2022 - A New Year of Cheesemaking

[broombank]

I'm interested in your almost total use of waxing. What temperature/humidity are you using to mature them? have you tried any muslin/lard wrapping as an alternative. I like waxing too but I find the cheeses are usually rather soft and moist in contrast to the harder drier result from muslin. The wax seems relatively unaffected by humidity variation unlike the muslin which is very sensitive to it. One drawback I have found is leaking fluid under the wax which has a couple of times made it necessary to rewax them. does that happen to you?

[rsterne]

I have not tried anything other than waxing or a couple of attempts at a natural rind.... My wife hates any kind of mold, so the ones we were trying to go "au natural" ended up being cleaned and vacuum bagged.... We use that for our Cranberry Wensleydale, and a couple of others, and for allowing our waxed cheeses to continue to mature, after cutting out a quarter, we bag the rest.... Frequently those weep moisture into the bag, and have to be dried each time we remove another quarter, but it doesn't seem to hurt them.... although obviously they get drier each time....

Waxed cheese definitely dry out gradually, but obviously nowhere near as fast as a natural rind.... I have never tried muslin/lard wrapping (again, the wife and mold don't get along well).... My Cheese Cave is at 54-55*F and the humidity swings from 50-90% each fridge cycle, but averages 75-80% over long time periods.... I have restricted the airflow, and keep a couple of open containers of water in there to keep it from going below 50%, although it probably doesn't matter....

I haven't had a problem with fluid under the wax, but a few cheeses have split from "late blowing".... We suspect Clostridium (although the taste and aroma were fine) because you can almost guarantee that store bought milk, which is sourced from multiple dairies, has at least some of the herds eating silage.... We are now using Holdbac LC for any cheeses that are brined (I have never seen late-blowing on a salted curd cheese, eg. Cheddar) to prevent the Clostridium, but occasionally still get a brined one expanding at 2-3 months.... maybe not enough Holdbac?.... We were also having a problem with longer aged cheeses developing a bitter flavour after 5 months, until we changed from Vegetable (mucor) rennet to Chy-Max, that seems to have solved the bitterness in older cheeses....

Bob

[rsterne]

The last of our Cheesemaking blitz is our 3rd Kefalotyri.... We used our tried and true recipe, with 8 litres of whole (3.25%) P/H milk and a litre of 18% cream, for a total of 9 litres with 4.9% BF.... Here is the results....



It weighed a whopping 2 lbs. 11 oz, which is a yield of 13.6%....  .... We will be using it for Saganaki every 3 months until we do the next one a year from now....

PS.... As usual, at 3 months we got a perfect Saganaki using this cheese.... YUM !!!!

Bob

[rsterne]

Last Sunday we made our third Cotswold.... We used 8 litres of whole (3.25%) P/H milk and 750 ml of 18% cream, for a total of 8.8 litres of 4.5% BF.... This cheese is a Double Gloucester with Chives and Onions, and is one of our favourites.... Here is what it looks like....



After 3 days of drying and before waxing, it weighed 2 lbs. 4 oz., which works out to a yield of 11.7%.... We will be sampling it each month, from 1 to 4 months....

PS.... This Cotswold is everything we have come to expect.... ie wonderful full onion and chive aroma and flavour in a delightful cheddar....



If it's this good after a month, it should only improve as it ages further....

Bob

[erfurkan]

Just as I was considering making my first Cotswold. Great looking cheese. Can you post pictures with your updates so we can see the inside?

[rsterne]

That is what I usually do, and plan on doing this time as well....  If you want to see a previous Cotswold, you can look at Reply #36 here....

https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,19259.36.html

or at Reply #10 here....

https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,19657.10.html

This is one of our favourite cheeses, great from 1 to 4 months....

Bob

[rsterne]

Last Sunday we made our 4th Gouda.... We used 8 litres of 2% P/H milk, plus 650 ml of 18% cream, for a total of 8.7 litres of 3.2% BF.... We used MM100, and this time we used 1/2 tsp. of Holdbac (this batch is not as concentrated), because the last one had some late blowing....



This cheese weighed exactly 2 lbs., for a yield of 10.4 %.... We will be aging it 6 months before sampling, and then consume a quarter each 2 months, with the last of it being a year old....

Today we will be making some Cream Cheese, which we haven't done in a year!.... Next Sunday will be an Edam.... 

Bob

[rsterne]

Divided up our cream Cheese made from 2 litres of 18% cream into 2 batches.... one with Dill & Onion, the other with Garlic and Italian seasoning.... had some on bagels for lunch....  .... We had forgotten how good this is !!!!

Bob

[rsterne]

Last Sunday we did another Edam.... made with 8 litres of 1% P/H milk and 650 ml of 18% cream for a total of 8.7 litres of 2.3% BF.... We used MM 100 culture, plus Holdbac, and after brining and drying, but before waxing it weighed 1 lb. 12 oz. for a yield of 9.1%....



I am curious about the reason for the 20 min. of cooking the pressed Boule in 122*F whey before resuming the pressing.... Does that kill off the culture to end acidification, producing the mild flavour of an Edam?.... Whatever is does, I'm not about to change it.... 

Bob