Hello My Name Is....

[Tiss]

Just want to introduce myself. My nickname is Tiss. I have a small herd of Lamancha and Alpine dairy goats and have been making cheese for about three years. I expanded the herd last summer and finally have all the milk I could want for experimentation. I also have a BFF with a Jersey and am able to trade goat milk for cow regularly.

I've really been pushing myself to become a better cheesemaker this summer. Dear Husband bought me a wine cooler on Craigslist and that has opened up worlds of possibilities. It's already full and I need another. Here are some pictures of my creations. I look forward to learning even more here!

~Tiss


The Bearded Ladies and New Herd Sire


A Care Package for a Friend


Valencay- I gave the pyramid shaped one away


My 2nd Goat Gouda


Crottin- I cut this one very young. The rest of the batch had a nice ooziness under the rind. I guess it was too delicious to snap pictures.

[jwalker]

Welcome to the forum , great resources here , and being an experienced cheese maker yourself , your input will be much appreciated .

Nice little farm you have there , I am envious , I have to buy my milk from others.

I still have fun at it though.

[Spellogue]

Beautiful goats.  Beautiful cheeses.  We're looking forward to hearing more about your adventures.

[hoeklijn]

Welcome to the forum from The Netherlands, neighborhood of Gouda.
I love your Valencay! Just have been to an open day at an artisan dairy last Sunday with a Valencay, a Manchego and a Gouda. All three were highly appriciated. On the photo I see a little bit of slipping skin, just as I use to have. What's the recipe you use?

[Tiss]

Thanks for the warm welcome! I have been loving my Gouda's  ;)  This last one I didn't wax in time and decided to just wash the rind with a brandy brine. Should be interesting!  :o

I am using the Valencay recipe from Artisan Cheesemaking at Home by Mary Karlin.  It has a pinch of GC in it that's supposed to help with slippage. Some slip a little, some don't.

What have you done to help with the slipping? I'm always up for tips.

Here's the latest. It's my first attempt at pepper jack. I used 2 gallons raw Jersey for it and aged 60 days. I used the "Just Jack" recipe from the book I mentioned above. It's wonderful except for the rind. The recipe calls for a bandaged rind and I am not happy with the flavors that the wild molds imparted. In the future I will try waxing or an oil rubbed rind.

[hoeklijn]

As far as I experienced now, it's a delicate balance between a high RH and a low temperature in the cave (90%, 11-12C), and going easy on the amount of PC en Geo. Besides that I like them most at the age of 4-6 weeks. Just Jack seems a bit crumbly to me, was that intentionally? 

[Tiss]

No, it wasn't intentional. It was my first attempt at a Jack and my first experience with this particular milk. I usually use my goat milk which sets up very fast and requires about 25% less culture than recipes call for.  I was shocked after 30 min that I still didn't have a firm curd on this. It took about 50 minutes to set. I need to take all that into account when I try this one again. It may be a while since my friend drying up her cow in preparation for calving.

Even with the crumbliness, it still has a very nice creamy texture. Not dry at all.

What are your suggestions?

[hoeklijn]

When it's still creamy it seems to me that it didn't knit very well. How did you press?

[Tiss]

I have a spring press. I am looking at getting a lever style/Dutch press though. I'm not entirely happy that I have to keep adjusting the tension as the curd compresses. It's quite possible that this one compressed down until there was very light pressure if I pressed it overnight. That sometimes happens if I put it in for final pressing right before bed. Girl needs her beauty rest!

[hoeklijn]

LOL, I think you need something like this:

[Tiss]

Drool!!!