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Likely a good call Jeff.  I found myself cheddaring for a good hour past the time it was supposed to take! I was using 200 easy recipes.

Hi anut,

Yah, I just got the Lancashire in the press before we headed out to the busker festival in the city centre.  Saw 3 of them yesterday, but wanted to catch the fellow who used to be in Circ de Soleil.  They were all really good, though this last one was my favorite.  Speaking of which, time to go vote on line for him.

- Jeff

Hi,

Couple days air drying and it's down to 1088g.  The rind is forming up a bit, and it's starting to look less plague victim like.  I've moved it into the cave now to slow the moisture loss down.  A couple weeks and it should be ready, unless, of course, it's already spoiled.  But, it doesn't smell off, so I'm hoping it's ok.

- Jeff

P.S. This is also a better angle than the previous view.  Not so much scar tissue.

I think it will be wonderful! 

Hi,

Well, we're going to visit some friends today and we're taking some cheese with us.  I'm taking some of the gouda and the washed rind butterkase.  I decided that since this Wensleydale has now recovered a bit, it was time to find out if the cheese is ok or not.  Having removed the wax it's now lost 98g of moisture over the past 9 days, so it probably was a bit too early to wax it.  But we knew that already. 

Anyway, it has a really nice cheddar flavour, and the paste is nice a smooth and creamy tasting.  Vanessa noted some bitterness near the rind, but my section seemed fine.  I have cut the outer rind away to eat, but I'm not sure it's necessary.  Will find out later.  Anyway, it's beauty (or lack thereoff) is only skin deep and inside it's a very nice cheese.  It will be interesting to present three such different tasting cheeses.

- Jeff

I'm glad to hear your Wensleydale survived it's troubled youth, and better has a good flavour.  Now I'm really going to be impatient to try mine!  It really has been a lot of fun trying all the cheddar styles.   

What type of milk is home brand standard?  The bitterness in my T. Cheddar #20 is also mainly in the rind.  I've let age 6 months now and it still persists.

Looks great Jeff, congrats!
If you were supposed to worry about a cheese's beauty, no on would eat blues so...
And the little duckling had a tough start and finished strong!

Thanks! 

The flavour is the important thing as once you cut the cheese up it looks just fine.  They had picked up a very nice blue, which I forgot to ask what kind it was, but it was very creamy, with an ash coating.  Nice.  The 13th month gouda was the biggest hit, as they really like aged gouda to begin with - which of course could have worked against me!  Anyway, today I'll be taking a small slice of the Wensleydale in to work to share with my "tasters".  Will see how the reports go (I've carefully selected my official tasters for their ability to find nice things to say about wet socks, so it's very good for my ego! )

- Jeff

Oh, Home Brand Standard is just a budget store band of homogenised/pasturised milk.  It has 3.3g/100 ml of total fats. 

H i Jeff,

Well I hope your tasters tell you everything you want to hear! 

Having noticed that my cheeses with bitterness were made with p/h store milk and none are present in my raw milk cheeses that I know of.  I'm starting to suspect that the milk itself was the cause of the defect!

Quote from: JeffHamm on February 06, 2012, 05:49:26 PM
I've carefully selected my official tasters for their ability to find nice things to say about wet socks, so it's very good for my ego!

LOL. Hey, that's the secret!

I like your descriptive characterizations:

Quote from: JeffHamm on January 29, 2012, 06:20:00 PM
it's starting to look less plague victim like.

Not so much scar tissue.

Excellent. Congrats on bringing this survivor through.

-Boofer-

I've been lucky with this brand of milk I think.  Although the curds can be quite fragile, they do firm up and I'm getting consistent results.  The taste has been good, and textures seem right, etc.  I've aged one cheese over a year and it seems to age well. With a couple more approaching their anniversaries I should find out soon if that's generally the case.  I have had some cheeses develop a bitterness, but it's not generally been a problem.  Rather, I think some wild geo was to blame.

The only cheese I've had any real difficulty in getting to work has been mozzarella, which has not produced well for me.  I'll give it a try again, though, when I get a ph meter.

- Jeff

P.S. Thanks Boofer.  I like to think my descriptions are Dickensish.  I realize they are not, of course, but I like to think of them that way all the same.

I use this forum for a number of reasons. One is for the education, from first-hand, hands-on experience of the members and their successes and failures. Another reason is the social context, rubbing shoulders, as it were, with good folks from around the globe.

But the most entertaining reason is being able to read posts like yours. I look forward to being enlightened and perhaps be given a reason to smile.

Dickensish?  Play on....

-Boofer-

Thanks Boofer.

I think you summed up my reasons for reading this forum as well, so I can learn from the vast experience that is here, and to socialize with others from around the globe, and being able to read my own posts. 

- Jeff