Hello from Rhode Island

[george]

I just love introductions ...

I'm recently relocated back to Rhode Island (grew up here) after spending 23 years in Alexandria, VA.  I was blessed there with access to fantastic raw milk (primarily Jersey) from some of the very best farmers in Lancaster County PA (not that I'm biased or nuthin').  I've always made plenty of soft cheeses and other dairy kitchen science experiments (how many jars of kefir can one line up on the counter at one time?), and wanted to get into hard cheeses.  Knowing myself very well, however, I put that off, since I was absolutely sure that I would become obsessed and spend lots and lots of money on equipment (not to mention the milk!) etc., and when I had the time, I didn't have the money, and when I had the money, I didn't have the time.  Moving, however, changed all that.   

Anyway - I started about a year ago making cheddars and a few goudas.  (Via Ricki Carrol's book and website.)  The biggest problem I have with all the "Ricki information" is that without taking a seminar, the why's and wherefore's are largely absent.  So with that lack of info, it took me a year to figure out why they kept coming out all dry and crumbly - although still perfectly edible.  How did I discover this, you ask?  Spending the last couple of weeks sniffing around the Cheeseforum, of course!  Other things I've learned here already:

- The very first Stilton I made a couple of weeks ago apparently will NOT turn out to be the miserable failure I thought it would be - and the second should be even better;

- I definitely need to air-dry my cheeses at a higher humidity - rather than sticking them on the table in the cold dry dining room;

- The definitive answer on something I've been wondering about for quite some time - if I wax the cheese, why does the RH matter during aging?  Answer - it doesn't.  Thanks to all just for THAT one!

I've just now starting getting into "moldy" cheeses, and I too find it quite entertaining every time I deliberately "infect" a cheese ...  so far all I have is the two Stiltons and a Muenster I made just a couple of days ago.  Right now I'm getting some absolutely wonderful raw milk for free, so it's easy to experiment.

So thanks already for all the wonderful information and experiences you've all shared - and very extra special thanks to John for starting it all!

- Mary (yes, despite the nickname, I'm a girl)   

[ArnaudForestier]

Hi Mary, from another new member.  Used to live in Providence (Trinity Rep), loved my time there....stepdad was from Warwick, some great times quahog'ging with his brother.  Best of luck with all your ventures!

Paul

[FarmerJd]

Welcome to the forum.

[Cheese Head]

Hi george, nice intro, welcome!

Sounds like you are already having fun here, of course pics of your cheeses etc are always fun!

[GParenteau]

Hi Mary,

    My name is Gary Parenteau from Hanna Instruments. We are located in Woonsocket, RI. It's great to have another Rhode Islander to the forum. Please let me know if you perform any TA or pH testing on your cheese or dairy. I'd be happy to help with any questions.

[zenith1]

Welcome to the forum Mary and welcome back to the northeast!

[george]

Thanks, all!

And from my reading this morning, I've ALSO learned that my guesses regarding why I didn't particularly like all those cheddars I'd made were actually correct - so today I get to make a 3-gallon batch using all my new tricks - including first time going by floc point!  (This should be interesting)

Paul - see, now if you hadn't left, we could have had more REALLY local cheese to go with our quahogs!  John - yes, yes, I have pictures (albeit not very good ones) of the Stilton experiments, will be posting those soon with a question. 

And Gary?  While I'm learning that I SHOULD be messing with actual pH, I'm not yet.  I might need a job to support my cheese habit, though!