot, then found the 13 gal. Amish canner and had to figure a way to heat it, thus the cooler. I have 2 pots on the stove 1 with cool water coming from the cooler
one with hot water going to the cooler.
here is the link to the first time I use the canner: http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,6741.msg48679.html#msg48679 (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,6741.msg48679.html#msg48679)
Jaspar
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I remember that post. Looks like it's all going pretty smooth for you, good!
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We have been having alot of fun making cheese and learning alot from this forum! ;D
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Just an update on the Mothers Day Parm, Its been a long year but its just about here.
I scraped the rind with a pastry board scraper to clean it up a bit. The cheese smells great!
I salted and oiled the rind with canola oil about once a month very lightly for the past year.
Now for a quick question. How do I cut it? Its very firm.
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http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/departments/parmigiano-reggiano.php (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/departments/parmigiano-reggiano.php)
I would think that as it is only a year old, it might still be a little softer in the middle than an official Parm. To be sure though, you'll want to use a heavy duty chefs knife, not a cheapy, if you don't have the official Parm breaking tools. But I'm sure you could use any chisels you might have on hand! I look forward to hearing about the final outcome. Looks great!
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Heres a link to the make notes and updates.
Sorry trying not to double post
http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,7029.0.html (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,7029.0.html)
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I use a French chefs knife 10 inches long, start with a stab at the middle press it flat as I can and move it a few inches out and stab it again and try to flatten it again all the way accross and wiggle it a lot. Did that make any sense?