Please excuse if Ihavent put this in the right place, but this wonderful forum is soo huge, I have trouble finding answers. Sometimes I post a question in an area and then I find it - by accident elsewhere! So I go back and delete my original question..
But in saying that I still dont know where to post my crazy newbie questions!!!
I have made so far ...
2 cream cheeses - yummmo and very forgiving product.
2 feta - one on my course and one at home, both melted in my brine and for the next Feta I will be brining it in the whey from the Feta? I think that will solve my problem.
I have my second batch 'rescued' and sitting in some oil.. it looks rubbery, tastes vaguely like Feta, but I wll probably mix it in with a cheese ball to serve on the table at some time.
2 Gouda - one from my course, which I introduced all sorts of black mould. I am a dairy farmer working on the farm and even tho my hands were clean, my scrubbing didnt get those gnarly cracks and crevices on my hands clean enough, so I have moved to yellow gloves when handling my cheese.
My second Gouda, is sitting in my vege bin in my fridge at 10DEGC. It smells devine, I tasted some at about 6 days and yum!!! So I am excited about that one... but the making process was really a comedy of errors.. :)
My mold was too big and my wooden follower swelled when I sterlised it and wouldnt fit, but a breadandbutter plate did. Ended with a lopsided flat looking cheese. On top of that the bamboo mat I got somehow had a dye in it and it leached onto my cheese and I got blue lines on the bottom, which I cut off.
A few questions -
my Feta in oil, even tho I mixed olive oil with standard isue 'salad&cooking' oil, it is going cloudy and hard in my fridge. Is there a recommended mix for oil??
My Gouda in my vege bin, looks great. I dont have any wax or a vacuum sealer, but I am hoping to eat it in 2 weeks. It is dry to touch - definitely. Can I just leave it there and everything will be ok? Or do I need to do something to ensure my cheese lasts for the next 2 weeks. It is just starting to get a yellow colour on the outside.
I may have purchased a wine cooler/chiller... mostly coz my vege bin will not hold all my cheese. I am hanging out to make more but I wont have room.
The wine chiller has those hooped racks for holding wine. I intend to replace them somehow, what is preferable? wire with bamboo slatting? Until I get the racks replaced I will put some bamboo matting over the wine racking.
I have made my own mother culture for my cultures and froze them. When I add them to the milk I pop them in frozen. Should I defrost them first? Or it doesnt matter.?
Sorry If I have this in the wrong place, these are very newbie questions.
Cheers
Cath
PS I have heaps more questions, but thought I would stop here for now.... :o
PPS Maybe there is an area for newbie questions??? If there isnt, perhaps others being me) could ask in a specific area????
Quote from: cath s on December 18, 2009, 07:46:29 PM
2 Gouda - one from my course, which I introduced all sorts of black mould.
Cleanliness is critical! You need to keep everything that touches your cheese and equipment absolutely clean. As yo have found out all sorts of nasties can get into your cheeses. Try soaking your hands in sanitizer and wearing latex gloves. Painted sufaces are not good the acids in the heese can ope the pores and leech into your cheese.
Non pourus - Glass - Stainless steel - uncracked porslin - plastics - nylon only.
A few questions -
my Feta in oil, even tho I mixed olive oil with standard isue 'salad&cooking' oil, it is going cloudy and hard in my fridge. Is there a recommended mix for oil??
Vegetable oils will solidify when cold and disolving feta can make your oil cloudy.
My Gouda in my vege bin, looks great. I dont have any wax or a vacuum sealer, but I am hoping to eat it in 2 weeks. It is dry to touch - definitely. Can I just leave it there and everything will be ok? Or do I need to do something to ensure my cheese lasts for the next 2 weeks. It is just starting to get a yellow colour on the outside.
I don't do feta - sorry
The wine chiller has those hooped racks for holding wine. I intend to replace them somehow, what is preferable? wire with bamboo slatting? Until I get the racks replaced I will put some bamboo matting over the wine racking.
You definately need something to lay your cheese flat or on edge.
I have made my own mother culture for my cultures and froze them. When I add them to the milk I pop them in frozen. Should I defrost them first? Or it doesnt matter.?
Defrost them!
Sorry If I have this in the wrong place, these are very newbie questions.
Cheers
Cath
thks for your answers Debi,
the cheese in my vege bin is Gouda not Feta... so far its good. But will it be ok in the vege bin in my food grade container for a couple more weeks??
How did I get feta out of that? DUH! Sorry!
In the veggie bin I would at least bag it to keep it from drying out.
cheers - do you mean vacuum bag it? I mentioned I dont have one of those yet.
I live rurally and am not really close to towns. The closest city is about 1 hour drive away.
what about putting it in my container fully sealed?
praps I should bandage it... I shall try and find something here in the forum...
sorry for the newbie questions.
I am going to get a vacuum bag sealer, but havent had a chance to get to town for a little while.
