We just opened our Asiago, at 6 weeks.... Half of it we plan to age until it is 3 months old....
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/oo221/rsterne/Asiago_Pressato_at_6_weeks_Email.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/rsterne/a/51b71c5f-e26c-457c-b4e4-d8c7586aae7d/p/13fbbf78-f192-4d2f-ad38-c199695882df)
We used 1/8 tsp of Lipase in our 9 litre batch, and the aroma and taste reflect a mild Lipase cheese.... The structure is pretty open, with a large crack near the center.... Perhaps I pressed it a bit too hard initially.... However, it slices well without crumbling, and tastes delicious.... I have never had Asiago before, so I don't know if we got what we should.... but it is certainly delicious.... In a few weeks, we plan to make a longer aging version, cutting the curds smaller and cooking them a bit more.... assuming this one tastes even better at 3 months....
Bob
Great looking cheese!
I agree. It looks great. AC4U!
We just opened our second Asiago Pressato today (same make as above), and it seems exactly like the first.... same moisture content, wonderful taste.... and the same annoying crack across the middle.... I was VERY careful this time not to press too hard at first, and there were very few mechanical holes, other than that crack.... I don't think I could have trapped whey in the middle.... ???
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/oo221/rsterne/Asiago_at_2_mon_Email.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) (https://app.photobucket.com/u/rsterne/a/51b71c5f-e26c-457c-b4e4-d8c7586aae7d/p/061d3e66-b1e4-473f-b069-4e09b8391da5)
I am wondering if this is a function of the resting stage in the mould with no weight on it?.... The recipe calls for pressing at only 20 lbs. (less than 1 psi) for the 3rd stage of pressing, and then flipping the cheese and putting it back in the mould with no weight for 36 hours at 75*F before brining.... I am considering increasing the weight to 40 lbs. for overnight (maintaining the 75*F), then flipping it in the morning and repressing for another 24 hours (again at 75*F).... What do you think?.... Would this avoid the cracking?.... Has anybody else had this problem, and how did you solve it?.... What would happen if we omitted the last 24 hours before brining it?....
Tomorrow we will be making an Aged Asiago (6 mon. to 2 yrs), slightly lower BF content, curds cut smaller, and pressed more normally (ending at 80 lbs. overnight), without the final 24 hrs.... This is one of those cheeses that has recipes for two distinctly different makes.... ::)
Bob
AC4U! :-)
Thank you!.... 8)
Bob
I still need answers to my questions in Reply #3 above.... HELP !!!!
Bob
Can you post a pic of the crack? Is there already a gap when you cut it open , or does it crack when you cut it? If the cheese is a bit swollen and there's a horizontal crack/gap then it might be late-blowing (clostridium).
Otherwise it is likely due to a pH or moisture issue if it is cracking when you open it.
The crack in both cheeses is nearly identical, you can see it in the first photo above.... It runs on an angle across the cheese, right through the middle, and is not opened up or gas filled.... It really only shows up (and becomes annoying) when you go to slice it.... Neither cheese was swollen, and they smelled and tasted fine.... On the first one, which was early in our cheeesemaking, I chalked it up to pressing too hard initially and trapping whey inside the cheese, but we have learned a lot and I am now quite careful not to do that.... On the first one, there were quite a few mechanical (irregular) holes, this one is pretty tight, except for the one big crack.... The crack is not a straight line, it follows the (zig-zag) grain of the curds, which leads me to believe they are not quite knit in the center of the cheese....
The pressing specified in the recipe is only 10 lbs. for 30 min., 20 lbs. for 1 hr. and then 20 lbs. for 2 hrs.... followed by 36 hrs. resting in the mold with no cloth and no weight.... then salting by brining.... Our mold is 24 sq.in., so 20 lbs. is less than 1 psi.... ::)
Is there really any significant acidification taking place in the last 24 hours of that 36 hour resting period?.... Would there be any noticeable difference between just an overnight press, and the additional 24 hours before brining?....
Bob
From the looks of the paste, it seems over acidified and too moist. Yours look like a Cheddar. I think it cracks in the middle when you cut it because it is not pliable. Asiago is supposed to be pliable unless it is old. The cheese is continue acidifying while resting even at 75 f. I wonder what is the long resting period is for in your recipe. I press and store dry salted cheese in a Coleman cooler because ambient temperature here is 90-100 f. The temperature of the room where you are pressing and salting/brining should be considered imo. I don't use a pH meter. I reserve a small amount of curds to be heated. If it stretch, I am in the right pH range for a cheese that is supposed to melt and be pliable. That is when I start salting, put it in a cooler and put as much frozen water bottles to lower temperature quickly and arrest pH drop of the cheese.
I made a washed rind buffalo milk cheese that was only cooked for 5 minutes and pressed with 20 lbs for almost 2 hours. I didn't follow a recipe. I just made it willy nilly. It turned into a cheese pretty similar to Asiago, in flavor, texture and appearance. It was aged for 45 days.
If the cracking is due to over acidification, then shortening the 36 hr. rest period down to just 12 hr. before brining it might actually help it.... We just made another Asiago, but this one is intended to be aged for up to 2 years, and uses a different recipe.... We used a shorter floc. time, cut the curds smaller, and pressed it harder (with no rest period).... I think I will see how that one turns out when we sample it at 6 mon. before deciding what to do with our next Asiago Pressato (young version)....
Bob
Aris: That's a very beautiful cheese you have there. You say you only cooked for 5 minutes. At what temp? How small were your curds? Thanks!
Quote from: bansidhe on May 27, 2021, 06:42:44 PM
Aris: That's a very beautiful cheese you have there. You say you only cooked for 5 minutes. At what temp? How small were your curds? Thanks!
I put the yogurt starter culture when temperature was 110 f and dropped down to 100-105 f when I started stirring and cooking it. The curds were peanut to almond size. Fyi I use water buffalo milk that I pasteurize myself. It is very different from cow's milk. Even when pasteurized at 150 f for 30 minutes, it still produces very firm curds (no calcium chloride needed) and yields double than cow's milk.