not what I expected

[aryanhwy]

On Sunday Ælfwynn and I made cheese, using the same recipe I'd tried before, though again with thyme instead of basil (and more of it than last time), and minus the tomatoes since I didn't think they added that much and their acidity tended to turn the cheese around it brownish. This time, it seemed to be a bit more watery than before. I used a different brand of whole milk, and I wonder if that made the difference. I'm still not sure what the best way to store the cheese for giving it the best shelf-life is. I'd wrapped the previous batch up in plastic wrap after it'd been pressed sufficiently, and that certainly seemed to work reasonably. However, I know that in general plastic is not the best thing to store cheese in, since it traps in moisture, so this time when it was done being pressed I just wrapped it up in baking paper. That actually seemed to attract moisture, so the next day I unwrapped it. Two things that I've heard for preserving cheese are to rub it in butter or oil on a regular basis, so that it builds up a sort of rind, and to put it in a salt bath. I decided to try the latter. I wasn't sure exactly how much salt to use, but I was afraid of making it too salty in case it leaked into the cheese, which was already salted, and I didn't want the cheese to be over salty. It's been in the bath since yesterday morning and I just sliced a few pieces and the result was not what I expected. I think that in fact the water is leaching the salt out of the cheese, since it is less salty than it was when it was fresh. The thyme flavor is still very strong and fresh though, which is nice. But I'll have to keep experimenting.

Comments

[s10clee.livejournal.com]

a bit of advice, dont leave it sitting in the brine. To get a rind you can either rub some salt on the outside or dip in a heavy brine and then set some where cool and dry. The salt helps to dry the outer layer of cheese to form the rind. Some cheeses you will dip every day for a couple days, other you literally just leave in the cool dry place to cure.

That assumes you are leaving it as a whole and not cutting bits off it. If you want to protect it what is left as you nibble away over a few days, then the plastic wrap or an air tight container will work best.

A good source of information is: http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese.html

Enjoy!

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link! I'll have to try some of these things out. The reason I hadn't taken it out of the brine is that I can get mozzarella and cow feta in brine from the grocery store so I figured it would be OK for more long-term keeping. Maybe I should go take it back out...

Good thing a 4 liters of whole milk plus 250 ml of cream doesn't cost too much, because this whole cheese-making thing is definitely all about trial and error.

[zevabe.livejournal.com]

have you been buying milk and cream seperately as your post seems to suggest, or buying half-and-half as the recipe seems to suggest? I'm interested in trying this recipe at some point, but I do not recall having seen kosher half-and-half, but have seen both milk and cream marked as kosher. Could I just make my own half and half?

[aryanhwy.livejournal.com]

I also haven't been able to find half-and-half, so what I've done both times is 4 liters of whole milk, 250 ml of cream, and 250 ml of skim milk (skim because that's what we have on hand for drinking, and this way I don't have to buy an extra liter of whole milk of which I'm only using a fraction). It's worked well enough for me!