Hi all,
Yesterday I made a second attempt at a Jarlsberg based on the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company recipe http://www.cheesemaking.com/learn/recipes/norwegian-style-cheese.html. (http://www.cheesemaking.com/learn/recipes/norwegian-style-cheese.html.)
This time around I halved the batch size so that if this is a flop again I won't have wasted so much milk. :) The make went quite smoothly this time around. There were some minor temperature control issues as normal. I used a water bath this time around. Last time I used direct heat due to the amount of milk involved and not having a bigger pot.
The curds were pressed under whey and I'm quite happy with the end result. The cheese was brined and has just come out for drying. This time around I think I'll go the easy route and vacuum bag it.
Photos and make sheet are below.
All the best.
Shane
Looks good! May your luck be twice that of a happy penguin at Christmastime!
A beauty! :-) A cheese for you now and one when it's ready... ;-)
Thanks Guys. :D I've read real Jarlsberg is taken out to a minimum of 12 months. Its this how long you take your cheese to? The recipe says 3-4 months in phase 3, so around 6 months all up including phases 1 and 2. If this one gets through phase 2 happily I'll try another larger one.
All the best.
Shane
Looking good, Shane. Have a cheese.
Larry
Thanks Larry. The side walls are starting to get a slight rounding on them (not sure what the correct term is) overnight, rather than the straight walls post pressing.
Shane
Another cheese to stack on the others. Keep us posted.
Thanks John. I'll try and post some photos before I bag it. Still a fair bit of drying to go. Unlike the problems I had with the warm phase in the Australian summer, I now have problems with the rapid change into Autumn and the cool mornings. My "porta cave" has been modified to heat instead of cool now. I'll test it out in the lead up to the warm phase.
Shane
Shane-----looking good----will keep our fingers crossed------AC4U
Qdog
Thanks Qdog. Here is a photo from this morning. It is still quite wet, but is getting dryer.
Shane
Here are a couple of photos (not brilliant, so apologies in advance) of my cheese before I bagged it. I'll leave the first cold stage a little longer than my last failed attempt.
Shane
Four weeks have now passed since the start of the warm phase. There has been some sign of swelling. This was in a vacuum bag that wasn't quite fully vacuumed out. There were no signs at all of any mould growth on the surface. Today I've taken it out of the bag to have a smell and give it a dry with paper towel. It smells good, so I'm looking forward to the end result. I've now bagged it properly and it's been put back into the cave for the remainder of it's maturing.
Shane
Anyone out there know how to prevent wrinkles from vac. bagging with softer cheeses? I always wondered if you could wrap the outside with a hard plastic or bark strip to help support when bagging.
An update on this one. It was bagged, but there was a small leak in the bag. No mould was growing, so I let it be. Over the last couple of leaks, some small external cracks appeared. I assumed this was due to the holes inside not appreciating having been bagged. A large crack appeared this week, so I decided it was time to take a look inside. The smell isn't great. It's quite a strong aroma, but not something I'd expect from a Jarlsberg. I cut it open and the holes are not what I'd expect. I'm not game enough to try eating it. Is this a late blowing?
Thanks.
Shane
My Jarlsberg and Leerdammers have a wonderful dairy smell----very pleasant, certainly nothing that would make me hesitate to try it---might be time to start using lysozyme?
Qdog
Yeah, I think so. It seems to be difficult to buy down here. It is available, but either seems extremely expensive. From memory $60 for a few grams. Large quantities were in the hundreds of dollars.
After I cut the cheese open, I put it back into the cave to air. I've just had a whiff now, and it is not as bad. Maybe cheese like with a slight pong of smelly feet. I'll see if I'm game enough to try again tomorrow unless someone says dump it. I don't really feel like food poisoning after having been on what must be a lifetime supply of antibiotics in the past 6 months. My stomach is already trashed....
Thanks.
Shane
Shane----remember the old saying " If in doubt throw it out " especially if you have health issues---notably, compromised immune system. I'm not a Doctor, I just pretend to be one on the forum >:D
Qdog
Looks to me like it could be late blowing. Is the paste soft and squishy in addition to being smelly?
Thanks guys. I'll bin it as I'm not confident enough to eat it. The paste is different in the centre of the cheese. I wouldn't say it's necessarily squishy, but it is certainly a different texture to the outer portion. I've looked back at photos of my first failed Jarlsberg and it's very similar internally. That was a late blowing also. For now I think I'll give that recipe a miss until I can get some Lysozyme. I found the prices again. AUD$60 for 3 grams or AUD$206 for 500g. It's very pricey stuff.
Shane
I use the stuff the wine makers use---supposed to be the same, and cheaper and only requires .41 grams in 4 gallons. Not sure about Aussie dollars---but that does seem high.
Qdog
Yeah, this is from wine supply companies too. Maybe it's not used as much here, or not readily available in online stores. I'll check around local wine making stores. I'm close to wine making areas, but I'm not sure I'll have access to their suppliers.
I actually made a mistake in my previous post. It was actually 5 grams, not 3 grams for that amount of money. It sounds like I don't actually need much then. That would dose around 180L (48 gal) of milk. AUD $60 = USD $44. It doesn't sound too bad I guess. Obviously the bigger pack is a lot cheaper, but somehow I don't think I'll get through 500g.....
Shane
I think you'll do better if you look around a bit. I bought 150 grams for $39.95 from a US seller of wine making supplies. It is used in wine to help prevent secondary fermentation. Lysozyme is a natural product obtained from egg whites. It is also present in human tears. I guess you could cry over the milk as you fill the vat. The mechanism is interesting: The Lysozyme attaches to casein (that's why you disolve and add it as you fill the vat), which is attacked by any present late blowing bacterial. It is a product that may also be found in health food products. Most comes from Europe and I doubt that the Aussie government prevents its import. Dig a little more.
Thanks Kern. I think importing from the US may be the easiest way. That price is excellent. Was it from www.morebeer.com? (http://www.morebeer.com?) It seems they do international shipping.
Shane
I got mine from a wine and beer supplier in California. Name escapes me right now.
That's okay. I got a delivery estimate on that website and it was USD$50. I'll keep looking....
Shane
I'm tempted to say that I could slip a few grams in a baggie and mail it to you. I suspect that if I did this though some inspector would think it was cocaine and the feds would come knocking at our respective doors at 2:00am. I'm amazed at the cost to "ship" it. Mine is in a foil pouch about 4 x 6 inches. One could probably put the pouch in a small padded envelope and air mail it to you for less than $10.
Thanks Kern. Yeah it'll either be someone at the door early in the morning, or an airport being locked down due to a suspicious white powder. ::) I'll keep looking. It's not terribly desperate for the moment. I suspect whatever has caused the late blowing, has thrived during the warm phase of this cheeses life. I haven't had the issue on anything else. I'll still contact some local Aussie wine stores. I haven't actually done that yet. I'd focused on online stores. I'll let you know how I go on my search.
Shane
Here's the link to the Lysozyme I bought.
http://morewinemaking.com/view_product/15499//Lysozyme_-_150g (http://morewinemaking.com/view_product/15499//Lysozyme_-_150g)
They were easy to work with. Drop them an e-mail. Maybe they've shipped this to Australia.
Thanks Kern. I think that must be the same store as the one I posted, but with a different URL. The price and shipping are the same. When I get a chance I'll start ringing around locally. I actually have a friend who has started making fruit wines, so maybe he'll know where I might get some.
Shane