My wife thinks I could be the next nerd on the Big Bang Theory for being on the cheese forum, but I don't care. O0
I have been lurking on here of and on and have decided to build my own cheese vat from a warming well, so I thought I would become a member and introduce myself.
I am a research chef for a flavor company and love to make beer and wine, I have made four or five cheese so far, with only one making me really happy (A cheddar). I have a cheese cave already that keeps a steady 58 degrees, I think I need some humidity control, but my biggest problem with making cheese is controlling the temperature in the making process.
I will post up some pictures once I get things started!
Welcome to a great forum. I spend as much time looking for those little things you have in the pan as I do making cheese.
Welcome to the forum horrocks007. Realy, what are those things on the pan?
Welcome to the forum 007. My wife feels that my brain is blueing over also so you should fit right in here. You are in the majority in your problems with temperature and humidity control-the majority of us had to work through those problems also. Search the forum and you will find a multitude of work on the subject.
Quote from: Gürkan Yeniçeri on February 20, 2012, 05:17:59 AM
Welcome to the forum horrocks007. Realy, what are those things on the pan?
Those are morel mushrooms, very yummy little things. I like hunting for edible wild mushrooms:
Black Trumpets:
(http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l595/David_Horrocks/DSC_0045.jpg)
Oysters:
(http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l595/David_Horrocks/DSC_0009.jpg)
and more Morels:
(http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l595/David_Horrocks/DSC_0009copy.jpg)
Quote from: smolt1 on February 20, 2012, 04:09:35 AM
Welcome to a great forum. I spend as much time looking for those little things you have in the pan as I do making cheese.
I am counting down the days to April! I can't wait to go back to my spots, and go hunting for new ones. Morel hunting is the funnest mushroom to hunt for I think.
That's because you can look right at them and see nothing!! In Oregon we also have Chantalle's and hedgehogs ( my favorite ) in the fall.
Quote from: smolt1 on February 20, 2012, 10:22:46 PM
That's because you can look right at them and see nothing!! In Oregon we also have Chantalle's and hedgehogs ( my favorite ) in the fall.
Well, I haven't confirmed a hedgehog find out here. But we do have chanterelles, but they are very small and red. I think we have some other kinds too, but I haven't found any around me. The red ones don't taste as good, I can find a lot of them, but they are usually sandy and too difficult to clean to be worth eating. I did see a lions maine here once, thought I'd share.
(http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l595/David_Horrocks/DSC_0015-1.jpg)
(http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l595/David_Horrocks/DSC_1041.jpg)
I am very envious of the awesome edibles you have in Oregon, especially the white truffles, but you would be amazed at the variety you can find here.
Neat job and wow great pictures, welcome! From your OP, what's a "warming well"?
That little chanterelle is called a yellow foot in Oregon but it is more yellow. I find them but don't pick them because there are so many chanterells. I have not found a truffle, don't know where to look and they are under the surface. Maybe I should get a smeller pig. I have tried to train my dog to find hedgehogs but mostly she runs around and steps on them.
Quote from: John (CH) on February 21, 2012, 01:34:22 AM
Neat job and wow great pictures, welcome! From your OP, what's a "warming well"?
I call them warming wells, but they are tabletop warmers like this one:
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/avantco-w50-12-x-20-electric-countertop-food-warmer/177W50.html (http://www.webstaurantstore.com/avantco-w50-12-x-20-electric-countertop-food-warmer/177W50.html)
I am planning on following this design for my cheese vat:
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,7495.0.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,7495.0.html)
Seems like a simple design to me, it's gotta be better than what I was doing.
I've been using mine steadily since October and I'm still completely happy with it; great temperature control. My daughters live in Edison and Ocean. Edison daughter makes cheese with me, Ocean daughter eats what we make!
Wonderful array of mushrooms out there. We don't have Morrels up here and they are wonderful! We get a lot of what we call buttons so that's all I pick. I don't know the tree mushrooms well enough to pick a good one so I stay away from those. I used to pick with an old Russian woman and she tried to show me the difference between two red steak mushrroms and they always looked the same to me. I am slightly color blind to reds and greens so that could be why.
Beautiful pictures!