Cantal # 2, 6-gallon make

[awakephd]

I realized that I never followed up on this thread with a taste report. The report is ... excellent! I vac-bagged this after three weeks of drying in the cave and left it for a bit more than a year. At that point I took out a quarter and resealed the rest. It was quite good at this point; very crumbly (to be expected of a Cantal), but lovely flavor. Since then I have taken out two more quarters, over the months, again resealing the rest; now it is ~18 months old, and I have one quarter left - and it is still quite, quite good. I'll finish it off between now and Christmas.

[Danbo]

That press is a beauty - I want one!

You've got one more cheese...

[awakephd]

Thanks!

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Congratulations on a successful make on a challenging cheese.
Have a cheese from me, both for the cantal and for the great pictures

[AnnDee]

900 lbs!
Nice press, are you taking orders? 

So maybe this one needs to mature to at least 1 year to get it to taste good yea?
I have 1 in my cave, natural rind style, it is actually not very fussy unlike my other cheeses that need brushing or cleaning every so often.
Making it, is a different matter though. I had a panicky momet when it would not knit together.

[awakephd]

Ann, not taking orders, sorry. However, if you search for "compact compound lever press" you will find the thread in which I describe the press and include the plans. Later on in that thread, I posted simplified plans for an all-wood version; Mal has built a press from those plans, and I think has had good results.

I would say that 6 months would be the absolute minimum of aging; 9 months would be reasonable; 1 year would be great.