I really can't answer your questions, not having made Feta or Gouda myself. However, when you post a question, then find the answer elsewhere, just leave your original post. Sometimes there are newer members who can give fresh answers that maybe weren't around before - or the more seasoned folks may have learned something new in the meantime. It doesn't hurt anything, IMHO, to have more than one thread about similar topics.
Welcome!
Hi Cath;
Just wanted to add my 2 cents regarding your dissolving Feta. I had a similar problem (using raw goat milk) until I started letting the cheese hang in cheesecloth for 24 hours to drain (turning once in the cloth for an even shape), and then cutting and salting the cheese and placing it in a covered container to harden up for 2-3 days before brining. I got these tips from this http://fiascofarm.com/dairy/feta.html (http://fiascofarm.com/dairy/feta.html) website and have been very happy with my Feta since.
Good luck.
Pam
well thanks both of you... this place is soo well organised, its a little daunting
I will remember that for next Feta.
Re my Gouda..
I have cut in half and leaving one in my food grade container with nothing and the other half I have brushed with oil. So I spose, I'll see what happens
Quote from: cath s on December 19, 2009, 07:49:21 AM
cheers - do you mean vacuum bag it? I mentioned I dont have one of those yet.
I live rurally and am not really close to towns. The closest city is about 1 hour drive away.
what about putting it in my container fully sealed?
praps I should bandage it... I shall try and find something here in the forum...
sorry for the newbie questions.
I am going to get a vacuum bag sealer, but havent had a chance to get to town for a little while.
You could put it in a ziplock bag and suck the air out. I would wrap it lightly in waxed paper first though. I have found that cheeses don't like the plastic they use for zip lock bags. They mold very quickly.
thanks for the tip on using waxed paper, Debi. I don't have a vaccuum system, either, and have had horrible trouble with moldy cheese in ziploc bags. I'll have to try your method.
Have you seen those yellow/green bags they call Cheese Bags? They actually work. They have them for veggies too and I think they just call them Veggie bags. For some reason they seem to keep the food from going bad as fast. They are thinner but don't have the strong plastic odor. I often wonder if that's the key? Anyway I use them for cut cheeses I put in the fridge and they do work!
They look like this:
Has anyone in NZ seen these cheese bags??
Yeah, I had trouble with my feta turning into camembert looking stuff, all gooey, but tasted good,(never really found out why that happened) and also dissolving in the oil. I now use some lipase and calcium in the feta mix and also hang it overnight, so it seems to have a better set. Mostly I just salt it and leave in fridge until I want to give some away, and then put in jar with oil, garlic, rosemary, peppercorns and its yummy. I am addicted to making cheese now, just can't leave that milk alone.
thanks for the great tips and help from everybody - appreciate it.
Nope I dont think there is such a thing as Forever cheese Bags here in NZ.
BUT..
I store my store bought cheese when opened in a tupperware container that is specifically designed for cheese. It hold a 1kg block and keep the cheese fresh forever!
I have been toying with the idea of getting one for my homemade cheese... maybe just for the opened ones, I simply couldnt leave alone... ;)
I will see if I can fnd some information about these bags for you. I spoted them in the organic section of the food store a few years back and I use them for anything I won't use in a day or two.
Amazon sells them in the UK. In fact they sell the original bags wich are better. Is this an option?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seen-Debbie-Meyer-Cheese-Equivalent/dp/B00192GBU6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1261855410&sr=8-1-fkmr1 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seen-Debbie-Meyer-Cheese-Equivalent/dp/B00192GBU6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1261855410&sr=8-1-fkmr1)
UK is a long journey to the other side of the world...
I think for me personally I will vacuum seal - once I go into 'town'..
Thks for your help Debi
Is there an Amazon.com in New Zealand?
Hi Debi, yes one can purchase from Amazon here in NZ via the net, but typically we have to double the ticket price to cover freight and then on top of that our exchange rate makes the otherwise cheap looking price balloon horribly. :) Having said that we have always found the service impeccable.
Cath, melting feta relates to a brine that isn't sufficiently acidic. Click here (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,1765.msg13609.html#msg13609) for a good thread on the subject. I've used the whey for the brine with good results. I agree it is totally yum, my wife then uses the oil we've stored the Feta in for cooking, brill.
Cheers
Ah I guess I thought they were IN NZ and would be priced accordingly. Sorry about that.
Hi, I have also made goat milk feta using the recipe from FiasCo. several times with great results. I find their whole web site most useful.
Do you have your own goats? I have Alpines. I regularly make chevre that I sell from my farm, and have done Mozzarella, and the feta, and I do a strained Greek style yogurt.
The book "Goats Produce Too" also has some good information.
not really a question, but I learnt something today...
I purchased a wine cooler as my cheese cave and promptly put my 1, 2 & 3 week goudas in it.
But I dont have anything to check on humidity and they started drying out!!!
So after much searching, I found that putting them in a container with one side of the lid open, the cheese will create its own humid environment... or some such thing like that.
So this is what I am going to do until I get a humidity thingy...
Am I on the right track????
Yes that will work but it may be too humid for gouda. Keep your eyes open for mold and wash it as soon as you see it.
cheers for your help debi