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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Hard Cheddared (Normally Stacked & Milled) => Topic started by: Sedona on July 05, 2009, 04:29:39 PM
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Here are the cheeses i made so far. Top shelf in back of cave are mostly baby gouda's, gouda, colby. Front row of first shelf: romano (front left), montasio (middle), romano (right).
Second shelf in back 1 monterey jack (not visible), stirred-curd cheddar (front left), manchego (middle), pepper jack (back).
Third shelf: 3 camenbert (on the left in containers), traditional cheddar (left).
On table 1 traditional swiss (waiting for eyes), and 1 cabra al vino soaked in dry merlot red wine. This one i made yesterday.
Sedona
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Sorry for the duplicate pic., here is the cave
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That's a lot of cheese to eat. They look yummy. I've never understood people's attraction to waxed cheeses though. They've always been such a hassle for me. We have a meeting this week and one of the cheesemakers has a wheel of waxed blue cheese that's about 4 months old, we're going to crack it open. The funny thing about NZ is no one here uses Roqueforti commercially. They have their own native spore they use and all the big producers just culture from one another. It's a very different blue, I think it's stronger than the roqu. It's use predates the importation of cultures and they have just kept using it.
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Thanks Francois. I don't mind at all waxing the cheese, i cream wax before i do the other wax. I been making cheese every weekend and sometimes one during the week. I'm waiting for a bigger cave i purchased, because the one i have now is to small, lol. How was the blue cheese you tasted?
That's very interesting about the Roqueforti culture. Can you buy other cultures at cheese making companies?
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I just bought a jar of cream wax from Glengarry Margarete suggested it beofre waxing. You like it too huh?
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Sedona, how do you actually do your waxing? Do you brush it on? I tried dipping my last cheese, but it got really slippery.
By the way, don't ever splatter wax all over your stove. It takes a really long time to clean up.
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We keep soem of our own culture shere (lab on site) and propogate forward. Our blue is one of those. It's not commercially available.
Our meeting is tomorrow and I get to try the waxed blue then. It's pretty old now for a high-fatter and I'm guessing we are going to have to crack some windows.
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Yes i do like the cream wax. Some of the cheeses i cream wax only and don't use the red or black wax. It gives a pretty yellow color.
Now the way i wax: i don't use a brush. I heat the colored wax in a double boiler, have the wax paper ready, wear gloves, and dip half of the cheese into the wax, a quick in-and out motion. The wax dries quickly, when one side is dry i do the other side the same way. I usually coat the cheese twice with a thin layer. Than i put the waxed cheese for a few minutes on wax paper in the fridge. No mess at all with the dipping method.
Hopefully this help you.
Sedona
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Oh forget something. I never have a problem with being slippery, maybe your wax on the cheese wasn't dry enough. I let the wax dry before i do the other side. You also can lay the cheese in the fridge on wax paper for a few minutes before you go and wax the other side.
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I was think of experimenting with the cream wax on cheese cloth bandages instead of lard. Haven't had a chance to try it yet though.
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In my opinion, persistantly wet cheese is cheese that has not explelled sufficient whey during curd formation.
My cheese is damp, but not wet after pressing. And my cheese is dry to the touch before waxing.
I too have had wet/damp/weeping cheese, but that seemed to be due to the curd not being cooked long enough, or may not have had sufficient salt added.
After I got control of my pH and was able to controll my cook times and stirring times, i no longer have that.
This is not based on anything I have read, and really is only what i have experienced.
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Great looking cheeses! I want to come over to your house and eat now! Thanks for sharing your pictures.
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The funny thing about NZ is no one here uses Roqueforti commercially. They have their own native spore they use and all the big producers just culture from one another. It's a very different blue, I think it's stronger than the roqu. It's use predates the importation of cultures and they have just kept using it.
Hi Francois, didn't know you are from NZ as well. Where you from?
Your statement surprises me since I purchase Roequefortii frommy supplier and know they sell it to factories as well. Otherwise I would have to buy big quantities as I have to do for i.e. Geotrichum Candidum! So someone must use it here! Don't get me wrong, I don't want to question what you said. It is just confusing me a bit.
Is this culture available fromsoemwhere?
You mentioned you have a lab on site. Is this for commercial cheese making? Or are you running a lab for home cheese making! I always wanted to start a lab to cultivate my brewing yeast!
Sorry for all the questions! :-[
Cheers
Peter
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I'm sure someone uses it somewhere in NZ but we are the largest manufacturer of blue cheese and we don't run it. Danisco does have an office and distribution here and we have gotten roqu. on occasion for trials so it's in the country.
The lab is commercial, we keep our own starters and blues. I'm not from NZ, but recently moved here from America.
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we have also gotten geo 13 and 17 from danisco for trials, so they do have it in the country.
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we have also gotten geo 13 and 17 from danisco for trials, so they do have it in the country.
