Parmesan recipe, few questions, feedback appreciated.

[Minamyna]

I don't know about you guys, but my kitchen is a DISASTER by the time I am done making cheese. There is a whey everywhere, mainly the floor, there is whey around my press. I have huge empty stock pot/ buckets sitting in the sink full of water, with a collander stuffed in it, rinsed dripping cheese cloth hanging ready to be washed, I could go on and on.

My 4 gal stockpot seems like barely big enough to fill my cheese molds, but at the same time, filling our fridge with enough milk to fill it and lifting it to drain is a lot of work.

Your kitchen is nice and clean

[BigCheese]

Those pictures were taken a day AFTER a cheese make  now that I have a better system down for the whole process, the clean-up is less daunting. But I also have help.

[iratherfly]

Yea, I have a city kitchen so I just can't afford to have anything lying around because it would take up the space of something else I need. Kind of turns me into compulsive kitchen organizing maniac by default. But the good thing is... less contamination, less confusion, fast cleanup or die...

[BigCheese]

Does anyone have any further insights into my swelling parms? As far as I can tell I have had only one significant issue of contamination, and those Stiltons are actually doing quite well, tasted a smidge today.

It would seem very odd then that all 3 of my parms are contaminated but nothing else is swelling.

[Minamyna]

Dunno about the swelling my parm is dual tone, some light areas and some white areas... no idea whats that's about. Smells good....though?

[BigCheese]

Is it fresh out of the press? I often have splotches on my cheese until the rind dries fully.

[BigCheese]

Ok, I cant do it anymore. I tried to restrain myself, and did, for days. LinuxBoy, are you out there? Can you enlighten me regarding my bulging Parms?!

There, I said it.

[linuxboy]

LOL. Nitai, any time a cheese bulges, it's a little gassy  . What happens is that you have bacteria in the milk that produce CO2. This can be all sorts of bacteria, but is likely some strain of propionic. Might be some stray coliforms, but this is less likely because you'd see those in the curd at tiny pin holes that expand and form rounded openings.

At what temp are you aging the cheese?

[BigCheese]

I guess the cheese takes after its maker . Anyway. At the point the pics were taken none of them had gone to cave. The smallest one had been at room temp for about 2 weeks, which is anywhere from 65-low 90s once or twice. The cave is around 55F.

Any advice?

Damn! I was so happy with two of them.

[linuxboy]

Oh, at room temp propionic can take off for sure. That would be my guess. Coliforms are faster, would blow up sooner. If it's propionic you'll get a swiss cheese parm.

If you want it to stop, put it in the cave or cooler right away. Then you wind up with only slight openings, like you get in comte or gruyere. It's a little too late for small openings now because they already buldged, but keeping them cool will help.

It's the risks of natural raw milks. Will still taste good

[BigCheese]

So in the future I guess I can just go directly to cave after maybe 12-24 hours drying? I find the parms are practically dry immediately anyway. This way they would just dry out a little slower, right?

[Tropit]

Hmmm... Goats milk has lotf of lipase in it. I would say you can use Shermanii (easy to find plant based) for the breakdown of lipids, but this will give you a sweet nutty flavor and produce large eyes... a-la swiss cheese.

What if you don't let it sit out in room temp.?  Then there would be no eyes.  The nutty flavor might be a nice touch, actually.

~ C.

[DeejayDebi]

Is it fresh out of the press? I often have splotches on my cheese until the rind dries fully.

I always get spotty whitish patches for a day or so till the cheese air drys some. Does it looks something like this?

[BigCheese]

precisely. Sometimes it takes 3-5 days for them to fully clear away. It seems to definitely be moisture because they disappear at the same time the rind becomes fully dry to touch. And they appear stronger on whichever side of the cheese has been face down.

[DeejayDebi]

I would be more concerned if I didn't see the whitish spots after removing the mold - I have seen them on every Parmesan I ever made for the past 30 years.