I made a Montasio generally following Rikki Carrol's recipe with culture reduced back in August. I used 2 gallons of creamline milk with 1/8 tsp mild lipase, 1/4 tsp of MA011 and 1/8 tsp of TA061 ripened an hour which gave me a 13 minute floc time. I forgot to record cutting time, but my temperature control was better than usual.
The result after almost 4 months at 55 degrees and ~80% RH is a very tasty cheese with a greasy, sticky mouth feel. It coats the tongue like a spoonful of peanut butter, the feeling lasts a lot longer than any other cheese I remember. Previous Montasios made with P/H milk have been better for mouth feel, but not as tasty. I've had other cheeses sharing the cave, so there is a bit of Geo, PC, PR and PLA floating around. Surface growth has been brushed down regularly, at least weekly.
Living a long way from decent cheese suppliers, I was wondering whether this is normal and/or if I can expect further aging to change the feel. It has a slightly granular texture., though nowhere near as granular as Dave's https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10500.0.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10500.0.html)
If this is not a normal outcome, what can I do to maintain the taste but improve mouth feel next time? Santa is going to bring me a pH meter.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Obligatory cheese picture (note ample cross contamination in my multiple variety cave.)
(https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/481612_3413720441471_569737798_n.jpg)
And, a big thank you to Dave for suggesting frico in his montasio thread. This will consume a lot of cheese...
(https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/486153_3413845364594_1862430529_n.jpg)
Looks good! A cheese for you!
Sounds good. I figure the taste is the most important thing, so you scored big on that. Not sure about the mouth feel though. The frico looks good.
- Jeff
Mouth feel is a bit better today compared to what it was on Thanksgiving, so I'm hoping a bit of aging will help the second wheel. This one is frico.
The next make will be 4 gallons.