Cheese making.

[gallantwarrior]

Bad cheese? Hhhmmm...
When I lived in the Netherlands, my landlady, a very frugal old gal, would keep her cheese in a covered cheese dish, unrefrigerated. When mold grew on it, she'd just scrape or cut it off and continue eating that cheese. My partner does the same thing with the cheese I make, cuts off the moldy parts. Generally, if the mold is green or reddish, it's not a problem. If you have black mold on your cheese, toss it.

 

[PredFan]

I'm told that you will probably have to throw away soft cheeses when they get mold on them but hard cheeses, you can scrape it, cut it off, or take a cloth wetted with vinegar and wipe it off.

 

[gallantwarrior]

I'm told that you will probably have to throw away soft cheeses when they get mold on them but hard cheeses, you can scrape it, cut it off, or take a cloth wetted with vinegar and wipe it off.

Yep, I've heard that too. Actually, a soft cheese like brie has mold on it already. That's what the fuzzy white covering is all about.

 

[asaratis]

Bad cheese? Hhhmmm...
When I lived in the Netherlands, my landlady, a very frugal old gal, would keep her cheese in a covered cheese dish, unrefrigerated. When mold grew on it, she'd just scrape or cut it off and continue eating that cheese. My partner does the same thing with the cheese I make, cuts off the moldy parts. Generally, if the mold is green or reddish, it's not a problem. If you have black mold on your cheese, toss it.

I recall reading an article about a huge ball of cheese that was discovered in the hold of a ship that sank hundreds of years before. The cheese was still good.

However, honey is the only natural food that will NEVER spoil.

 

[PredFan]

I also heard if a lump of cheese that turned up in an Egyptian mummy's tomb that was more than 2000 years old and was still edible.

 

[PredFan]

Something they don't tell you when you are making Blue Cheese:

The "Pennicillium Rogefurte" mold that you culture, goes everywhere. I made a wheel of cheddar a few weeks ago and before it was ready for waxing, it started growing mold, blue mold.

I'm going to have to isolate the blue cheese and thoroughly clean out the refrigerator with a bleach solution.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Something they don't tell you when you are making Blue Cheese:

The "Pennicillium Rogefurte" mold that you culture, goes everywhere. I made a wheel of cheddar a few weeks ago and before it was ready for waxing, it started growing mold, blue mold.

I'm going to have to isolate the blue cheese and thoroughly clean out the refrigerator with a bleach solution.

One reason I haven't started making cheese with mold cultures. I've also put off trying Brie for that reason, too. Once I am able to expand a bit, I'd love to try both. But that bleu sure looked great. I started a Swiss cheese a month or so ago and it was doing well until it started growing green mold. I couldn't get it all washed off, so I ditched the project. Before I tossed the cheese, I cut it open, just to see whether eyes were developing. It had a great texture and already a pretty nice flavor...not as sharp as it would have been in a couple of months, but smooth and nutty. As soon as I get some more Thermophilic C culture, I'm going to try again. I'll probably not keep it as humid as recommended the next time, though.

 

[PredFan]

Something they don't tell you when you are making Blue Cheese:

The "Pennicillium Rogefurte" mold that you culture, goes everywhere. I made a wheel of cheddar a few weeks ago and before it was ready for waxing, it started growing mold, blue mold.

I'm going to have to isolate the blue cheese and thoroughly clean out the refrigerator with a bleach solution.

One reason I haven't started making cheese with mold cultures. I've also put off trying Brie for that reason, too. Once I am able to expand a bit, I'd love to try both. But that bleu sure looked great. I started a Swiss cheese a month or so ago and it was doing well until it started growing green mold. I couldn't get it all washed off, so I ditched the project. Before I tossed the cheese, I cut it open, just to see whether eyes were developing. It had a great texture and already a pretty nice flavor...not as sharp as it would have been in a couple of months, but smooth and nutty. As soon as I get some more Thermophilic C culture, I'm going to try again. I'll probably not keep it as humid as recommended the next time, though.

My daughter bought me a wine refrigerator a d I'm now keeping the blue cheeses isolated. I'll probably go ahead and make the roguefurt next and any other cheese that needs the blue mold, before I move on to something else.

 

[PredFan]

Man I hope I didn't screw up the blue cheese!!!

 

[gallantwarrior]

Why? Anything happen to it?

 

[PredFan]

Why? Anything happen to it?

According to the recipe, it's supposed to sit for 90 days at 60 degrees. Every 10 days I'm supposed to scrape off the outside layer of mold. Well, I've noticed that since the first scraping, not much mold grew back.

I read somewhere on line that blue cheese has to be kept in high humidity for its curing phase. Even though I have dish of water in there with a washcloth for a wick, I don't think it was enough. I'm worried that the cheese is too hard now and dried out. I'm using a spritzer on it now every day and hope it is enough.

 

[PredFan]

Btw, one of my farmhouse cheddars didn't turn out very well. It's crumbly like feta and has a bitter after taste to it.

