One of the early cheeses I made was a Monterrey Jack with dry dill and onions. I sampled it when very young, maybe a month old, and found it to be extremely good even then. And it got eaten very fast so it never had a chance to age. That one was made with freshly dried dill.
So I made another - a 4 gal.- on June 30. I was intending to age it longer, but when I sampled it early, it was crumbly and bitter and I was very disappointed and thought it was a goner. :( But in the interests of experience, I cut it into quarters, waxed each, and tossed them in the door of the cheese cave. They were on their own.
Well this morning when turning some cheeses, I noticed one of these orphan quarters had a bit of mold in one corner under the wax, so I decided to open it up to see what has happened. (It would be just over 2 mos old). To my pleasant surprise, it was rather good. Not great, but no longer bitter, and barely if at all crumbly - they might have a future! I grated some for a breakfast omlette and that was very good. I'm going to age the rest longer and am assuming it will get even better, but it's amazing the 180* opinion change I've had about this cheese.
I made another dilly-Jack a month ago that I bandage-wrapped, so that is in no danger of being sampled early. That wrap has turned into an effective cheese chastity belt. ::)
Another thing I learned is to only use freshly dried dill - the store-bought dry is nowhere near as flavorful. I'm planning on planting some.
Aging ....who knew? ;) ;)
I've learned a thing or two about aging...............had a dill havarti that I sampled before it was respectably aged -- it was a bit discouraging. Put it back in the cave -- cut in quarters -- and it is amazing how it changes as the months pass by. Things do get better with age! :)
QuoteThings do get better with age! :)
LOL, I say that every time I look in the mirror. :-*
Quote from: Gina on September 08, 2010, 02:59:14 AM
QuoteThings do get better with age! :)
LOL, I say that every time I look in the mirror. :-*
LOL I hear that!
Gina, I like the way you think! 48 is SO much better than 38 was!
Glad to hear about the cheeses, too. I've been rather surprised at the turn-around some of them have done.
I just opened a Colby that I made back in January. I know Colby isn't traditionally aged for very long, but this one had gotten moldy on me when I was aging it in the cheese cabinet, so I cut away the mold and vaccuum sealed it in May after I got the sealer. It then went in the fridge (as I don't have temp control for the cabinet). The cheese is wonderful now, though it was mild and bland in May. A bit on the dry side and very flavorful, just great sliced wafer thin. It will NEVER last long enough!
Cheese is a funny thing. I have made some cheese that suggest VERY short ripening periods and I just didn't like it as well that way. I for one like a 6 month or better colby!
Just gave an old friend an awsome 11 month young asiago tonight she made an eggplant parmesan with - first time her 5 and 6 year old daughters would ever eat eggplant and they went back for 3rds! I guess that's one way to get kids to eat their veggies!