Welcome to the Feta Flavor Lab

[cheesehead94]

So I gave feta another shot, using Caldwell's recipe again. Same as my last thread on the matter, except for a few changes...

-used 3 gallons of raw cow milk instead of 1
-used sharp instead of mild lipase
-should have used 3/8 of a teaspoon Aroma B, but I used a heaping half teaspoon due to my buffering issues.

The make went well, and the yield was bigger than I was prepared for, which was a nice surprise. It got down to ph 4.8 after 25 hours of draining (goal was 6-12, but last time it took 48 hours, so this was improvement!)

The texture is better than last time, I feel everything is basically right, the only thing keeping it from tasting perfect is the cow milk instead of sheep/goat.

I put some aside to eat fresh, and then I decided to age some in flavored brines. I have heard of marinading oils, but I haven't read about flavored brines before, so hopefully this doesn't ruin my cheese! I basically made strained "teas" out of various flavoring agents and added them to brines in jars. Caldwell claims that feta can be aged 6-9 months for some interesting flavors, so I plan on leaving them in that long.

The flavors in the picture, from left to right are:

-Plain
-red pepper flakes and chipotle
-rosemary, basil, oregano, and bay leaf
-smoked black tea
-dill and turmeric
-blush wine b linens wash that is being used to wash a Swiss I am aging...I'm curious to see how the linens/p shermanii infused wine will affect the feta

This could all be a disaster, but hopefully I make some fun discoveries along the way!

[awakephd]

Great experiment - AC4U!

[PacoSEDG]

Nice way to find your preferred taste, but I have to say I would have dumped some in olive oil

AC4U!