Hello Francois (BTW, I tried to type your name as it is spelled correctly in capitals but get the message that using all capitals is against forum rules! ) and thank you for your reply! All very interesting! Are you located down close to Wellington? On the west coast? Where this little island is, how was the name? Ahh yes, Kapiti Island! ;-) Or is it another cheese factory?
I don't work with Danisco since they have minimum order quantities which are way out of my league as a small business. The other bg culture manufacturer doesn't sell Geo to anyone else in NZ so they told me. So they had to bring it in from Denmark. But they tell me a lot of things .....
Thank you again for your information.
Cheers
Peter
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I cracked another cheese open from the very first ones i made 2 months ago. This one is a caraway stirred-curd cheddar and i'm not so thrilled about that one, this one is a little on the dry side.
That's why i say "no master falls from the sky", lol - it sure take practice to make a good cheese.
Sedona
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I don't work at the Paraparaumu plant, although we're all in the same family so to speak. I am resonsible for their new product development and, to a lesser extent, technical assistance.
Danico sends a German down to see us occasionally, he's head of R&D for them. Bright guy, very helpful, based in Niebuell I think.
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It looks quite delicious! Very nice pressing too. Maybe a tad over cooked you'll make it perfect next time!
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That's a nice looking cheese Sedona. I really liked the pics of the collection in your cheese cave too! :)
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Debi, you think that's the problem with a little over cooked? The next time i try to do better. :D
Goatherdess, this one is made with 2 gal cow milk. Thanks. My small cave i outgrew already, i purchased a bigger one 2 weeks ago. Here is the picture, a freezerless fridge.
Sedona
no master falls from the sky
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I am gussing based on the fact that you had a cave and kept track of it's aging that it wasn't just dried to quickly and that it might have been over cooked. When the curds over cook or over heat they squeeze the whey out more than they should abd tis can make dry or rubbery cheeses.
I don't know what kind of milk you used but I find sometimes the fat content can make a cheee you expect to be creamy seem flat and dry in comparison but it's just lack of fat in the cheese - did that make sense?
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Man you guys are too advanced from me, Feta, Cow milk Cheddar , Goat milk cheddar is my lot but I do fancy giving the blue cheese a go as I find mostly my cheese's aren't quite pressed enough (slightly pitted) with air bubbles inside but perfect for a blue? Good to see more cheese people in good ol NZ thou.
Have either of you seen food TV on sky channel 9, 1pm Saturdays (cheese slices) its pretty good
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I have tried almost everything to get a perfect curd set. That is, a pressed hard/milled cheese that is devoid of any openness, but but still has the right amount of moisture.
I have not not been able to do that even when I pressed at very high pressure. (19PSI)
Most larger cheddar producers do in fact use a vacuum during press.
So, I have resigned myself to having a slightly open curd until I can create a vacuum chamber.
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getting a paste devoid of holes shouldn't be that difficult. are they mechanical openings or gas? at my plant in the states i could make closed paste cow or goat cheeses in kadovas with no weights, although not consistently because i was using raw milk. somtimes i'd get wild yeast at hoop up.
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Man you guys are too advanced from me, Feta, Cow milk Cheddar , Goat milk cheddar is my lot but I do fancy giving the blue cheese a go as I find mostly my cheese's aren't quite pressed enough (slightly pitted) with air bubbles inside but perfect for a blue? Good to see more cheese people in good ol NZ thou.
Have either of you seen food TV on sky channel 9, 1pm Saturdays (cheese slices) its pretty good
:'( Quit Sky months ago because we can't afford (or are willing) to pay $780 a year ($65 x 12) for all the crap which is on TV here in this country! I'd rather spend $780 on cheese equipment or brewing stuff!
Is this the same as on TV: http://cheeseslices.com/ (http://cheeseslices.com/) ? I have a DVD at home but it is mostly a big commercial! So I decided not to buy the other DVDs for AU$30.
Cheers
Peter
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My cheddar openings are mechanical in nature. Not Gas.
I am not sure what you mean when you say "paste" but my cheddar curds at press time do not resemble a "paste" They are rubbery individual curds.
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I mean the body of the cheese when it is cut, sorry, not an actual paste. A good way to tell if they are gas produced is to inspect the hole when you cut the cheese. If it is shiny and smooth it was most likely caused by yeast. If it is mechanically open there is something very wrong. Possible issues are not enough pressure (from what you describe this is not an issue), not pressing long enough, too cold during press, to dry of a room during press or too low of a pH during press. Low pH will give you slitting in the cheese after it's matured, it will kind of fracture internally when it's cut.
I know those suggesitons are probably obvious to you but there's no reason I can think of why you should be getting mechanically open cheese from the looks of your setup. Can you post photos of the inside of one of the cheeses (or lonk me to a post)?