New to cheesemaking, may have messed up ingredients

[Possum-Pie]

I love cheese, but I rarely cut a piece and eat it plain, I use different cheeses in cooking so the fine nuances of expensive cheese is lost in the other ingredients. I got into the hobby mainly to make some parm/romano for Italian dishes, and to try my hand at mozzarella. Mozzarella almost isn't worth the effort for me--price of all the ingredients is about the same as a one-pound log in the store. I'll compare tastes when I finally get one to turn out right. 

Well, I made a Romano yesterday. The curd set exactly as it should, clean break with a knife, and It is currently in the press. I was going to brine it this morning, but it felt too "spongey" to be a hard cheese. I flipped it and put it back in the press on 50 lbs and some clear whey did drip out so I'm going to let it press for a few hours more. I've seen cheesemakers brine, air dry, then immediately vacuum pack it, and others who never vacuum pack it but oil it after some time.  Does anyone know if there is a downside to immediate vacuum packing? 

[DrChile]

no natural rind if you vac pack - but if that doesn't bother you, then just make sure you brine appropriately and air dry.  Keep checking on the cheese to make sure no moisture leeches out of the cheese (i've had some vac bagged cheeses that leech moisture and it turns to an acidic gross mess - but that's usually due to an incorrect make). 
I tend to vac pack my small cheeses.  I made romano about 18 months ago and vac bagged it - didn't have my humidity set up as I do now to develop a natural rind.  It was also a smaller 2 lb cheese - so I wanted less rind.  With my parmesan makes (8 gallon) i prefer a natural rind.  It's also harder for me to vac bag a big cheese like that too...

Trent

[Aris]

I love cheese, but I rarely cut a piece and eat it plain, I use different cheeses in cooking so the fine nuances of expensive cheese is lost in the other ingredients. I got into the hobby mainly to make some parm/romano for Italian dishes, and to try my hand at mozzarella. Mozzarella almost isn't worth the effort for me--price of all the ingredients is about the same as a one-pound log in the store. I'll compare tastes when I finally get one to turn out right. 

Well, I made a Romano yesterday. The curd set exactly as it should, clean break with a knife, and It is currently in the press. I was going to brine it this morning, but it felt too "spongey" to be a hard cheese. I flipped it and put it back in the press on 50 lbs and some clear whey did drip out so I'm going to let it press for a few hours more. I've seen cheesemakers brine, air dry, then immediately vacuum pack it, and others who never vacuum pack it but oil it after some time.  Does anyone know if there is a downside to immediate vacuum packing?

I got back into this hobby because of Mozzarella even though I can get store bought low moisture mozzarella really cheap. Plus I have access to cheap but high quality grass fed water buffalo milk which allows me to make authentic Mozzarella di bufala which is rare and really expensive here and has a chance of being inedible if you buy one because it has a very short shelf life. Nowadays I am into making Italian hard cheeses such as Parmesan, Caciotta and Asiago.

The cheese will weep whey inside the vacuum bag and might make the cheese bitter. You can do a hybrid approach with hard cheeses. You can age them in your cheese cave with a humidity of 70-75% until they form a rind that is hard then you vacuum pack. I age mine inside a Coleman cooler with frozen water bottles until the cheese forms a rind and lose 15-22% of its original weight before I vacuum pack it. It results in a cheese with a thin rind and proper moisture content. My 1 year old Asiago inspired cheese below was aged using the method I mentioned and it was unpressed. The long aged version of real Asiago is not actually pressed from the videos I have seen.
https://i.imgur.com/EYbLX6m.jpg

[Possum-Pie]

DrChile and Aris, thank you so much for your help. I have a follow up question: I took my Romano out of the 24hr brine this morning, and it just doesn't feel "firm" like a hard cheese should. I used full fat milk rather than 2% and even after 12 hours of 50 lb press, it feels less solid than my Asiago did when I first began air drying it. Should I try re-pressing it? Is this normal? I used a cheese mold that I really like-rounded bottom and top rather than sharp corners on the finished wheels, but the follower fits VERY tightly in the mold. There was no more whey dripping when I took it out, so maybe this is ok. It's just that the Parm/Romano wheels I have bought were very firm.  Milk weighed 17.2 lbs Cheese weighs 2.02 lbs so just under 12% of total milk weight.

[Possum-Pie]

I love cheese, but I rarely cut a piece and eat it plain, I use different cheeses in cooking so the fine nuances of expensive cheese is lost in the other ingredients. I got into the hobby mainly to make some parm/romano for Italian dishes, and to try my hand at mozzarella. Mozzarella almost isn't worth the effort for me--price of all the ingredients is about the same as a one-pound log in the store. I'll compare tastes when I finally get one to turn out right. 

