Decided to make a Tilsit! Used Boofer's recipe, sort of, kind of. We'll see what this turns into.
2/20/15
8:09 2 gallons whole P/H milk, added cultures. On a thought, that maybe they rehydrate while I heat up the milk, and then work better? A lot of my cheeses don't seem to have been acidic enough.
8:33 Reached 99º F, put in sink of cold water.
9:06 Cooled to 92ºF, started ripening. Ordinarily, I'd do the whole 45 minutes to an hour, but I was unsure because the cultures might have been working while I let the milk cool off.
9:40 Added CaCl and rennet, diluted in milky water
10:22 Cut curds to 1 inch
10:33 Stirred for 28 minutes.
11:01 Removed about 30 ladlefuls of whey, stirred for ten minutes
11:12 Added 120ºF water to 100º F, stirred
11:42 Drained
11:47 Pressed with 10 lb.
12:45 Flipped, 20 lb. Now looking at Tilsit again, I've realized that it normally isn't pressed very hard. So I compensated by doing it for shorter, also because pH oh this was a confusing period.
1:21 Flipped, 20 lb.
3:28 Flipped, 30 lb. (I was exercising and needed ten pound weights more than 15 lbers.) PH was around 5.3?
And around 4:30 Removed from press, brined for 5 hours.
Aging for maybe 2 months? We'll see.
Nice! Have a cheese... :-)
Thank you!
Day 2...
Aaaand Day 3 (gettin' linens!).
Looking great!! Not sure those are linens. I believe, could be totally wrong, that linens are red-orange. AC4U for a great looking cheese though! :D
The yellow is just dryish cheese, but you can see pink on top of the cheese.
Day 4...
And Day 5!
Looking good! :-)
Day 6....
Day 7!
Day 8.
I appear to have missed a day? ???
Day 10, then.
Day 11??
And Day 12. Geo seems to be taking over. Refresh the brine?
I think you have more than geo taking over. ;D Nice chicken. We have 4 silkie chickens in our backyard.
Quote from: Shane on March 06, 2015, 12:00:30 AM
I think you have more than geo taking over. ;D Nice chicken. We have 4 silkie chickens in our backyard.
Oookay this has made my day. I've been laughing for the last ten minutes or so. I'd edit it, but it's too good a joke to lose.
The explanation is that I had one picture from that day on my computer, and of course assumed it was a cheese picture, whereas it was actually a picture of a chicken I had taken to paint.
And it seems I actually do have no picture from that day, but here's yesterday's. I had washed all the geo off, but there's more today. You'll see.
Good thing it was just a chicken! :-[ ;D
Larry
A chicken named Geo... Thats cool :)
Oh... It was a mistake ..BTW what colour do you paint a Chicken ??
Stinky-----Your "cheesy" chicken sure made my day :) What a hoot!!!
Qdog
Quote from: OzzieCheese on March 06, 2015, 04:26:10 AM
A chicken named Geo... Thats cool :)
Oh... It was a mistake ..BTW what colour do you paint a Chicken ??
Camouflage.... so it fits into the surroundings...
Made my day !!! Have a cheese just because ...
Quote from: OzzieCheese on March 06, 2015, 04:26:10 AM
BTW what colour do you paint a Chicken ??
Regardless of what colour you use, the real trick is getting the chicken to stay still long enough to cover her completely. :)
something has gone horribly wrong with your Tilsiter.
Quote from: Alpkäserei on March 07, 2015, 04:52:39 PM
something has gone horribly wrong with your Tilsiter.
It started growing these feathers all over... :o
But really, Alp, what ought I to do about the geo?
Quote from: Alpkäserei on March 07, 2015, 04:52:39 PM
something has gone horribly wrong with your Tilsiter.
Yes, it IS fowl looking! :)
Larry
Just wash it, and pretend it isn't there
It's not a problem.
It will either die over time, or it won't. Either way is good
Once the rind gets older, if you still have geo it will be beneficial and give you a nice white dusting
The idea with a washed rind, in theory, is to isolate wild bacteria. In reality we get a lot more than just bacteria. Geo is one thing we often get, it's no problem.
My cheese tends to get geo on it, and sometimes it makes the rind a little wrinkly. But I like the added depth of flavor it adds. Straight up linens can be a little.. unpleasant but when we add diversity of other cultures it's actually quite nice.
Smells great with a diluted wine wash. ;D
Quote from: Al Lewis on March 07, 2015, 07:48:05 PM
Smells great with a diluted wine wash. ;D
Just to clarify, that's a wine wash on the cheese ... though a wine wash on the cheese maker might also do something for the smell, or at least the perception of it!
How long should I age this?
It's at almost a month now... I want something milder than Limburger or brick yet not overly mild. What would it be like at one and a half, two months?
Looks great!
Thanks!
Again, any thoughts on how long to age this?
I cracked this at two months. Glad I waited that long.
When it was first opened, it had a little bit of linens that got in the way of the rest, I thought. It was a nice flavorful taste that went into linens. Wasn't my cup o' tea. But after airing out, that melted more into the background to make for quite a nice cheese. It definitely does need more aging, though. I'll probably try it again at 3 or 4 months.
Stinky, that's a DPC (Darn Pretty Cheese) and worth another one to match it :). It's been put on my cheese bucket list.
I'd never thought about it before, but that shape cheese is brilliant for making grilled cheese sammies. :) No waste, no trimming round slices to make them fit on the bread. AC4U
Larry
Thanks John!
lofty - It's true. Thank you. :)
There is actually a square mold sold to make those but it is loaded from the end and doesn't appear to have a draft angle so I can envision getting cheese stuck in it. http://stores.cheeseconnection.net/brick-block-cheese-mold-and-follower-lid/ (http://stores.cheeseconnection.net/brick-block-cheese-mold-and-follower-lid/)
Just needs a little tweaking -- add an air fitting to the closed end; when it is time to remove the cheese, attach to 100 psi air supply. Airborne cheese! :)
Seriously, though, I could see using cheesecloth to give something to pull the cheese out with ... but at the same time, I think it would be a bear to keep the wrinkles to a minimum. I suppose the rationale for loading this from the end is to ensure the cheese is square, regardless of the amount of curd ... but it seems like would sure be easier to load this from the side!
I just ordered one so we'll see how it goes. My biggest concern is the vacuum adhesion to the sides after final pressing. If nothing else I'll make a sliding bottom for it and put a hole in the center of the bottom. Then I can just push the bottom "follower" and the cheese out with a stout rod.
There is an apparent problem (http://www.amazon.com/Brick-Block-Cheese-Mold-Follower/dp/B00LNTQ2O0#customerReviews) if this mould is used for pressing hard or semi-hard cheeses.
-Boofer-
No problem! Square cheese slices with rounded edges!! Should fit a burger great!! LOL
I cracked open and finished off the rest of it. It definitely did better with some affinage, and was quite a lovely table cheese. It had some mild sharpness, and good flavor, salt levels, mouthfeel, and just a little bit of funk. Definitely recommend this.
I think I have pictures somewhere, can probably post them if necessary.