I first want to thank everyone on this forum for all there great information and ideas, I don't think I would have had great success one my first hard cheese without the forum.
I used the recipe from here on the forum for Lancashire.
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,6505.msg46408.html#msg46408 (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,6505.msg46408.html#msg46408)
16L of Whole milk heating in the roaster controlled by a PID
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0188.jpg)
I forgot to take pictures of the cutting curds, here the curds are drained and knitting together
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0189.jpg)
cut and stacked
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0190.jpg)
My new pneumatic press from Carter
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0192.jpg)
air supply for the press
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0191.jpg)
curd being cut in cubes
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0193.jpg)
tossing the curds with salt
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0194.jpg)
curds in the mold
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0195.jpg)
all loaded into the press and pressing at 30lbs for an hour
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0197.jpg)
after 1 hour, removed from the mold and flipped and back into the press at 70lbs for 8 hours
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0198.jpg)
finished product
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0199.jpg)
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0201.jpg)
Wow, it looks perfect!
Very nice result. How long are you planning on aging this?
- Jeff
Thanks Jeff
From everything I have read it sounds like Lancashire is better young, my plan is to try it at 4 weeks and see what it is like.
Mike
Oooh! Looks beautiful! We're about the same time frame for our Lancashire, too. I think I'm ahead of you by a few days. I can't wait to taste mine, either. ;D
Oh, that looks so great that I'm actually envious!
Isn't it nice to have the right tools for the job? :D
Mike;
Looks great. Keep us informed on the TASTE.
What brand mold are you using and where did you get it?
That looks great. The last half of my first one is approaching six weeks and it will be interesting to see how it tastes. the last quarter will probably be eaten at 8 weeks, but we've got another one in the cave that I will allow to go to 8 weeks before we try it at all.
Yummy... I second darius- nice to have the right tools; look what you get for your efforts! Very interested to hear your tasting notes in a month.
Hey Karen
Do you have your cheese waxed or vac? When did you first try your cheese?
Thanks
Mike
Hello Steampwr8
The mold is a Kadova 1.5 to 2kg from Glengarry Cheesemaking, kind of pricey but it will last me a life time and you don't have to use cheese cloth it has a mesh netting built in.
Mike
I cut into the cheese at four weeks. I larded the remaining 3/4's of it and returned it to the cave. The second quarter is gone and we'll be trying it again shortly.
Quote from: MrsKK on March 29, 2011, 10:32:10 PM
I cut into the cheese at four weeks. I larded the remaining 3/4's of it and returned it to the cave. The second quarter is gone and we'll be trying it again shortly.
So... what did it taste like?
At four weeks, it was creamy and had a mild cheddar-type flavor to it. At six weeks, the flavor was slightly stronger and the texture was still creamy. I really like this cheese, and even better, DH likes it a lot, too.
:)
I finally have my cheese cave home and running.
After 2 days of air dry I placed the Lancashire in the cave.
I am still working on the humidity control, I am not sure if the one I am using will work that well.
It seems to have no differential , I set it to 80% humidity and either the humidifier is on or the duhumidifer is on,
there is on time when both are off. So it is like they are fighting back and forth. Does anyone know of a better control?
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0203.jpg)
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0204.jpg)
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0205.jpg)
To say that I am jealous would be an understatement! It's at the top of my Christmas list. ;D
Why do you have both a humidifier and a dehumidifier in that unit?
I plan just a humidifier, and an occasional open door if the humidity gets too high.
I am also planning to cure meat so I thought when I load it up with sausage it would need to remove moisture in the begging and then
as it dries out start adding in moisture.
That makes sense. But if you just have cheese in it now, why run both?
Okay, I'm drooling over that cheese cave!
Thanks everyone
My thinking of running both a humidifier and a dehumidifier is that on rainy days the humidity will reach 100% and the dehumidifier will lower the % humidity. My cheese cave is in a unheated garage, so it is really affected by our weather. I m still learning and monitoring the temps and humidity, I
may have to make changes as I go.
I did find a really neat temp/hum logger. You plug it into your computer USB port and configure all the settings, then place inside your cave and it will log the temp and humidity at the intervals you set like every 5 min, then you plug it back into your computer and down load the data.
Heres a screen shot of the graph from last night, set at 30min intervals, Red is Temp and Blue is humidity.
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/plot.jpg)
Heres a link to the logger
http://www.thermoworks.com/products/logger/usb_loggers.html (http://www.thermoworks.com/products/logger/usb_loggers.html)
Wow, that looks wonderful. Where did you get your PID for the Rival. I have two of those cookers and would be interested in trying this method rather than my sink bath and canning kettle, which works okay anyhow.
Very nice -- I noticed no cheesecloth. Is this because of the mold type?
The PID is working very well to control the temp of the milk. It is a Sous Vide controller from Auber Instruments, it is designed to heat to the set temp and then hold it there for hours, so when I need to increase the temp I have to keep bumping up the temp on the controller. Other PID you can program to rise the temp by 15 degrees and take 30mins to do it in. The Sous Vide one is in a nice plug and play package, no wiring needed.
Here's a link
http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13&products_id=44 (http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13&products_id=44)
Yes the Kadova molds have a built in netting so you don't need any cheese cloth, they are expensive, but a very good quality
Mike