Hello cheese friends!!
I'm looking for a bit of guidance as I move my Baby Swiss into the "warm room".
This is the recipe I used - http://www.cheesemaking.com/SwissBaby.html (http://www.cheesemaking.com/SwissBaby.html)
I held the cheese for 3 weeks, turning 3 times daily and am now about to put it into the "warm room". I have a special closet that is 21C (70F). I have the cheese in a container on a rack and am trying to figure out how to monitor and control humidity in there during this time. (This closet is away from my regular cheese cave in my cellar) I guess I will try to find a hygrometer to measure the humidity and use bowls of water, if needed, to raise the humidity. Any advice on this is appreciated!
Also, the outside of the Baby Swiss feels moist and even a tiny bit sticky but not in any way that concerns me. There is also no sign of mold on the outside yet, but I haven't done ANYTHING to the rind while it was in the cold (cave) storage for 3 weeks - no washing with salt brine/vinegar - no dry salting - just flipped it again and again.
Now that it is going into the warm room, I expect that it may require some "rind maintenance" of some sort. I don't want to dry out the rind so that it remains flexible while it "bloats". Any advice on this? Should I wash the rind daily or dry salt it?
I must also admit that this is my first "natural rind" type of cheese. I have always dried and waxed cheeses before this and feel unsure of the methods for washing the rind. I guess I'm afraid of getting it too wet or drying it out (with salt/salt brine) too much.
Any advice on how I might proceed is welcomed!! Thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge and experience! :)
Jo I would message Alp and seek his advice. He makes emmentaler for a living. https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=8867;area=summary (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=8867;area=summary)
GoudaGirl------I use olive oil or coconut oil on my Alpine style cheese when in warm phase---it keeps it soft enough for gas expansion and helps keep mold at bay---eventually forms a nice rind with no off beat flavors----basically low maintenance-----some will say that's not the traditional way-----But it has been working well for me in the real dry winter air. I have never tried this with a baby swiss, so not sure about that one.
Qdog
I don't have an rh meter, so I have never been sure exactly what humidity my cheeses enjoy ... or endure! But taking a cue from others on this forum, when I particularly want to maintain a relatively high humidity, I put the cheese in a ripening box. I bought some cheap plastic storage containers from Wallyworld and use them. With the lid slightly ajar, the cheese itself supplies and maintains the humidity. That's what I did for my two most recent swiss-style makes, and they both swelled up nicely. Afterwards, I waxed them so that I wouldn't have to work as hard to maintain them ... but if I hadn't waxed, I would go for a light b. linens rind (see Alp's methods in the link in the earlier post).
To keep it warm enough, I use an old fashioned electric heating pad, with a square baking dish on top of it, and then my ripening box. The cheese is on a mat in the box, and I pop the top of the box just enough to let some humidity out and to fit a thermometer probe into to box for air temp. The cheese is treated with a light coating of olive oil before going into the warm phase. I turn it daily, checking for any nasties (usually none), and admiring the smell! I have made "holey" cheeses 4 times with the same procedure with good results and nice holes. Each time I have left the cheese in the warm phase about 4 weeks. Oh my goodness, the smell is enough to really make me want to tear into the cheese right then! But no, back into the regular cave au-natural for a few more weeks or months!
Susan----now that's a good idea----but don't most heating pads have an automatic time off function, supposedly for safety? Might one of those seed mats work better? And what temp. are you maintaining? There has been a lot of discussion on the site about the best temp. for warming phase, with little agreement. Thanks for a great idea I'm going to give this a try.
Qdog
It is an ancient heating pad - no auto off function! I aim for 70 to 75 degrees.
Thank you for all the helpful and thoughtful responses!! I have coconut oil here (always) so I think I might try that! Here is a pic of my cheese in the warm room in its container. I also have no real idea about the humidity and keep the lid ajar just like awakephd. The cheese smells good and is moist enough....no drying out. The thermometer in there says 20C (68F). The cheese is sitting on a board (pine) which is sitting on a raised rack so that the cheese is located in the center area of the container.
I noticed a very small indication of some mold development - in the last picture, you can see it, barely apparent at all but still there. I guess I'd better catch it now than wait. I have not yet done anything at all to the rind, but plan to today. I like the coconut oil idea, thank you scasnerkay. :)
Could you give me a little bit more info on how you use the coconut oil? Do you warm it and use it in a liquid form? Do you barely coat it or coat it alot? What kind of cloth do you use for coating? Do you think I should give a quick wash with a salt brine first to rid the cheese of the first signs of mold? Or do you think the coconut oil will suffice in holding it back?