Well, I made a Romano yesterday. The curd set exactly as it should, clean break with a knife, and It is currently in the press. I was going to brine it this morning, but it felt too "spongey" to be a hard cheese. I flipped it and put it back in the press on 50 lbs and some clear whey did drip out so I'm going to let it press for a few hours more. I've seen cheesemakers brine, air dry, then immediately vacuum pack it, and others who never vacuum pack it but oil it after some time.  Does anyone know if there is a downside to immediate vacuum packing?

I got back into this hobby because of Mozzarella even though I can get store bought low moisture mozzarella really cheap. Plus I have access to cheap but high quality grass fed water buffalo milk which allows me to make authentic Mozzarella di bufala which is rare and really expensive here and has a chance of being inedible if you buy one because it has a very short shelf life. Nowadays I am into making Italian hard cheeses such as Parmesan, Caciotta and Asiago.

The cheese will weep whey inside the vacuum bag and might make the cheese bitter. You can do a hybrid approach with hard cheeses. You can age them in your cheese cave with a humidity of 70-75% until they form a rind that is hard then you vacuum pack. I age mine inside a Coleman cooler with frozen water bottles until the cheese forms a rind and lose 15-22% of its original weight before I vacuum pack it. It results in a cheese with a thin rind and proper moisture content. My 1 year old Asiago inspired cheese below was aged using the method I mentioned and it was unpressed. The long aged version of real Asiago is not actually pressed from the videos I have seen.
https://i.imgur.com/EYbLX6m.jpg

LOVE your suggestion. I have a small "dorm fridge" that the lowest setting is about 50 degrees F. I'll put the cheese in there for a few weeks until I see/feel a rind, then vacuum pack it. As I've stated above, I'm a bit worried about the moisture content based on feel...I'd feel better letting it air dry more in a fridge before sealing it in plastic.

[Aris]

What was the temperature of the brine? From experience, room temperature (usual brine temp recommendation which imho is bad advice) cheese tends to be soft. I dry salt and store the cheese at 50-55 f to make sure pH doesn't drop. Even Peter Dixon (American master cheesemaker) recommends brining at 50-55 f for Asiago and 50 f for Gouda. For me, when it comes to hard cheese like Asiago, it is essential the curds are cooked properly (curds must be firm and not too dry) and the curds must be slightly smaller than corn kernel.  I think your cheese is fine. It will eventually harden once it loses enough moisture in your cheese cave. If molds do grow, brush it using a clean tooth brush or nail brush. My cooler has a humidity of 60-70% and molds can't grow at that humidity. Pressing with too much weight in the beginning can trap whey in the cheese. I personally don't press my Italian hard cheeses and they still come out good.

You should give the recipe below a try. Use the recommended dose of your thermophilic starter culture and rennet. In this recipe, he only use 2 lb. weight on a 1 lb. cheese.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/552d4535e4b03d0c390b51a0/t/5563256ce4b0cc18bc6a52fb/1432561004972/dfc+asiago.pdf

[Possum-Pie]

What was the temperature of the brine? From experience, room temperature (usual brine temp recommendation which imho is bad advice) cheese tends to be soft. I dry salt and store the cheese at 50-55 f to make sure pH doesn't drop. Even Peter Dixon (American master cheesemaker) recommends brining at 50-55 f for Asiago and 50 f for Gouda. For me, when it comes to hard cheese like Asiago, it is essential the curds are cooked properly (curds must be firm and not too dry) and the curds must be slightly smaller than corn kernel.  I think your cheese is fine. It will eventually harden once it loses enough moisture in your cheese cave. If molds do grow, brush it using a clean tooth brush or nail brush. My cooler has a humidity of 60-70% and molds can't grow at that humidity. Pressing with too much weight in the beginning can trap whey in the cheese. I personally don't press my Italian hard cheeses and they still come out good.

You should give the recipe below a try. Use the recommended dose of your thermophilic starter culture and rennet. In this recipe, he only use 2 lb. weight on a 1 lb. cheese.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/552d4535e4b03d0c390b51a0/t/5563256ce4b0cc18bc6a52fb/1432561004972/dfc+asiago.pdf

Well, the brine was a bit above room temp. about 90 F. That is b/c I evaporated all the water out of my brine bucket and re-used the salt to make a new brine. As of 12 hours of air drying, the cheese is significantly firmer and I am not so worried. Actually, it is beginning to get that "dirty sock" parmesan/romano smell, and it is air drying on my counter. I'm much less worried. As I said, I'm going to compromise and air dry it in the fridge at about 50 deg F for a few weeks, THEN vacuum seal it. I've seen horror stories of people never vacuum sealing it, and horror stories about people vacuum sealing it too soon, so I'm going to compromise.

