Ok, this is probably a tough question.
Before I go off an try to source a recipe... does anyone know a source for oscypek molds?
This is a sheep/cow cheese from Poland.
I'm also interested in a recipe if anyone has the processing details.
I had to look at my bookmarks and the only place I know of that carries them is this site.
https://sklep.serowar.pl/
Thank you Mike
Located a recipe - though it's for a cows milk variation
https://domowyserowar.pl/przepisy/15-oscypiorki.html
Do you have any idea what it said?
Yeah. I loaded it in Chrome and told it to translate. It's pretty straightforward. Similar to mozzarella.
Seems almost more like a formed type of cottage cheese I would say recepie looks the same until they start to put it in warm water. Looks very tasty!
Ray, that was what I was thinking.
Thewitt, They only ship to European Union countries. I just received an e-mail from them. You would have to find someone in one of those countries to receive it and send it and re-mail it to you
I'm going to have to try it. The only question is how I'm going to form it before smoking it... I'm really tempted to buy a mold and have it shipped to a friend and then shipped to me...
Look up the cheese on youtube. It shows them forming it on a skewer made of stainless steel. Looks like they let it dry to form a rind on the outside. I guess you could cold smoke it and then form the rind. That's what I would do. Of course that doesn't mean that is the correct way, but i have never been conventional with doing anything.
If you are just after the decorative pattern you could probably buy a couple decorative muffin tins and fabricate something quite easily. Couple of screws to hold it together and away you go. Also a lot of silicone rubber molds available for soap and candle making that could possibly be adapted
Bought these from the Polish Art Center in Detroit. Small, but pretty. I'll try them this weekend.
That's awesome Thewitt so glad you found some. How long does the cheese need to be in the molds can you just press them for a short time and keep cranking them out? How are you planning to smoke the resulting cheese?
Molding is very fast. The cheese needs to be in a condition to take the impression, and then you immerse it in cold water which sets the shape and impressions - so you crank them through the process.
Cold smoking is required, so that's a pretty interesting process as well. The temperature cannot exceed 110F while smoking. I'll do it in a closed BBQ, but for smoke generation I have a large tin can with a soldering iron stuck through a hole in the bottom. This will cause the wood chips to smoke and not actually catch fire and should smoke for 3-4 hours with no real additional heat.
Sounds like fun. Do you have to have a special rack to hold them when they are smoking to prevent deforming them or are they fairly hard by that time?
I need to hang them while they smoke. They dry hanging in mesh bags, and I'll smoke them the same way. It's a cold smoke so I don't have to worry about the nylon mesh bags melting. I have several bent wires that fit under my grill dome to hold them.
If I decide to make the special order for the Polish Community Festival, I'll have to invest in a larger capacity smoker. They want 1000 pieces...
The batch I'll do this weekend is only 2 gallons, so it should be less than 20 cheeses. We will see.
1000 that sounds like a project and a half! Guess with the cold smoking you could just use a garden shed or big cardboard/ plywood box if it came down to it.
Yeah, I've used a cardboard shipping box in the past. I cold smoked two very large king salmon cut into strips this way a few years ago. 24 hours in the smoker in a refrigerator box and they were delicious :) Those were cut into strips and hung over wire strung through the box. It worked very well.
This cheese needs to smoke for 3-4 hours depending on the type of smoke. They use very strong pine or spruce in Poland. I prefer a milder smoke, but I'll have to do a few different samples for this exercise and let the customer choose.
I've never used pine or spruce for smoking before. I've heard it can leave tar or creasote on the food. Hadwood is recommended (at least for meat)
Yes, pine and spruce are not generally used for smoking. They have a very distinct taste however, so changing to a hardwood smoke might not please a customer who wants a traditionally flavored Polish cheese. I'm not sure I will try the pine though unless they reject my samples. I'll smoke with hickory, cherry and pecan - which I already have.
How did this project go for you Thewitt?
Quote from: River Bottom Farm on July 10, 2018, 02:26:45 PM
How did this project go for you Thewitt?
I had a minor accident and have not been able to stand for more than a week... so I had to abort. The smoker is ready though, the molds are waiting, I just need a little more mobility and I'll fire it up!
Sorry to hear you had an accident. Glad you are recovering though.
Quote from: River Bottom Farm on July 10, 2018, 03:01:49 PM
Sorry to hear you had an accident. Glad you are recovering though.
Thanks. Recovering nicely. Managed to turn all the cheese in the cave yesterday and scrub off some nasties, so things are looking up :)