Making my First Romano

Started by JeffHamm, March 05, 2011, 09:29:09 PM

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coffee joe

It is actually a branding so that everyone knows it is from Parma or whatever. Each region has its DOP. The large brand is literally firebranded on after it passes inspection.
You can watch the entire process on YouTube parts 1-9

ArnaudForestier

I figured it was so, as you can see the "DOP", etc., on the markings.  Just wondering whether it serves a dual purpose - penetration of the rind, per Jeff's question with this thread.  Do you happen to know?
- Paul

coffee joe

IMHO it is too superficial to be more than a mark. This series is pretty good too.

Making Parmigiano Reggiano (part 7)

ArnaudForestier

- Paul

JeffHamm


JeffHamm

Weighed the cheese after the brining.  It's now 1578g, so it lost about 28g in the brine.  Now, air dry, and care for it while I wait.

Any opinions on whether or not oiling this (6.25" diameter, 3" height) wheel will be ok?  Or, is this wheel too small for that, and should I wax it in a month (to prevent it drying out too much?)  I've not kept a cheese au natural yet.

- Jeff

MrsKK

Jeff,
Thanks for sharing all your steps with this cheese.  Sorry I don't have any feedback for you regarding oil vs wax for dryness prevention on this one.  I guess I'd keep it in a fairly humid environment for sure.

As for the "character" of the surface, FarmerJD told us all about cheese bags well over a year ago.  I made a couple to fit my mold and have never gone back to flat cheesecloth since.  I made mine from old sheeting and it gives a really nice smooth surface to the wheel.  The bottom is just a circle, cut slightly larger than the diameter of the mold and the side tapers slightly towards the top, to allow the bag to be brought to the outside of the mold.  I place a circle of cheesecloth on top of the curd before putting the follower in.

I still have a few slight fold marks, but nothing like using the flat fabric.

ArnaudForestier

Quote from: MrsKK on March 07, 2011, 03:56:03 PM
Jeff,
Thanks for sharing all your steps with this cheese.  Sorry I don't have any feedback for you regarding oil vs wax for dryness prevention on this one.  I guess I'd keep it in a fairly humid environment for sure.

As for the "character" of the surface, FarmerJD told us all about cheese bags well over a year ago.  I made a couple to fit my mold and have never gone back to flat cheesecloth since.  I made mine from old sheeting and it gives a really nice smooth surface to the wheel.  The bottom is just a circle, cut slightly larger than the diameter of the mold and the side tapers slightly towards the top, to allow the bag to be brought to the outside of the mold.  I place a circle of cheesecloth on top of the curd before putting the follower in.

I still have a few slight fold marks, but nothing like using the flat fabric.

Off-topic, but funny you're writing this, Karen, as with my last make, I've torn holes in the last usable patch of my existing cheesecloth.  They are now brining rags, and as I'm pretty tired of buying expensive squares of dedicated cheesemaking muslin, I have started to think of, say, linen pillowcase material?  Will have to think on this more, as I cannot sew (my neighbor can, though....and loves cheese.... ;)).
- Paul

coffee joe

From all I have seen, and tried myself, Grana cheese is left to dry at about 22ºC(70ºF) in a 70% humidity environment for 2 weeks and rubbed daily with a cloth just damp with brine and vinegar. This develops a very nice, and shiny, natural rind. This rind can be a bit thick on smaller cheeses, taking up much of the cheese but the results are as I expected for flavor.
Hope someday to have a proper "Parm" kettle for a decent size wheel. I was at a Brazilian Parmesan factory and they follow all the proper DOP methods making 13 KG wheels in a 150 liter kettle. The real thing is 2 wheels, 45 Kg each, from an 1100 liter kettle.

JeffHamm

Thanks for the tip on the cheesebag Karen.  I'll probably try something like that at some point, but until I can do that I suspect I'll be looking for shapes in my cheeses.  This one seems a fairly straight forward make, so is probably a good one for relative newbies.  The draw back being it does call for a fairly lengthy ageing process.  I'll work on a brine rind for a bit, and will probably wax it after a month.  I know the rind on my caerphilly was fairly thickish by 3 weeks, and I don't have a hygrometer yet so my cave could be a bit drier than optimum. 

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions everyone.

- Jeff

zenith1

Jeff i would opt for the vacuum bagging or oil in this case. This type of cheese cries out for a natural rind as opposed to say a wax.

Hande

Quoterubbed daily with a cloth just damp with brine and vinegar.

Coffee Joe, could you say that do you put vinegar in brine and how much ? and is it saturated brine ?

Hande

coffee joe

Actually, what I am doing, after watching others, is a cloth soaked in brine and the cheese lightly misted with vinegar. The cloth, about the same as cloth diapers, is wrung to the point of being moist not at all dripping.

JeffHamm

Hi Keith,

Yah, I was thinking of trying a natural rind, but I'm wondering if this is just too small a cheese (6.25" diamter, 3" height, it's only about 1.6 kgs, so it's not huge) and that after 6-9 months it will just be mostly rind.  So, I was thinking I would build a rind for a month, then wax to prevent it from drying out further; I'm trying to get a rind that doesn't take over the cheese!

- Jeff

pliezar (Ian)

I would try vacuum bagging it. I ran into a problem with a cheese with too much rind and I can't get cheese wax locally(I know you can cut bees wax with other oils, but I don't know the proportions) so far so good.

I love my food-saver and I have two of my cheeses in bags now (Cheddar and a Gouda)