How often do YOU make cheese?

[bansidhe]

I was wondering how frequently cheesemakers make cheese. How many cheeses do you have aging?  WHat's the longest time you've aged a cheese?  Do you always have at least one cheese aging?  How do you decide which cheese to make next? 

[rsterne]

We have been making cheese about 8 months now, and have made 28 different types.... We were doing one a week until we got the cave pretty full, and started having more cheeses to try than we SHOULD be eating....  .... We are now doing a cheese every 2 weeks.... My wife and I eat one serving (1 oz.) of cheese each, per night, so that works out to about 1 lb. of cheese a week, total.... We do an 8-9 litre make, so the cheese runs about 2 lbs. (plus or minus), which is the other reason we are now doing a make only every 2 weeks.... When we get 3 or more maturing at the same time, we do a cheese plate as a lunch meal, with 3 or 4 types, an ounce each per type.... We currently have 24 different types in various stages of aging....

We try and make a mixture of varieties.... We are only interested in semi-soft to very hard types of pressed cheese (eg. Havarti to Parmesan), that we can wax or vacuum bag, because my wife doesn't want to chase mold.... so we only do types where we can avoid that.... Some of them age 1 to 4 months, some 2 to 8 months, some 3 to 12 months, and the longest (so far) are 6 mon. to 2 yrs.... So far the oldest cheeses we have tried were 6 months, but we will be tasting the last of our first cheese at 8 months shortly.... We divide up the maximum aging time into quarters, and consume 1/4 of the cheese each time (eg. at 2, 4, 6 and 8 months).... vacuum bagging the remainder to go back in the cave to continue aging.... So far we have been delighted by our success....

We originally started by just working through the varieties we really like, and then branched out into some we have never tried, but staying within the types mentioned.... Now that we have run out of room, planning what to do next is much more important, and I try and alternate short, medium and long aging cheeses in a 16 week cycle.... something like 4 mon, 8 mon, 4 mon, 12 mon, 4 mon, 8 mon, 4 mon, 24 mon.... That way we will always have something to sample, while other cheeses have a chance to age for the appropriately longer times they need.... We are currently redoing some of our favourites (some with added flavours), and alternating them with the few we haven't yet tried.... There are still about 10 cheeses that we have not yet done that we really want to try.... and believe it or not our "production schedule" now extends into next year.... 

We have had very good success, and only a few types were not the taste we like (although all were good), so if anything the problem is to fit the ones we really want to repeat into the list, while still getting to the remaining new ones....  .... Anyways, you asked.... and that's the way we are doing it.... 

Bob

[bansidhe]

I love this! This is something I think I will read more than once!  Thanks!

[MacGruff]

I probably make a new cheese every two to four weeks. Since their aging varies, the number of them in my cave varies as well. We had a small gathering last night - of which I will post pictures in another thread - with some friend who have all been COVID vaccinated and served three different cheeses from the cave that were ready. One was four weeks old, one six weeks old, one six months old. At the same time, I have a fontina starting to develop in there (needs another six weeks) and a Gouda that needs another two months.

[paulabob]

I was like Bob, one a week for a good while (started last May).  There have been at least 3 I just pitched because flavor wasn't good.  I now limit my natural rinds to about once every two months.  Also tend to rotate, short, long, short, long, fresh.  Now down to about one cheese every two weeks.

My cheese fridge is a fairly good size, there's room in mine to keep going.

[mikekchar]

I try to make cheese every week.  Sometimes I'll make it a few times a week.  I like fresh cheeses, so I try to have one around at all times.  I make small cheeses, though.  Max 4 liters, but often 2 or 3 liters (for example, bloomy rinds and washed rinds I'll often do 2 liter makes).  I tend to give away a lot of my cheese because we don't actually eat that much.  I only have room for 6 cheeses in my cave, though I use the regular fridge a lot for bloomy rinds and washed rinds.  Even still, I rarely age anything past 3 months.  I don't have the room and since I make small cheeses, it doesn't work that well anyway.  Part of the problem for me is that milk is *very* expensive.  Non-homogenised pasteurised milk costs me the equivalent of $4 a liter (not including 10% tax!).  So with everything included I'm getting close to $20 for a 4 liter cheese.  I can't really afford to make anything bigger than that, unfortunately.  I can get homogenised milk for $2.50, but... it really is not great -- especially for hard cheeses.  I do some acid coagulated cheeses (though all cultured these days) with UHT milk that I can get for $2 per liter :-)  Even that is expensive :-P

[Lancer99]

I took 3-4 months off between jobs, and made cheese two or three times a week. It was fun working through the various types, bloomy rind, lactics, washed rind, washed curd, blues, cheddar types, etc.  So I had a lot and my friends got a lot.  Sometimes to their dismay -- you can never convince a blue cheese hater.



Now I have slowed down to one every two weeks or so, partially because I know better what I like, and partially because I've gotten a bit lazy.  I make Camembert/Bries, which I struggled with at first, but now seem pretty bulletproof, and they are my faves.  At first I hated the stinky feet cheeses, but have come to love them, and they are pretty easy too.

I really should make another cheddar type, but then remember that means an entire day, plus hauling 300 lbs. of cinder blocks into the house.

As for aged, still have some 18 month old Cheddar, Parmesan/Romano, and some blues I'm trying not to finish!

-L

[bansidhe]

Wow, That's great!  Tell me, when you make camembert, how do you stir the curds to not have them brea up?  I tried stirring very slowly and gently and they still broke up very small.  :-(. You said you had trouble at first.  What were your troubles?  How did you change what you were doing to nail it?

[Mornduk]

I try to do at least a 6G make per week (Chaource, Halloumi, Mozzarella etc. doesn’t count ).

My job got me traveling frequently and relocating about every other year for the last decade, so whenever I found a local source of raw milk I can trust I get serious on making the most of it, and I got my daughters interested so it’s a family activity.

Now because of the pandemic I have stayed out so I’ve done 59 cheeses since last April. I gout a couple standing freezers with custom shelves as cheese caves and another for dry age meat and finish colder cheeses, plus a mini fridge for blues (and another couple standing freezers for charcuterie). We generally like longer aged cheeses so whenever the caves are full I pick one, sample it and vacuum seal, then get it back to the cave as thermal mass. I usually pick the ones that look less apt to stand longer aging (humidity etc.). We do cheese night every week and snack often.

[Lancer99]

The answer to how to not break up Camembert curds during stirring is . . . don't stir! There's no need.  Unstirred curd may take a bit longer during flipping/draining, but you're gonna be doing that for hours anyways.

I think it's pretty important to dry off the cheese before you cellar it.

The biggest difference I've had between mold failure and success is ash, just 1/4 tsp. added to the salt.

Absent cultures, you can make great Cams/Bries with a bit of commercial product rind whizzed in a blender with a bit of water and added to the milk.

IME!

-L
 

[bansidhe]

Mornduk:  Wow, that's a lotta cheese!   :-)

Lancer99:  I am coming to that conclusion!  RSterne has suggested gently rocking or shaking the pot to "stir" the curds when they are fragile.    I'm working on making the robiolini again (as we speak).  Im going to try the "no stir, gently rock" method.  :-). Fingers crossed.