[Possum-Pie]

What was the temperature of the brine? From experience, room temperature (usual brine temp recommendation which imho is bad advice) cheese tends to be soft. I dry salt and store the cheese at 50-55 f to make sure pH doesn't drop. Even Peter Dixon (American master cheesemaker) recommends brining at 50-55 f for Asiago and 50 f for Gouda. For me, when it comes to hard cheese like Asiago, it is essential the curds are cooked properly (curds must be firm and not too dry) and the curds must be slightly smaller than corn kernel.  I think your cheese is fine. It will eventually harden once it loses enough moisture in your cheese cave. If molds do grow, brush it using a clean tooth brush or nail brush. My cooler has a humidity of 60-70% and molds can't grow at that humidity. Pressing with too much weight in the beginning can trap whey in the cheese. I personally don't press my Italian hard cheeses and they still come out good.

You should give the recipe below a try. Use the recommended dose of your thermophilic starter culture and rennet. In this recipe, he only use 2 lb. weight on a 1 lb. cheese.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/552d4535e4b03d0c390b51a0/t/5563256ce4b0cc18bc6a52fb/1432561004972/dfc+asiago.pdf

Well, the brine was a bit above room temp. about 80 F. That is b/c I evaporated all the water out of my brine bucket and re-used the salt to make a new brine. As of 12 hours of air drying, the cheese is significantly firmer and I am not so worried. Actually, it is beginning to get that "dirty sock" parmesan/romano smell, and it is air drying on my counter. I'm much less worried. As I said, I'm going to compromise and air dry it in the fridge at about 50 deg F for a few weeks, THEN vacuum seal it. I've seen horror stories of people never vacuum sealing it, and horror stories about people vacuum sealing it too soon, so I'm going to compromise.

[Aris]

Fridge has really low humidity and there is a chance the cheese might crack so keep a watchful eye.

[Possum-Pie]

Fridge has really low humidity and there is a chance the cheese might crack so keep a watchful eye.

With my Asiago, I put a shallow pan with a little water on the rack, put the cheese on a wire trivit with feet above the water but not touching. I'm sure it wasn't 85% humidity, but it was all I could think of to raise the humidity. I've seen pics of some folk's parm wheels after a year and they look hard as cement and full of cracks. That's why I want to put it in vacuum seal before it gets too much of a rind

[Aris]

Fridge has really low humidity and there is a chance the cheese might crack so keep a watchful eye.

With my Asiago, I put a shallow pan with a little water on the rack, put the cheese on a wire trivit with feet above the water but not touching. I'm sure it wasn't 85% humidity, but it was all I could think of to raise the humidity. I've seen pics of some folk's parm wheels after a year and they look hard as cement and full of cracks. That's why I want to put it in vacuum seal before it gets too much of a rind

Yeah, that is a good way to increase humidity. Hopefully it doesn't raise the humidity too much. Yeah, I've seen those cheeses that is why I vacuum seal my hard cheeses. I want a rind that is as thin as possible so there is more cheese. I bet their rock hard cheese doesn't melt, has a very dry and tough texture. Many home cheesemakers also use skim milk which makes it worse. Parmigiano Reggiano actually isn't that dry (29-31% moisture content), it is grainy but still creamy and melts in your mouth and has good fat content (43.3% fat in dry matter). They use partially skimmed milk (2.4-2.5% butterfat).

[DrChile]

agree with what's been said so far - Possum - your cheese will be fine.  I tend to take the same approach when vac bagging mine.  about 2-3 weeks of aging then vac bag. 

I brine my stuff in my cave - usually around 51-52 F but then store my brine in a regular fridge.  I try to avoid brining at room temp if i can help it (just what this forum and books have said to do)

Trent

[Possum-Pie]

UPDATE: After 5 days in the cheese fridge at about 50 deg. F. The cheese is firm, dry, and smells more like Romano. I turn it daily and there is no sign of mold. I'm going to dry it for a few weeks, then vacuum seal it. Thanks again for the suggestions and encouragement. 6 months will be April 1 and 12 months will be Sept. 30 next year. I don't think I can wait that long, I may open it and cut a wedge in April, and if it needs more aging, I'll re vacuum seal it.

[Aris]

UPDATE: After 5 days in the cheese fridge at about 50 deg. F. The cheese is firm, dry, and smells more like Romano. I turn it daily and there is no sign of mold. I'm going to dry it for a few weeks, then vacuum seal it. Thanks again for the suggestions and encouragement. 6 months will be April 1 and 12 months will be Sept. 30 next year. I don't think I can wait that long, I may open it and cut a wedge in April, and if it needs more aging, I'll re vacuum seal it.

That is good to hear. Sounds like humidity is just right because it has no mold. I assume no cracks too. Please share a photo.

[Possum-Pie]

Included a white napkin to show actual color of cheese.