 

[PredFan]

I get to open my first Traditional Cheddar this weekend. I'm a bit nervous. So far the two Farmhouse Cheddars I made haven't exactly lived up to billing. Is cheddar in the stores only orange because they add coloring to it? All my cheddars so far have been white. My traditional Cheddars are both waxed so I cannot tell what color they are. I'll open one up this weekend and even though the 2nd one will be ready the folowing weekend, I'm going to leave it in there for a few months longer.

I made a "Stirred Curd" Cheddar two weeks ago and I like the way it came out. It is also waxed now and won't be ready for another 3 months or so.

Still keeping my fingers crossed on the blues.

 

[Moonglow]

Last week I started making my own cheese. I've been wanting to do that for a long time. My first try will be ready when I get home tonight. I don't know what kind of cheese it is called, it's very very basic:

Milk, Cultured Buttermilk, rennet, salt. And real animal rennet, not this vegetarian rennet bull shit. Make the curds, throw out the whey, press it into the form, cure it in the fridge. It will be cheese tonight and I can eat it or coat it in wax and age it a few weeks. This first batch I am planning to not age. It was my first try and it only went so-so. The 2nd attempt which i am curing for two weeks instead of one isn't ready yet.

Now that I've gotten a general understanding, I'm going to try some Farmhouse Cheddar. I innoculated my sterile milk with the mesophilic starter culture early this morning. Can't wait to see how that goes when i get home.

I love doing this kind of thing.

You can also cure with cheesecloth..

 

[gallantwarrior]

I get to open my first Traditional Cheddar this weekend. I'm a bit nervous. So far the two Farmhouse Cheddars I made haven't exactly lived up to billing. Is cheddar in the stores only orange because they add coloring to it? All my cheddars so far have been white. My traditional Cheddars are both waxed so I cannot tell what color they are. I'll open one up this weekend and even though the 2nd one will be ready the folowing weekend, I'm going to leave it in there for a few months longer.

I made a "Stirred Curd" Cheddar two weeks ago and I like the way it came out. It is also waxed now and won't be ready for another 3 months or so.

Still keeping my fingers crossed on the blues.

Yes, annatto is used to color cheddar cheese in some cases. I you find the white cheee off-putting, you might try using the annatto. What type of milk are you using? Cows tend to process carotene into their milk, while goats do not. That's why cow's milk (the real thing, not supermarket swill) tends to have a yellowish cast to it.
Annatto - What is Annatto?

It took a while for me to get my cheddars to be not so crumbly. Two things I've changed and the texture is moister and creamier: I press with a lot less weight, I use less rennet.

 

[PredFan]

I get to open my first Traditional Cheddar this weekend. I'm a bit nervous. So far the two Farmhouse Cheddars I made haven't exactly lived up to billing. Is cheddar in the stores only orange because they add coloring to it? All my cheddars so far have been white. My traditional Cheddars are both waxed so I cannot tell what color they are. I'll open one up this weekend and even though the 2nd one will be ready the folowing weekend, I'm going to leave it in there for a few months longer.

I made a "Stirred Curd" Cheddar two weeks ago and I like the way it came out. It is also waxed now and won't be ready for another 3 months or so.

Still keeping my fingers crossed on the blues.

Yes, annatto is used to color cheddar cheese in some cases. I you find the white cheee off-putting, you might try using the annatto. What type of milk are you using? Cows tend to process carotene into their milk, while goats do not. That's why cow's milk (the real thing, not supermarket swill) tends to have a yellowish cast to it.
Annatto - What is Annatto?

It took a while for me to get my cheddars to be not so crumbly. Two things I've changed and the texture is moister and creamier: I press with a lot less weight, I use less rennet.

I don't think I will bother with coloring the cheddar. Thanks for the advice on texture.

 

[PredFan]

I think that my favorite recipe for cheddar cheese is going to be Stirred Curd Cheddar. Of course it has to age yet so I haven't tasted it but the consistancy and texture seems right so far. If it tastes like it should ill only make that. The traditional cheddar has been only so so, and the farmhouse cheddar hasn't had the smooth texture it is supposed to.

In a week or so, my first blue cheese will be ready to be wrapped and placed in the fridge for the last 90 days so I'll be making another blue soon. After that I'll move on to Gouda.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Let me know how that's all working out.
Right now, I'm in cheesemaking hiaitus. Three does still milking but only about a half gallon a day. I still have two gallons a week to go to customers and a bummer kid I'm bottle-feeding. Not much left for anything but the morning coffee.
I'm going to start working on swiss-type cheese when I get back into business, after the kids start weaning.

 

[dr.d]

Wow...my mouth watered reading thru these cheese making adventures...Some day I may have a crack at it...How do you differentiate swiss from cheddar using the same milk?


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[gallantwarrior]

Absolutely different, cheddar and swiss. Swiss uses a thermophilic bacterium, cheddar uses a mesophillic bacteria. You add proponic shermanii bacteria to the swiss to develop the "eyes" (holes) typical for swiss cheese, as well as the sharper taste. So the temperatures and the bacteria are totally different. Swiss also requires more frequent turning and attendance than the cheddars. The best thing is, I can use the same cabinet to cure both because there is no cross-contamination as their is when using fungus like for brie or bleu cheeses.