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Baby Swiss into the warm room - Advice, please?

Started by GoudaGirl13, February 20, 2015, 12:51:22 AM

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Alpkäserei

I will state my thought, you can ignore it if you like,
But I would not personally recommend oil to be used. I know many disagree, including all of the Italians who do so to make their cheeses.
Baby Swiss yes is an American cheese and does not have a tradition associated with it, but I am too steeped in tradition and feel wrong to use an oil on my cheese.

You will be able to get so much more flavor if you put a minimal effort into it and give it a good washed rind, but the tradition I learned in we are very big on rind care and doing so much with the rinds. Swiss cheesemakers after all are known for using all kinds of herbs, liquors, wines, and special washes.

But oil with yield a neutral rind, which to my sensibilities means a cheese lacking in character

But that is my opinion, after all.

GoudaGirl13

Greetings, Alpkäserei!!

I appreciate your input! I see no reason to ignore it. :)
What would you recommend as a wash in paticular....and how often?

Than you.


qdog1955

Alp----I have the highest respect for your craft and have copies of all the info you have provided on this site---and I use a lot of it, in fact, most of it----but you have admitted in different posts, that it is hard for you to think in the small makes that most of us have to deal with in our small kitchen environment and our lack of all of the necessary equipment. Some times we do things we would rather not do---only because we don't have a lot of options.
  In my case---I am very hesitant to do any natural rinds because I am color blind and it really bothers me that I can't distinguish what kind of mold and sometimes whether I'm even seeing mold---so I settle for the next best thing----oil. I can still enjoy a good cheese---though certainly not of the quality that you produce. What I'm trying to say ---is don't stop trying to correct us "Wayward Americans" we need you valuable input---just keep in mind why we do some of the things we do.
  Once again thanks for all your valuable contributions.
Qdog 

tnbquilt

I wash mine, per Al's washing instructions, and pray for white mold. When I put it out for the warm aging period I put it in a box and put a wet sponge in it to hold the humidity. I agree with whoever wrote about the cheese smell earlier. It smells so good. Once I just ate it right then, and it was delicious. Not like properly aged Swiss, but still a good cheese.

I tried using the coconut oil on some cheddar cheese in the cave to see if it would keep it from drying out. It was a disaster. The coconut oil molded up, which didn't bother me much, and the cheese dried out real bad. I even scraped it off and reapplied it a couple of times. The cheese was trash.

I don't oil any of my cheeses anymore. I tried it, I didn't like it. I age the Swiss and Gruyere in the cave without any coating except for that lovely white mold, and I brush it whenever I think it needs it. I have the right humidity in the cave though, so it doesn't dry out.