They said I was crazy. They said it couldn't be done!
2.00 AM I decide to make a new caerphilly, as the last one turned out pretty good, but with a bitterness I did not love. That one had aged in normal fridge in a bucket with a lid for 4 weeks. The rest has been moved to the (brand new wine-cooler) cave which holds 10 C and 80% RH.
Back to the current make, am waiting for flocc now. Used meso4000 and Flora danica to see what will happen. I think I'll play around with the Caer til I'm completely comfortable with it before doing the cheddars and parms I so love.
And an apology for not having pictures yet, to sleepy to bother. Will take some when it's out of the press, promise!
Crazy Norwegian... ;-) 2 AM? That's pretty early for cheese making...
It's 5.30 AM now (I'm in the same time zone) - how are things progressing - have you fallen to sleep?
Good luck with the caerphilly.
:-) Danbo
Yeah, I have trouble with sleep, so why not be sleepy with more cheese?
8 L Whole milk
1/4 Meso4000
1/8 Flora Danica
1/4 CaCl2
2 ml Animal Rennet - bought at phamacy, poor instructions and getting old. Get new.
2,5 Tbs Salt
Add culture to milk 2.34 - 10 C
Add CaCl2 3.32 - 32 C
Add rennet 3.35 - 33 C
Checking for flocc at 5, 10, 15 and 19 min - no significant change. Ok, lets give it 50 mins, getting kinda sleepy.
Cut curd 4.26
Stirring, hit 34C at 4.45. Keep stirring.
Oh, my body is now telling me I have been awake and active for over 20 hours! Time to cheat! (proceeds to cut stirring time with 10 mins)
In colander 05.00, cutting and stacking a few times
In press 05.15
Turned, salted and pressed 05.20
Fell into bed at 5.30
Turned 13.00 - 3/4 pressure
Turned 15.15 - full pressure
Goes into cave around 18.00.
Thanks for the luck, I'm curios to see what the FD will do :)
My little caerphilly is swelling! I don't know if that is a bad thing or a Flora Danica thing, but I'll let it age out before cutting it. My winecooler is hard to keep moist, it's stuck at 65%, so the rind is kinda hard, but no cracking or moldgrowth.
At a week and a half now, decided to coat it with my new plastic coating. The swelling started at day 3 or 4, felt really squishy, but now it has firmed up again. The edges has superficial cracks from a slow low weight pressing. I've been good with the turning this time, daily or more!
Hmm ... it may be less a matter of swelling than of the rind shrinking up a bit. Or at least I hope that is it, and not something unpleasant (e.g., "blowing"). The rind certainly looks like a good smooth knit ...
Yeah, I really hope it's not blowing, but I won't cut it until week after next.
I have a sinkful of starsan solution and I dip everything from press to hands in it everytime it touches something unsanitized.
The milk is the only brand (!) available and has pretty strict regulations. So I think it's unlikely to be bad.
Will be interesting to open it in two weeks time!
Hadn't really considered a shrinking rind, so now I feel like that makes a lot of sense, thanks!
Cut into this litte one yesterday!
It sliced well, but was a little dry and acidic in flavour for me. There is no good cheeseshop anywhere near here, so can't try the real thing either. >:(
Rewaxed half the wheel for another month of aging to see what happens.
It looks nice though... A cheese from me... :-)
Thanks :-D