So, today I tried to make the Cabra Al Vino from Cheesemaking.com. The stars were not aligned. First, I didn't;t have the buttermilk culture but did use some chèvre and some thermophilic culture. Since I was using 1gallion raw goat and 1/2 gallons of pasteurized Cow milk, I still added the 1/8 tsp of rennet.
But alas, I added it right after I stirred in the culture instead of allowing 1 hour for the culture to grow and acidify. I tried the flocculation method but the darn bowl just spun and spun and spun even after 20minutes. I thought about this and thought that the amount of culture (1/4 a package of chèvre and 1/8 tsp of rennet for 1.5 gallons of milk wasn't a lot, really....). So, I waited one hour. No, set. 90minutes. No set. But at 90minutes I made a series of cuts in one direction. I figured, since I had already deviated significantly from the recipe I';d see where all of this took me. I let sit for another hour. Mostly because I forgot about it. When I went back it was good to go. I cut in the other direction and put in my spoon and gently moved the curds to see beautiful , glistening cubes emerge. W00t! So, I turned up the heat on the water batch to try and get it gently up to 105 degrees.. Of course, I missed the mark and it went to 110. All the while I stirred, broke up with a whisk and watched for about 10minutes. These curds felt great. :-). Here's a pic. Now I realize that may seem like a trivial to most but with each of these fiascos I am gathering information. :-). Anyway. I have the cheese pressed under 8 pound of weight... My question is... What should I do with this now? Which aging , given the cultures and process would be best for this ? I'd like to soak it in wine but would that still be ok?
