"St Paulin" style - Caldwell

[scasnerkay]

Inspired by Ozziecheese, and wanting to try something different, and wanting something ready to cut into in 2 months, I turned to this make in Caldwell's book.  I had the opportunity to milk a goat (Nubian) on Tuesday, and brought home a half gallon of her beautiful milk. I mixed this with a combination of non-homogenized nonfat and heavy cream (p/f = 1.2) for about 2 gallons total.
I used only FD as starter,even though I know it is slow, thinking that too much starter combined with the raw critters would create too fast acid development. I was wrong.... It took a full 8 hours in the press for the pH to come to the recommended 5.3, which I tested by trimming off a bit of the curd and pressing that into the knob on the pH meter... there was very minimal whey at that time. The recommended cutting of curd to 1/4 inch over 20 mins did not seem a problem. I cut it 1.5 inches, then progressively smaller.
Now to wait the 2 months....
Tuesdays will be my turn for milking, so I need to plan what is next!!

Read the spread sheet for more details.

[OzzieCheese]

I see you already did. Nice shape ! :)

[Spoons]

Boofer made quite a bit of these. I`m curious to see what people think of Caldwell's recipe.

[chevre au lait]

Waiting with bated breath.  I'm interested in cheeses that can be made with relatively small quantities of milk, as I'm impatient to try everything, but have only small quantities to work with!  :-)  I gather you're part of a milk-share?

[scasnerkay]

Not part of a milk share, rather I found a farm to volunteer at. After 4 weeks of feeding and mucking out, I now get to milk as well. And if I milk, then I have the opportunity to take it home! I wanted to learn about animal care as well as milking, so it seemed a good way to go about it.

[scasnerkay]

This little cheese is now 6 weeks along and I want to post an updated image. The "cave" has been running about 55 degrees and 90% humidity - sometimes more. Things grow nicely, but there is no cracking of the rind! So this cheese has been wiped with salt mixed with a bit of vinegar pretty much every week. It seems much more stable now.  Smells... interesting... Kind of moldy. So far it has lost about 4 ounces of weight. Minimum of 2 more weeks of aging.

[John@PC]

Caldwell would be pleased to have that picture in her next book.  St Paulin is on my short list of cheeses I've not done but want to.  When I do I'll use your make log, so a cheese for sharing that and for the great shape and rind.  Please share a picture when you cut it.

[OzzieCheese]

Ooooo that looks wonderful.. My wife and I have just returned from a two week jaunt through outback New South Wales (Aust) and had a wonderful time.  My 2nd St Paulin was put into Vac Bag before I left as there was noone to look after it for two weeks.  They all survived and we are going to see what the 1st one - which I waxed - looks and tastes like this weekend.  I'll post notes and photos on my make entry..

-- Mal 

[Boofer]

Susan, I'm curious how the inner paste will be when you cut into it.

The form factor for my washed rinds has been thin rather than thick. If the cheese was too thick, the innermost paste would lag in ripening. This has been true for the Saint Paulin, Esrom, Pont-l'Évêque, and Reblochon.

-Boofer-

[Spoons]

Boofer,

By experience, what thickness would you limit it to?

[scasnerkay]

Soon I will try this one. But really, I did not realize that St Paulin is supposed to be a washed rind cheese. I cleaned the rind with salt mixed with a little vinegar, but did not follow any washing regimen because I have never tried that! So really I suppose this will be more like a havarti type.

[Savu]

I've been following your make for St Paulin and couldn't figure out why no b.linens. So I went to caldwells book to see what was going on. I think what you are making is what she calls a light washed brine cheese based on St Paulin, the relevant quote is from the beginning of the chapter
""While this was originally modeled on a St. Paulin recipe, we made a few adjustments that resulted in a semihard cheese we call Takelma (following in our tradition of naming cheeses after local landmarks, Takelma is the name of the Native Americans that originally settled this area)."
So maybe what your making is Takelma!

[Spoons]

Oh, so a semi-hard cheese based on a St-Paulin recipe. Interesting. As Susan says, it should be similar to a havarti. Discovering something new, how exciting!

[Boofer]

Boofer,

By experience, what thickness would you limit it to?

Eric, all the styles I mentioned are 2 inches or less.

-Boofer-

[scasnerkay]

Had 2 birthdays to celebrate, and so we cut into this one. I really liked the appearance of this one. To me it is a very pretty cheese, and I have never had a cheese with no mechanical openings in the paste. Paste was mild and creamy and nicely pliable. Slices very thin. Nice aroma. Rind was still edible and kind of added to the cheese. Very nice table cheese. Yes I would say similar to havarti.  Worth repeating!