Well here is the first attempt at a Parmesan and I think (hope) it went pretty good. It is happily sitting in the press now.
I went with most of the recommendations for the style and took 2 gallons of raw milk and let it sit overnight and skimmed the cream off (actually siphoned the milk out from underneath the cream). I took another 2 gallons of whole raw milk and shook vigorously and added that to the kettle. Roughly 3.5 gallons after cream skimmed off of 2 of them.
Waterbath heat was applied to get the milk to 90 degrees F.
Added 1 tsp of Meso and 1 tsp Thermo starters and let rest at ripen at 90F for 30 minutes.
Added 3/4 tsp liquid rennet to 1/4 cup distilled water and slowly added and stirred for 1 minute (or more). Let the rennet do its thing for about 30 minutes.
Cut the curd to 1/4 inch cubes as best I could with my curd knife and my spatula. Without an actual curd knife this is a lesson in patience. :) I ended up using a whisk for a little bit to make sure all was broken up into smallish (very technical term) pieces.
Starting bringing the heat up by periodically replacing water in waterbath with successively hotter water until curd temp was 124 degrees F. This took a little over an hour with my hot tap water method.
At this point the curd was very noticeably smaller and squeaky when chewed as well as still broke apart easily when press in my hand.
I let it rest for about 5 minutes while preparing the colander and cheesecloth.
Strained the curd in the lined colander and let drain for about 5 minutes.
At this point I was fairly surprised at how the curd had shrunk. I was planning a larger mold that I had fashioned but my normal mold worked out OK but was filled to the top.
So far I flipped it once and am pressing now for a couple of hours at 20 lbs before redressing and pressing overnight.
(http://www.kesabe.com/cheese/Parmesan0001.jpg)
Raw milk showing layer of cream at the top and before skimming
(http://www.kesabe.com/cheese/Parmesan0002.jpg)
Curds cut
(http://www.kesabe.com/cheese/Parmesan0003.jpg)
Cooked curd - pressed in my hand and broken apart
(http://www.kesabe.com/cheese/Parmesan0004.jpg)
Curd draining in my colander
(http://www.kesabe.com/cheese/Parmesan0005.jpg)
In the press for first time (filled to the top)
(http://www.kesabe.com/cheese/Parmesan0006.jpg)
Cheese after first pressing
Out of the mold and into the brine. The cheese came in at a little under 3 lbs. Very interesting as it is pretty dense stuff. Normally the cheeses I pull out of that mold filled full are a little under 2 lbs.
I have a question regarding aging this cheese... Some are waxing and some are promoting natural rind formation. The later of which I tend to want to gravitate to. For a natural rind, are you washing it down with brine every couple of days to keep mold, etc. off and aide in drying it out? Or do you just throw it in the cave and forget about it for a year? (turning it obviously)
(http://www.kesabe.com/cheese/Parmesan0007.jpg)
Chilli, I have never made Parmesan, but for fun I just had a quick re-read of this article and look at pictures (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,777.0.html), and for those Italian Parmigano's, it doesn't look like the wax or rind wash, but then they have a massive controlled temperature and humidity environment and very very large cheeses :).
For the French equivalent Parmesan, do they do the same?
The problem is that you don't have a massive cheese or I suspect perfect temp & humidity for months of aging.
Chili,
My big parma has been in the cave for about a month (~55f with humidity 60-80% (still an issue). Checked mine carefully this weekend and no mold or cracks or anything, looks like it did out of the press but a tiny bit more straw colored. decided to leave it be rather than wash with brine, am wondering too of other experience here. Do you wash with brine even if there is no mold, or do you want it dry so that the hard rind forms. What role does the washing play in rind formation?
Gerrit
CH, yeah I think the 'big boys' have one up on my little cheese. My first clue was when it took 2 guys to lift half the curd out of the pot and fill one mold! Definately outgunned there!
Gerrit, thanks for the info and experience. Tomorrow morning I'll be pulling it out of the brine and drying it in the cellar. It is pretty chilly in there right now (45F) but I don't think that should matter too much. I'll let it age without wax and just see what happens. It would be interesting to see others experiences as well.
Ryan
Chili, I make a lot of Parm. I've never seen it waxed and wouldn't do so. Part of Parmesan is a controlled rind allowing moisture to slowly evaporate out. Wash rind cheeses are for a different kind of rind, such as Muenster which has bacteria in it or when you want to add a tiny bit moisture back in and continue to keep the moisture that's in the cheese in there. As far as Parm you brine it 12 hours for every 2 pounds, but for small wheels I brine for 24 hours. As long as your cave has proper temp and humidity and gets air exchange every now and again you shouldn't be developing mold. After weeks of aging it will start to develop a hard yellow rind. Yes they are very dense.
Carter, thanks for the advice. I'm a little concerned with the humidity in my cave for aging this Parmesan. Open air humidity in there right now is somewhere around 50% so I may have utilize a tub for aging to keep it from cracking. In containers it seems to equalize at the 90% mark when the temp is low. Maybe those cigar humidity packs might be an option here...
humidi pack, maybe, what is the size of your cave. 50% way too low. 90% is better.
My 'cave' is about 10 feet by 5 feet with a 6 foot ceiling. I've actually tried adding a small humidifier to the cave and it really had a tough time. So I will have to resort to the 'plastic box cave' within the regular cave. That is where the humidi pack may come into play. I just wish I could get a really good, accurate hygrometer in there. I have 3 separate digital ones and they are anywhere from 35% to 48% and no way to calibrate. ???
Really, I've got some old Radio Shack ones and some Oregon Scientific and they all seem to be close. You know you can calibrate them? Just look on cigar sites or google hydrometer salt test or salt calibration. Basically it's a solution of salt and water (certain proportions of course) that give off a specific humidity. So you mix it put it in a zip lock and wait an hour or so. Then just make a sticker of how much it's off. Of course the recipe you find for the salt test will tell you what the relative humidity should be. I just don't remember as I haven't done it in a while. The humidity packs should work for an air tight container that's not too big. If you PM your address I'll send you some of the ones I got, I've got 95% ones and decided to go with the freezer cave instead so I have no use for them. Let me know.
Well I've dug this one out of the cellar today... it is not quite the 1 year anniversary but my son had a school project in his advanced foods class and needed some Parm. He let the cat out of the bag to his teacher that his dad made cheese and had a couple of Parmesan cheeses sitting in the cellar forever that nobody could touch. Well she was quite intrigued to say the least. So I looked at my labels and this one is less than 2 weeks from the 1 year anniversary date of making the the grand event that I've been waiting for before cracking it open.
I did end up waxing this one a while back as it kept growing little patches of mold. When I cut into this it was quite a task to say the least but eventually popped open for me. I think maybe it wasn't quite as dry as it would have been if I'd not waxed it but it was very good. The taste and texture were really good and it was slightly evident that I omitted the Lipase but still made a really great cheese...
Now before I get too many comments about the 'worthless post without pictures..' This all happened in the morning, before school, fiasco and so I promise I'll update this post later today or tomorrow with some visuals.
Ryan
This post is worthless without pictures!! O0
Pics or it didn't happen :P
gezz.. no respect even with my appropriate disclaimer! ;D
If it is any consolation I just had melted some on my Quinoa soup I had for lunch and it was really good! ;)
I'll get them coming... good to hear from you Carter! Hope all is well in Sunny Cal!
Ryan
Yeah, all is well, how about you.
I think because you made the disclaimer was why it was funny.
I had a couple of parms that are ready to crack open, maybe I'll open one this evening.
Congrats Ryan I can't wait to see the cheese!
Ryan!
Where have you been?
Looking forward to seeing the parm. If I remember correctly we started our parmesans at about the same time but mine was ruined due to infection by p. shermanii. Oh well, I have two more in the cave that I'm hoping will turn out okay.
Glad to see you back here.
Dave
Ok consider the thread no longer useless... here are the pictures. ^-^
I think it really turned out well...even without the lipase. There is a very slight earthiness to the rind due to the mold issues that I had before I waxed (but very subtle). It also could have been just a bit dryer but I'm sure that is again due to the waxing. I'm not sure I can overcome that in the near future as I've got a pretty busy cave/cellar with canned good, veggies, cheeses, beer, wine, etc. Lots of things to carry extra molds and such into my production.
(http://www.kesabe.com/cheese/parmesan0008.jpg)
(http://www.kesabe.com/cheese/parmesan0009.jpg)
Dave, it is good as well to hear from you. It has just been really crazy around here... my cheese production has slacked off from last year but I have a quite a few cheeses in the works now just have not had the time to document it all here like I used to. :(
Take care,
Ryan
Ryan,
That cheese looks FANTASTIC! Great job!
Now I'm having a very hard time knowing that I have two of these in the cave that won't be ready for a long long time.
Life does have a way of being a nuisance, but hopefully you are enjoying what is keeping you so busy.
The last couple of months have been extremely busy for me, but this weekend I've been able to relax and do what I love doing.
Hope to see you on here more often. I always look forward to your posts.
Dave
Hello Ryan
good to see you and you parm looks wonderful! Nicely grated flakes I think you will enjoy this for some time! Fine job!
That's alright Dave, you don't have to say hi to me too ;D. Does look good Ryan. Dave you might not know this but the older the Parm is the less strong flavor it has, it tends to mellow out a lot, I've had some 15 year old and 8 year old parms at a store in LA about a year ago and they weren't that flavorful, although the price was outrageous. I think about 1 year for home made should suffice. I think this is the prefect cheese, if unwaxed, because it's unwax to use a very small home made trier to take a sample, test the tip and if not ready push the plug back in.
CARTER!!!!!
HOLY CRAP!!!!!
I THOUGHT YOU HAD DIED!!!!!
Now we have a party!!
It's great to see you back on here, old friend. It's about time!
Okay, that's too many exclamation points for anyone. But still, it's great to see you post again.
Actually I didn't know that about parmesan. This is pretty much a new cheese to me since I made my first one last year.
I do love parm and plan on making quite a bit more. Especially after the sample that Wayne sent a couple of months back.
I do have one question for you....
I've read a few different recipes for parmesan and the aging time ranges anywhere from 5 months to 2 years.
My wife keeps asking me how long it will be until we can crack one of the wheels I made in October and I keep telling her "It will still be several months".
Do you think a parmesan would be decent at the 5 month mark, or do you feel it has to age at least a year?
I've pretty much moved these to the back of the cave so that I can forget about them.
I'd appreciate any insight/opinion you have, concerning this.
Again, great to see you post again.
Dave
Thanks guys. It is like a little reunion from the good ol' days! ;) At least I'm not the only one that has been overloaded with life and it's little curve balls!
Dave it is good to hear from you too!! I see you have been a little more active here than I've been lately which is good. Also good to see you are back at it as well after the summer break. I'll have to check up on your swiss progress... any good things to report?
DeeJay, thanks for the comments on this cheese.. I'm actually not sure it will actually stick around too long! We've been going at it pretty good around here. The wheel was about 2.5 lbs if I recall. We had some tonight just cut and drizzled with some balsamic vinegar. That was a treat!
Dave, in regard to your aging and patience issues... I tossed around opening this one damn near every time I turned and finally I just set my mind to the fact that 1 year was going to be the date.. well I cut it short by about 2 weeks... but damn that is close enough! I wish you luck with your patience... it helps to go and splurge on a piece of grand Parmesan Reggiano and cull your cravings if that helps.
Carter, how are the other projects going? Making any cool vids lately?
Ryan
Well Dave, at 5 months it might be all right, it would be very strong. The only concern I have is it might be too flavorful, maybe a little astringent as it hasn't had time to mellow, but if you have a cheese trier then you can try a piece like the pros without disrupting the aging cycle.
Ryan, just been working on film equipment. I built a copy of the $50,000 Steadicam from scratch so I'm gearing up for production this year.
Ryan, even if the cheese was awful, you deserve an award for waiting. Great looking cheese.
Carter, great to see you post again. I feel like I know you from reading so many of your posts from the past.
Thanks. I just opened a couple of stiltons that have been re-aging in my frig, but they were pretty dried out. I also opened my science experiment. If any remember I made a cheddar experiment a year or two ago that I did a bandage wrap with lard and cheese cloth. In the post I show how I sealed it up, after it grew 10 different kinds of mold on it, and put it in the frig, well it's been about a year. I opened it up....I'll post later in the actual thread.
Ryan-that cheese looks great--congrats! I have a parm that has been aging since late October and it appears harder than a rock! I noticed that you stated you waxed yours (quite unusual), but perhaps works. In fact, I've had this problem with several of my cheeses--back to the never-ending question of waxing or vacuum-sealing--I'm about ready to cave in on my cave and buy the Foodsaver.
Carter....
Since I don't own a trier and since even a cheap one costs like $50.00 I think I'll just keep the parms at the back of the cave and try to forget about them
What's interesting is that I haven't had even the slightest problem with mold.
These have been sitting in my cave since mid to late October and I don't have a single spot of mold on either wheel. I guess I'm getting lucky there.
I do remember the "cheddar of many colors" and am looking forward to seeing how it turned out. Hopefully better than the Monterey Jack I attempted today, which was a total disaster.
I'm not going to go into detail, (since it really ticks me off even to think about it), but let's just say that I must have used too much starter.....built too much acid.....had to stop the make nearly 40 minutes early and now have a wheel full of whey that will eventually turn sour, crumbly and nasty.
This one is destined for my dad who will eat any cheese. I on the other hand won't be able to get this particular cheese out of my house soon enough because it will continue to tick me off every time I see it.
Oh well it was an experiment, in trying to build a recipe for this type of cheese, (one that I've ALWAYS failed at). After today I'd say there's a good chance that I will not give this one another try until next year.
Looking forward to seeing the cheddar and thanks for the advice concerning the parm.
Dave
Hey Dave I made one from a stainless steel apple corer and a hammer.
Debi..
Could you please post a pic or two of your homemade trier? Also a description of how to use it?
I'd really like to have one but $50.00 sounds just downright outrageous for what a trier consists of. At the same time, I would be so much nicer to leave my wheels in tact but still know what's happening inside of them.
Oh, and Ryan.....
Nothing new to report on the swiss trials just yet.
I have given Sailor's baby swiss recipe a try and have two wheels sitting on the kitchen counter as I type this.
They have been sweating for 4 days now and have not begun to swell but they are getting very firm to the touch. I have hopes but considering my past success I'm not expecting much more than a very nice flavored cheese that will tick me off in the end. :-)
I still search the internet almost daily for information that will help me to make a proper example of this style of cheese. One of these days..........
Dave
Quote from: Likesspace on January 10, 2010, 01:35:20 AM
CARTER!!!!!
HOLY CRAP!!!!!
I THOUGHT YOU HAD DIED!!!!!
Now we have a party!!
It's great to see you back on here, old friend. It's about time!
Okay, that's too many exclamation points for anyone. But still, it's great to see you post again.
ditto