Thank you all in advance!! :)
If you want to remove all molds prior to oiling I would wash it with straight white wine.
Oh! Thank you Al Lewis.....
I only have Vermouth (Noilly Prat) at the moment here.....do you think that will suffice? :)
I use olive oil. While it doesn't completely prevent mold, it definitely slows it, and if a bunch of mold starts growing slap on another coat of oil after you brush it off and it'll take a break for a few days. Just don't rub on a lot. Just enough to make it all covered in oil, but not nearly enough to drip. This amount will grow smaller over time. You can go weekly, but I do it twice a week, typically.
Quote from: GoudaGirl13 on February 21, 2015, 10:15:54 PM
Oh! Thank you Al Lewis.....
I only have Vermouth (Noilly Prat) at the moment here.....do you think that will suffice? :)
That should be fine Jo. ;)
Quote from: GoudaGirl13 on February 21, 2015, 09:52:27 PM
Could you give me a little bit more info on how you use the coconut oil? Do you warm it and use it in a liquid form? Do you barely coat it or coat it alot?
Coconut oil is solid at room temperature but melts at skin temperature. You could grab some with a clean hand and simply smear it on the rind. Your hand would likely melt it and then it would solidify on the cheese in a few minutes.
Fabulous!! You're all so helpful!
:)
I have washed the rind gently with the Vermouth and placed back into the warm room. I think I will give it another vemouth bath tomorrow (seemed to go nicely with the cheese scent!) and then begin the coconut oil.
We use coconut oil for so many things - body care, toothpastes, amillion different ways! But one of favorites so far is making homemade chocolate with raw cacao, honey, vanilla and coconut oil. (to DIE for)
I think I'll love the fragrance of it on the cheese as well!
How often would you oil it? :)
:D
Quote from: GoudaGirl13 on February 22, 2015, 01:29:57 AM
How often would you oil it? :)
I'll have to defer on your question as I've not used coconut oil on cheese. We use it extensively in Paleo cooking so I am very familiar with it from this. Anyone else used it on cheese?
I will state my thought, you can ignore it if you like,
But I would not personally recommend oil to be used. I know many disagree, including all of the Italians who do so to make their cheeses.
Baby Swiss yes is an American cheese and does not have a tradition associated with it, but I am too steeped in tradition and feel wrong to use an oil on my cheese.
You will be able to get so much more flavor if you put a minimal effort into it and give it a good washed rind, but the tradition I learned in we are very big on rind care and doing so much with the rinds. Swiss cheesemakers after all are known for using all kinds of herbs, liquors, wines, and special washes.
But oil with yield a neutral rind, which to my sensibilities means a cheese lacking in character
But that is my opinion, after all.
Greetings, Alpkäserei!!
I appreciate your input! I see no reason to ignore it. :)
What would you recommend as a wash in paticular....and how often?
Than you.
Alp----I have the highest respect for your craft and have copies of all the info you have provided on this site---and I use a lot of it, in fact, most of it----but you have admitted in different posts, that it is hard for you to think in the small makes that most of us have to deal with in our small kitchen environment and our lack of all of the necessary equipment. Some times we do things we would rather not do---only because we don't have a lot of options.
In my case---I am very hesitant to do any natural rinds because I am color blind and it really bothers me that I can't distinguish what kind of mold and sometimes whether I'm even seeing mold---so I settle for the next best thing----oil. I can still enjoy a good cheese---though certainly not of the quality that you produce. What I'm trying to say ---is don't stop trying to correct us "Wayward Americans" we need you valuable input---just keep in mind why we do some of the things we do.
Once again thanks for all your valuable contributions.
Qdog
I wash mine, per Al's washing instructions, and pray for white mold. When I put it out for the warm aging period I put it in a box and put a wet sponge in it to hold the humidity. I agree with whoever wrote about the cheese smell earlier. It smells so good. Once I just ate it right then, and it was delicious. Not like properly aged Swiss, but still a good cheese.
I tried using the coconut oil on some cheddar cheese in the cave to see if it would keep it from drying out. It was a disaster. The coconut oil molded up, which didn't bother me much, and the cheese dried out real bad. I even scraped it off and reapplied it a couple of times. The cheese was trash.
I don't oil any of my cheeses anymore. I tried it, I didn't like it. I age the Swiss and Gruyere in the cave without any coating except for that lovely white mold, and I brush it whenever I think it needs it. I have the right humidity in the cave though, so it doesn't dry out.