CheeseForum.org » Forum

Yesterday I washed them with a nice sauvignon blanc. I forgot to buy paper towels so I used hairdrier. Couple pics for your viewing pleasure.

Quote from: Honey Badger on November 03, 2016, 12:01:18 PM
Thank you for replies and cheeses.

My vac-packer has arrived and I also have some waxed papers which I would wrap cheese segments in first, before vacuuming. Does that sound like a good idea?

The cheeses are 18 days old today. They smell really nice and I'm finding it dificult to leave 'em alone. I really want to taste it. Tonight I'll try and give them wine wash, dry outside for a bit and back to the cave.

What would indicate to me it is right/good time to take a sample? I bought cheap potato peeler that will do the trick I hope.

Anyone?

Still looks great!

I know nothing about the aging requirements of this type of cheese and when it should be eaten .

The worst that can happen from taking a core sample is you end up with it not being ready and you need to put the sample  core back in.  This some times give you a bit of blue in the pocket left if the core does not go all the way back in .

Not a big deal really as it does not spread

The hardest part about the first cheese is the waiting .

Quote from: Gregore on November 05, 2016, 05:43:54 AM

The hardest part about the first cheese is the waiting .

So true. It's so hard it hurts.

I'll try and wait another week before taking sample. That would be week 4 and according to recipe, the right time to do it.

As difficult as it is, I would wait. Distract yourself by making another cheese style. If you check Jim Wallace's guidelines, you'll see an aging time of three months or longer.

You will be much happier down the road if you permit the cheese to develop over time.

If you really have to use the potato peeler, peel some potatoes or carrots.

-Boofer-

Quote from: Boofer on November 05, 2016, 02:30:07 PM
As difficult as it is, I would wait. Distract yourself by making another cheese style. If you check Jim Wallace's guidelines, you'll see an aging time of three months or longer.

You will be much happier down the road if you permit the cheese to develop over time.

If you really have to use the potato peeler, peel some potatoes or carrots.

-Boofer-

Thank you Boofer. I regard you as a FdA expert, you made some amazing FdA cheeses I read all of your posts on the subject and would be overjoyed if I get similar success with mine.

I will wait another week, then I'll vac-bag them and move to the fridge for at least another two weeks but then I will wait no longer. I'm organising a gathering of some friends to taste the cheese and have a few bevs.

I'm thinking of making another batch next weekend, that'll give me strenght of nerve I hope.

Another question that my be silly to some of you, but my friends raised an issue of possibility being poisoned by my cheese; how do I know if it is safe to eat?

Is it good enough if it looks and smells good?

One thing I can tell you is that we ALL have had exactly the same thoughts run through our heads when we first started to make and serve out cheeses. It is a by product of a culture that has taken to heart the pasteure theory of 1 bad bug equals Ill health , when what is actually closer to the truth is lots of bad bugs and ill health Leads to sickness .

Okay , does any one have access to Linuxboy to confirm a post that I read somewhere on here . Where he says that cheese can not host bad molds ?  Something about the secondary growth of the mold where it creates  the toxins and that cheese does not host that secondary growth .

If not I will spend the time to look for it as it is the most asked question of all on here and the one we all think about when we first start and the one that sends more cheese to the bin that any other thought .

And if I do find that elusive post I will ask the moderators to make a sticky out of it.

Now that is not to say that you can not contaminate your milk with some other things that can lead to issues or that you could buy milk from a store that already has issues .

But over all you have a greater risk of getting in a car accident, or being struck by lightning than you do of getting ill making cheese .

Hope some of this helps lessen your fears , and if not just send me your cheese and I will let you you when it it all eaten if it was safe or not .

Thanks Gregore, I feel much easier now.

This forum contains so much information that is so easy to get lost in it.

They look fantastic.  I might suggest that you air them out at room temperature for an hour a day, if you're not doing so already.  AC4U!

Quote from: Al Lewis on November 06, 2016, 03:14:02 PM
They look fantastic.  I might suggest that you air them out at room temperature for an hour a day, if you're not doing so already.  AC4U!

Sometimes I do. Not every day though.

They lost so much weight, I'm worried if I wait too long I'll be left with nothing.



So, I decided to cut into round cheese on Saturday to see whats going on in there and will try to make a new batch of the same cheese as I have all ingredients but milk which I will get fresh on the day.

Cheeses smell very nice and inviting. So chuffed with the result so far.

This is normal to loose a fair amount of weight , most of it happened in the first few weeks and then it slows down

One can see this in the amount of humility in the cheese fridge / cave when a lot of new cheese are in there and how the humidity drops when they have aged a while , this is even more obvious when you use smaller containers to age cheese .

It looks ready to me: