Question, I like many new cheese makers...Can't seem to wait to try my cheddars and gouda. Can you eat them early and also what changes will I see week after week?
Hi Homey,and welcome.
hahahaa...So you cant wait to try your new cheeses ???....Ya, I think we're all like that here ;). So the best thing to do is make more then one at a time. then you can eat one as it ages, and let the other age to its full potential. OR..get a vac. sealer and after you cut. you can seal it back up, and let it age longer...( thats what i do when i cant wait :o ) As for the changes you will see week to week? The change wont be much in a hard cheese. You would be better off trying from month to month. From my experience, with hard cheeses the magic doesnt start until about 100 days in.....Can you eat the cheese early?.The answer is yes. unless you are using unpasteurized milk. Then you need to age for at least 60 days in order to kill off any pathogens that "could" be in the milk.
If you are using raw milk, unless you are VERY sure of your source, I wouldn't eat them young. If you have your own cow/goat and know she is healthy, that your milking practices are clean, and that you are properly filtering and storing the milk, then you should be okay. And also if you use pasturized milk.
If you really can't help yourself, I would advise quartering your cheese, trying one quarter or less of it, and waxing or otherwise coating the rest of it to allow it to age longer. That's what I did when I was new at cheesemaking and had very low reserves of cheese to be eating. You'll also learn the value of allowing your cheese to age longer.
Young cheese is bland, without much character. At middle age (a couple of months or so) it can turn kind of sour and dry. Give it a few more months and it will have changed to a really good cheese. Give it a year or so and it could knock your socks off.
Quote from: MrsKK on January 23, 2011, 11:53:20 PM
Give it a year or so and it could knock your socks off.
Yeah, right now I have several that I'm looking to blow my socks off and down the hall. Unfortunately, they are all semi-hard or hard cheeses and they won't be ready for another six to nine months. I will try to tamp down my expectations and hope to be greatly surprised and not unduly disappointed.
I have a few "marginal" cheeses that will have to tide me over until my 6-month target. Unfortunately too, I'm down to my last morsel of Esrom (It really was good after all!).
So yes, if you must have some cheese to eat NOW, you'll probably have to make something with a shorter aging timeline.
-Boofer-