Asiago with black olive
A Cheese Forum friend and his lovely family from the city of " Brotherly Love", paid me a visit this past week end. Darn him, he brought along a couple gallons of raw jersey milk-----forcing me to make an unplanned cheese ;)-----don't you feel bad for me? :) So I decided it was time to make an Asiago with black olives.
So here's the make and some pics.
4-20-15
2 gallons raw jersey milk
2 gallons PH whole milk
Start Ph 6.68
1 ½ packs of C-201 thermo blend ( New England Cheese)
½ tsp cal chlor in ¼ cup cold water
2.2 ml. Liquid single strength rennet
12 oz. black olives----dehydrated at 215 degrees for ½ hour ---then dried at 120 degrees
7:45 milk at 96 d. add culture and ripened for 60 min.
Ph 6.56
8:47 add rennet
Floc in 14 min. x 2.5 factor
Wasn't happy with curd set----so went a little longer
9:30 cut curd----rest 5 min.
9:36 start slow stir and temp. rise to 104 degrees in 20 min.
9:55 104 degrees---stir 15 min.
10:10 stir and begin temp. rise to 122 degrees in 20 min.
Ph 6.5
10:28 drain whey down to curd---press with press plate and 8 lbs.
10:35 cut curds in 4 equal pcs. And began layering with olives in mold using plastic piece to keep olives centered
Pressed under whey for 8 min. at 16 lbs.
Flipped and pressed under whey for 8 min. at 16 lbs.
Flipped and pressed without whey for 15 min. at 32 lbs.
Ph----6.41
Flip and press twice more times at 40 lbs.
11:57 flip and press at 80 lbs.
1:54 reached goal Ph ---5.25 into sat. brine for 12 hrs.
Qdog
Love cheese and olives - what a great combo... AC4U!
Good idea with the funnel-thing to prevent the olives from getting close to the rind. :)
Ah, nice! How long d'ye plan on taking it out?
Keep us informed on this one. One of my favorite way to serve Chevre is to dice up black and green olives, onion, jalapeno pepper mixed with a bit of olive oil and put on top of a round with crackers. Pretty looking and always impresses people.
Danbo----the funnel thing is from a frozen microwave meal----Healthy Choice Cafe Steamer----they're about 8 in. diameter, just cut bottom with scissors ----the concept is good -, my execution of the concept was questionable.
Stinky ----my previous Asiagos were good at 2 months, but much better at 3 and 4 months-----with the olives, I have no idea, that's the trouble with experiments :-\
gfarm-----will post progress down the road
Qdog
Qdog: It works - that's what counts... :-)
Nice work! AC4U my friend
Opened this Asiago with black olive this morning. WOW !!! This deserves a big " ATTA-BOY " with a pat on the back, too. Not so much for the black olive----they are pretty much over powered by the cheese. The cheese flavor, smell and texture are awesome. The olives added a little more salt than my usual Asiago makes---but not too much. I'm not sure why---but seem to have a knack for making Asiago, at least the Mezzano type----wish I could say that for all my different makes. It melts wonderfully, too.
Qdog
When you bringing some over?
Great looking cheese. So, have one on me. :) I wonder if your drying the olives killed their mild taste. Did you check the taste of a dried one when you were making the cheese?
Acutually, I did taste them when dried-----a little rubbery and salty, and the taste seemed stronger if anything. I think if I tried black olives again I would try with a much milder cheese that might match the more delicate olive taste.
Qdog