My First Cheese

[Threelittlepiggiescheese]

So I made my first cheese with rennet and used the buttermilk starter I had made earlier in the week, with one gallon of 3.25% p/h milk and this is what I have! I used the https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,1591.0.html recipe, except for some reason when i molded it, i looked at another recipe and started pressing my cheese, so I pressed it all day long flipping at 30 min with minimal weight *maybe 2 lbs*, then 60 min with 8 lbs, then 4 hours later with 20 lbs. After pressing it weighs 1lb 4.5oz

I have no idea what cheese i've made, but it looks delicious.

First picture is of it in the brine, 200g of salt in 800ml of water.

2nd 3rd and 4th pictures are today, two days later drying in my mini cave.

Now, how should I age this un-named beast

[DeejayDebi]

Looks very nice porbably just get a very dense tomme if everything else went according to the recipe.

[Threelittlepiggiescheese]

it seemed like it all went to plan, other than my mishap with the pressing idea lol
I think on sunday im going to take 1/4 of it off and try it, itll only be a week old but im having a SUPER hard time not just cutting it up already so I think if i sacrifice part of it, the rest will be able to age in peace

[Threelittlepiggiescheese]

how resiliant should the rind be before vac packing or aging? mine has a little give to it now like a tennis ball, but not quite as stout, but it is still shedding water.

[DeejayDebi]

I don't know about resilantcy but it need to be dry. Are those bits of salt on the rind? If so you might want to wipe that off as it will keep leaching whey in the bagand be pressed into the cheese.

[Threelittlepiggiescheese]

it was salt, yes, i did rub it all off as per your suggestion, then bagged it, im gonna check it in the morning and see how its doing

[DeejayDebi]

As long as the cheese was dry it should be fine. I don't know how long you air dried before bagging but if you see whey in the bag just dry off the cheese and rebag it. I leave a bit of extra plastic on the ends for this purpose. I have had a few that felt dry but weeped after bagging.

[Threelittlepiggiescheese]

i did cut it open to try it today, and holy salty, ill remember not to dry salt the next one

[DeejayDebi]

Cheese is inherently salty and getting a good balance was my toughest challenge as a youngster because I am not fond of salty. Weird I know. Thankfully we now have the internet and this wonderful place to get ideas and information from. I hate to think of how many years I spent trying to figure this all out on my own! 

[Threelittlepiggiescheese]

yea, this last make here yesterday will not be getting salted at all, so we will see how it turns out   im not a huge fan of overly salty things either.

[DeejayDebi]

The brining should be sufficient unless mold gets out of hand which shouldn't if you watch it.

[Threelittlepiggiescheese]

ok, so did this exact thing again, with pressing and all, same times as last time and am now drying it at room temp, around 15c and flipping every morning and night.  not dry salting it.  but its not slouching...its almost expanding from the top and bottom middle i am very worried i got a yeast infection of some sort, the sides are not bulging

[DeejayDebi]

Don't worry just wait and be patient.

[Threelittlepiggiescheese]

lol ok, sorry im just sorta paranoid after my salt lick disguised as a wheel of cheese last attempt

[DeejayDebi]

LOL I uderstand. My 1st feta was the same way but then I think all commercial feta tastes like a salt lick too.