Aged Chevre - Where to from here?

[mtncheesemaker]

I made this chevre 2 weeks ago and added a pinch of P. candidum to my regular recipe. It is covered nicely with white mold, but now I don't know what to do next. Should I wrap it and age like a Cam? My French cheese book shows all kinds of aged goat cheeses, but I don't know how long to let it go. Not even really sure what I'm expecting.
Any ideas/advice welcome.
Pam

[tnsven]

I don't have any advice to offer but those sure look wonderful! It's too hot here for me to experiment with this sort of cheese but I intend to when it cools this fall.

A quick question: how did you buy your egg crate diffuser? Did you get it in individual sheets? Or was it a large (and expensive) pack?

Thanks!! And let us know how it tastes!

Kristin

[mtncheesemaker]

I've been aging them in my converted fridge, at about 50F.
The egg crate is from a large sheet, sold as florescent light covers, from the home supply store. Then I cut them into pieces to fit the aging boxes.

[Oberhasli]

Hey Pam,
That cheese looks nice.  It is like the crottin recipe I use.  If you like it a little stronger, I would wrap it and let it age in the fridge a bit more.  But, I have found there is a fine line with these, where you go from good to over ripe fairly quickly.  The aged crottin cheeses I  have seen pictures of always has dry looking rind on it and it gets almost hard.  But, anytime I have tried to let this cheese age it gets really smelly and inedible rather quickly (for me anyway).  You could always try one now and see if you like the flavor and let the others age if you want to experiment with the taste. 

Looks good now!

Bonnie

[tnsven]

I've been aging them in my converted fridge, at about 50F.
The egg crate is from a large sheet, sold as florescent light covers, from the home supply store. Then I cut them into pieces to fit the aging boxes.

Thanks Pam. I know where to get the egg crate. I've just always seen it in pack of, like 15....for $120 or more. Have you found them individually? Or in pack of 2 or 3?

Kristin

[mtncheesemaker]

Thanks, Bonnie. I guess I'll just eat them at different ages and see how we like them. I've seen them in books where they look pretty hard/dry.
Kristen, I got mine at Home Depot; they are sold individually. Can't remember what I paid, but I'm thinking +/- 10 bucks. They're pretty handy.

[Minamyna]

I really want to try one that is aged with blue. I can't get my cheese cave fridge to get warm enough. sigh. I need to get one of those things that regulates it for you. :-[

[mtncheesemaker]

FYI, I wrapped these goat cheeses at 2 weeks, let them age another week, then ate one. It was actually quite delicious. I'll definitely be making these again. Next time I'm going to try coating the outside with ash, as that apparently allow a longer aging period without too much acidification.

[DeejayDebi]

Hey those looks pretty neat Pam! Let us know how they develop. Might be a whole new cheese.

[Minamyna]

I will totally try this next time I make chevre! OMG it looks amazing! I also finally got the fridge right, I put a humidifier in it and bingo!

[iratherfly]

Pam, it seems that you have an almost-crottin here, or actually Valençay. Whgen they age they tend to dry a bit and become harder. The French sells them in a different shelf or box titled "Affine" (Crottin Affine, Valençay Affine, etc.) You can also expect other molds to come out. Put them in a container in the fridge to slow them down ...or wrap them with some of those fantastic grape leaves of yours after soaking the leaves in brandy

Here is something very similar I did last month. It's a basic Chèvre, to which I've added PLA and a little bit of PC and Geo. I wrapped half of them in sesame leaves too, but this is the un-wrapped version. This wild rind was fantastic and chewy - a bit like that Humboldt Fog rind but no ash. The PLA supplied the yellowish color, the funky grassy aroma and those tiny yeast-induced eyes

[Brie]

I do know for certain that goat cheeses age much quicker than cow's cheese. Pam and Yoav, both of yours look wonderful. But, Pam--please don't let him talk you into using all of your grape leaves--you are sending me a few on Monday!  ^-^

[iratherfly]

Haha... Pam has some awesome grape leaves.

[mtncheesemaker]

I was inspired to make this cheese because I love Bucheron. I didn't have the right size mold so made these pyramids. Here's a pic of one we cut last night, at 4 weeks old. Really delicious with a kind of light citrus bite.
Next I want to make some smaller ones like you posted, Yoav, wrapped in grape leaves. How long did you age them for?
(Now that I've learned about grape leaves, I won't be sharing! ;)HAHA.

[Brie]

Do not torture me, Pam--I just made Manchego yesterday that I want to wrap in your treasures!  Please, please, please.