First Jarlsberg

[Jules]

I cut open my first Jarlsberg over the weekend. I made it early in September using the recipe in 200 Easy Homemade Cheeses.

I didn't get the rind dry enough initially so it was plagued by blue mould from about day 4, so I had to vacuum pack it early on.
It spent two weeks in the cheese cave (wine cooler) and then 4 weeks in the coldest room in the house to keep the temperature at around 18 degrees. It started swelling up around 2 weeks ago in the vac-bag. On Saturday all the trapped CO2 escaped so I thought it would be a good opportunity to cut it open.

It tasted like a very mild swiss cheese and the paste itself was similar to Havarti in texture (at least the stuff we get in the shops here in New Zealand).
I am quite pleased with it as I have never yet had this level of success with an aged cheese the first time around. I have made a second one already which is drying at home.

[pastpawn]

That looks much better than the one I tossed a week ago.  AC4U!

[Andrew Marshallsay]

That's a nice looking cheese, Jules.
Congratulations and a cheese for you from across the ditch.

[Boofer]

Excellent effort. Have a cheese.

-Boofer-

[panamamike]

I hope my Jarisberg turns out as nice as yours. I am in the process of making it this morning.
AC4U!

[stgagnon]

That looks great!  I am early in the 65-degree stage with one I made about 4 weeks ago (also my first).  I used the recipe on cheesemaking dot com along with one I found on here and also the little-green-cheese..  Sort of followed all three.  I decided not to wax it because I didn't want to deal with the wax cracking.. but when I put it in the cooler for the initial couple of weeks, it picked up some spots.  I scrubbed those off as much as I could and it now sits in my dining room.  The rind is quite hard.  I turn it daily and watch for the bulge to start.. I should have vac-sealed like you did for those first two weeks.  Next time!   

Thanks for sharing. 

[Jules]

Thanks for the cheese and comments everyone.

My second Jarlsberg dried much better than the first and is now vac-packed and in the cheese cave for the initial ripening. Fingers-crossed it works out too.

Stgagnon, I didn't plan on vac-packing it initially either, so it was more out of necessity not to create a blue Jarlsberg (I was also turning a blue daily when it was drying so ended up with a lot of blue invaders). I found mine didn't do much in the way of bulging for the first couple of weeks, then it just took off. All the best for your Jarlsberg.