Surface Cracks - Trying To Repair By Re-Pressing

[Jessica_H]

Per my other post : https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,6703.0.html I created some cracks in my 3lb Romano.

The recipe called for some initial pressing and flipping with a finish of 12 hours of pressing at 40lbs of weight and then 12 hours of brining in the refrigerator.  Then you're supposed to dry and age. 

I've struggled with knowing if that's too much brining and I tend to brine shorter in general but decided that this was a really dense cheese so I'd try going with the instructions.  But then I created the cracks.

So this cheese did 12 hours of pressing at room temp, 12 hours of brining in the fridge, and then another 16 hours of pressing at room temp under 40lbs to heal the cracks I created before.

What's the effect of this second pressing after brining?  Now the cheese is drying at about 50-55 degrees.

[smilingcalico]

How much whey did you lose from the second press? I'd br afraid of losing too much salt along with it, but I can't rightly say.

[Jessica_H]

Not much. Maybe 2 tablespoons of liquid? Probably some of that was brine since I didn't dry it first. I'm less worried about the salt because I still feel like 12 hours should be too long but I wanted to try actually following the recipe

[smilingcalico]

That's nothing, not a worry at all. I'll be curious to hear if your fix is permanent.  I've not run into this problem, but I can see how it would happen. I like to use a spatula to loosen the side while I have the mold tilted. They come out easy.

[Jessica_H]

Well,

After a short drying time it's obvious my fix didn't work.  Oh well!  Now I'll deal with the cracks like any other crack   Thanks for all the suggestions!

[smilingcalico]

Sorry to hear that. It would have been a super convenient fix! Thanks for experimenting.