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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Hard Cooked (Swiss) => Topic started by: Al Lewis on November 11, 2017, 05:35:09 PM
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Trying to fill the cave and decided on making a 4 pound Emmental. I used the same recipe as the 7 pound one (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,14102.0.html) I did a while back but used 1/2 of everything. Why 1/2? Well when I made the 7 pound one it took 8 gallons of milk and this one took 4. Anyway, here's a shot of the cheese after pressing.
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Out of the press and straight into a 54°F, 18% saturated, brine. The hockey puck is to keep the top of the cheese submerged. It still floats with it on there. So how do you keep it at 54°F. Simple, put it into your cheese cave. Mine, by the way, is finally starting to look healthy again. Still have a ways to go to fill it. Maybe 6 or so more wheels.
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Oh yes that looks much better li'll buddy ;)
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How long will you brine it, Al? Did you ever figure out how much PS to add? Seems like there was a trend at one time to keep adding more PS to get bigger eyes/holes.
Yeah, an alpine has been tugging at my sleeve for a while now. Which will it be...Maasdam, Goutaler, Emmental? Haven't done one in quite some time now.
By the way, I was always envious of that tall cave you've got. I mitigated it a bit when I got my freezerless Danby not so long ago. Pretty cool. :D
-Boofer-
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Emmental makes me drool. Good luck!
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How long will you brine it, Al? Did you ever figure out how much PS to add? Seems like there was a trend at one time to keep adding more PS to get bigger eyes/holes.
Yeah, an alpine has been tugging at my sleeve for a while now. Which will it be...Maasdam, Goutaler, Emmental? Haven't done one in quite some time now.
By the way, I was always envious of that tall cave you've got. I mitigated it a bit when I got my freezerless Danby not so long ago. Pretty cool. :D
-Boofer-
Thanks Boofer. The cave is a new one. 15 cu ft I believe. I brined this one for 6 hours. Used 3/8 tspn of PR. We'll see how that works out. I believe my final conclusion was not the amount of PR but, the 80°F warm period that developed the holes. I have a plan to carry that out on this one and to let the bottom bulge while doing it. ;D
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Looks great. Keep us posted.
I have an Emmental that is currently at 2 1/2 months. I may crack it open at Christmas to taste it early and age the rest.
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Just read through your 7 pounder. Pure goodness. AC4U
You mentioned "cheese at least 4" thick". Did you get that this time? I can only handle 3 gallons plus maybe 1-2 pints and I have a 6" x 6" mold. They end up right at 2.5 inches.
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This one is 2 inches. I wanted to try something different for the 80 degree period and it required that thickness.
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Well this one hasn't changed a bit which is good. The cave, on the other hand, is filling up! ;D
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So how do you keep a cheese at 80°F for two days without heating an entire room or cabinet. Simple, I placed mine into a sealed bag and am using my Sous-Vide to hold it to temp. You have to set the sous vide 5°F above the temp you want in the bag. We'll see how it turns out. May be a strange shaped cheese in the end but as long as it tastes good!! :P
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AC4U for ingenuity!
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Thank you! I don't get a lot of those these days but then, I really don't pay much attention to them. They are, however, vastly appreciated! ;D
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So after the 80° cycle I placed the bag into cool water to bring the cheese back to cave temp without sitting it on a flat surface. Where it cools down I'll wax it and then age it.
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Interesting sous vide usage.
I can't recall now when or where I was informed about the temperature for the Warm Phase (by linuxboy or Francois), but it seemed to be in the mid 70's. I was told that too high and off flavor characteristics may appear. Maasdam calls for 3 weeks @ 64-72F/18-22C.
You referenced this 3 years ago:I believe that the answer we are all looking for is that this cheese is made high in the mountains in Switzerland. Low atmospheric pressure. Bring it down near sea level and you will never get the same results. Settle for what you get.
I wonder what the outcome would be if you vacuum-bagged the cheese before putting into the Warm Phase. This would have a similar effect, I believe, in going up to the Alps. Does that make sense? Certainly you'd want to have some level of vacuum just this side of sub-orbital. ;) 8) As the cheese releases gas, it would mitigate the vacuum and swell the bag.
I've posted the attachments previously but thought since you were doing your Emmental that these might be relevant for new members who may not have seen them.
-Boofer-
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I used the recipe/procedure I came up with for this one. Turned out great. http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,14102.0.html (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,14102.0.html) The PS loves 80°F. LOL
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Dang that is nice Al, I never could get them to swell like that.
AC4U (http://[url=http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/images/smilies/smilie_thumbsup.gif]http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/images/smilies/smilie_thumbsup.gif[/url])
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Dang that is nice Al, I never could get them to swell like that.
AC4U (http://[url=http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/images/smilies/smilie_thumbsup.gif]http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/images/smilies/smilie_thumbsup.gif[/url])
Me too. I recently made a 4lb. one and left it in the warm phase for three weeks and no swelling. I assume my Shermani was bad.
Looks fantastic Al. AC4U for sure.
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Beautiful cheese Al!! Well done
Mike
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Looks like you used the Gouda mold :D Very nice cheese 8)