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Post by feather on Nov 9, 2017 19:10:38 GMT
@redfish , feather , So great that you both share this amazing interest/talent, nice of you to send the tree imprint Feather, Redfish it looks yummy and pretty all at the same time Okay if either of you venture into coloring them I want to see those pictures. I'm glad to share and so happy @redfish, could use it. I have two gruyere now, 3 and 4, and I'm thinking of oiling one, and using a sweet paprika. I'm not sure how that might taste but since it is a sweet paprika, it might be okay.
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Post by feather on Nov 11, 2017 18:04:28 GMT
I decided to coat my gruyeres 3 and 4 with paprika and oil, sweet paprika. I'll get to the pictures pretty soon for you.
Last night we went through the cheese cave and took out everything that had been vac packed and was either, expanding with gas (which some do), or anything giving off moisture (they shouldn't). The vac packs need to stay close to the cheese with no air. So we were opening close to a dozen packages, cutting them into about 1 lb + pieces, then revac packing and labeling. I'm so glad that is done, it took over an hour, then we put them back.
And now it is almost a year since we started our cheesy journey, and it's been great. In the beginning the hardest part was WAITING for cheese to age, to get more flavorful. Now after almost a year, some of the cheeses are more flavorful/smelly (a good smelly), sharper, and more distinctive. I'm a big fan of good sharp flavors, and distinctive flavors and surprisingly DH is now a fan of all three of my swisses which is kind of shocking because they are sharper and nuttier, and he used to just like the baby swisses. Now it will be a challenge to consistently create cheese that is plastic-y and with less distinction (like fontina and gouda), that melts on a grill cheese sandwich. So it has to be a younger cheese to do that. That means I'll have to just make cheese every few weeks to every month, the grill cheese and mac & cheese factor. I am not good and consistent at making colby or cheddar, they are just difficult to me.
So I've gone from WAITING for cheese to age, to hoping I have time to make something we can use within 3 months. What a change.
Difficult cheeses, are more grainy, can be used in cheese spreads and dips but lack the texture I'm looking for.
I gave away (early Christmas gifts) about 30 lbs to family in that small window of time when the weather wouldn't either freeze it or overheat it during mailing. And additionally, not every eats food made in other people's kitchens, and that is understandable. I do, but I'm adventurous.
I still have unopened waxed parmesans and romanos, some cheddars. My failures though are the colbys and I have not figured out why just yet. I just don't want to see another grainy cheese that doesn't hold together.
My lists of things to organize, fix, clean, is longer than my list of accomplishments lately. So I am going to focus! This next year I will be in 'maintenance mode' with cheese. I'll make cheese every so often but I don't need to make an entire year's worth of cheese anymore. I think I have that. Thanks for watching the cheesy adventure and I appreciate all the cheesy support.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2017 23:45:19 GMT
It’s been fun following you! You’re a role model for just digging in and really learning an area! I haven’t done that really in 20 years (ok since I became a single mom but “the baby” is grown!). Don’t know what it will be this time - last time was a new religion. What turned you into the cheese maker, if you don’t mind the question?
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Post by feather on Nov 11, 2017 23:58:28 GMT
It’s been fun following you! You’re a role model for just digging in and really learning an area! I haven’t done that really in 20 years (ok since I became a single mom but “the baby” is grown!). Don’t know what it will be this time - last time was a new religion. What turned you into the cheese maker, if you don’t mind the question? Thanks @home2stay , I think it was a natural progression from fermenting things (after canning, baking, dehydrating, cooking, prepping) to fermenting milk into cheese. Cheese is a good protein and not inexpensive, and we all like cheese. I was thinking, people have been making cheese for hundreds if not thousands of years, then, why can't I make it too. Wisconsin has 'master cheese makers' and I guess most people don't even try to do it. I think that just scares off the hobbyists that want to make cheese. It's a skill like growing wheat (but I don't have the acreage) or raising animals (but I don't have the animals), or black smithing (but I don't have the brawn), and it is something to trade, to eat, to keep on hand. It's kind of terrible to run out of cheese when you really want some grilled cheese sandwiches, you know? I asked Dh why he thinks I got into cheese. He said, "tell them that your DH wanted some cheese to go with his whine."
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Post by feather on Nov 16, 2017 5:31:19 GMT
Okay I made a break through. I have over 60 batches of cheese. About 10 of them are grainy and I've been mixing them with cream cheese, herbs spices, sour cream to get them to incorporate into a dish so we can use them. We use them for spreads on crackers or garlic bread. When a cheese is grainy it isn't pretty, doesn't slice well, it doesn't melt well either.
I've been studying cheese sauces. Usually I just make a roux, like flour and butter/oil, then add liquid, then add cheese. But I needed a gluten free recipe because Dh is going deer hunting and I'm sending a meal with him and one of the guys is gluten intolerant.
So this is the chemical trick to make a sauce. 1/2 cup of water, 3/4 cup of milk, 2 teaspoons of citric acid, 2 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda, bring it to a boil, it will fizz. Wait until it is done fizzing. Then add 8 oz of cheese (even grainy cheese), it will melt, whisk it in, whisk it for all you are worth and then boil it down. Now this can be used for nacho cheese with adding some jalapeno peppers. It is completely smooth. I am SHOCKED that it is completely smooth. It is beautiful. I'm going to use it for a potato casserole, potatoes, cheese sauce. Just put the cubed potatoes in the cheese sauce and bake it for the deer hunting guys.
I'm a happy little camper that I figured this out. How to make a grainy cheese into a smooth sauce. The only thing I wish for is to have a food chemist as a mentor to help show me these things. I am happy today.
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Post by feather on Nov 16, 2017 17:03:04 GMT
Awesome! I'll have to try it out with goat cheese and see if it melts. I want to hear if this works for goat cheese! Please check back with us here. Today is cheese curds making day, Dh is out milking the cows is out buying the milk. I need to take lots of pictures today for the article for Lilith's blog, I'm a little nervous about it but it's gonna be fun.
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Post by feather on Nov 25, 2017 5:15:07 GMT
Just finished the venison from 2 deer, my cheddar curds were a success, my article on cheddar cheese curds is done except for pictures.
I wanted to get back here about the cheese sauce.
It tastes delicious and not like a chemical experiment and we are kind of picky here. Instead of the citric acid and baking soda you can use 2 tsps of sodium citrate (which I bought for this purpose).
So just make the substitution if you have sodium citrate on hand.
The first time I made the sauce I used grainy cheddar or colby and some jarlsberg. This time I used a double recipe and used gouda, grainy cheddar or colby and parmesan. Excellent results in both cases. The taste is excellent and texture is smooth.
I'm making mac and cheese tomorrow, (to go with some bbq'd chicken) and the sauce is ready tonight. It took about 15 minutes.
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Post by feather on Nov 30, 2017 6:23:49 GMT
DH loved the mac&cheese made with the cheese sauce recipe. I added salt and pepper and a touch of sugar. It went well with the bbq'd chicken.
The hurrier I go the behinder I get, I'm still behind on pictures for the article.
I cut open a Romano1, the first, which was made in March and needed to age for 8 months. It is essentially like parmesan but made with whole milk, which makes it so much richer. It was waxed. Under the wax in some places, blue mold grew, and OH it was a delicious blue cheese flavor on a very solid cheese, strong too. I love that. It was better blue than the petite blue cheese I made earlier, which was milder and softer. I put the blue romano cheese, which is like crumbles into a container in the cheese drawer in the fridge for a recipe that uses blue cheese for christmas.
I remember @redfish, telling me about a cheddar with blue and how good that turned out, and I think this romano with blue is great.
I trimmed off the blue and cut into the middle, no blue inside, it was flaky and dry, nice and white, like a well aged romano should be, ready for grating, richer than parmesan. This recipe used a strong lipase and it was spicy almost like a manchego. It's going to be delicious on pasta.
I vacuum packed 3/4th's of it and put a pound in the fridge to grate tomorrow and have DH taste it. We will be processing deer for a couple days I'm betting.
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Post by feather on Dec 3, 2017 16:49:00 GMT
My romano is very strong, I mean very strong. I sent a piece over to our barter farm friends and they said they were having pasta and would try it out last night. I'm hoping to hear back from them on what they thought of it. The gruyere that I coated in oil and paprika picture. (I coated both of the gruyeres.)
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Post by feather on Dec 20, 2017 1:11:35 GMT
I don't think I'll be making cheese really soon, the holidays are such a busy time. I have some cheese cave upkeep to do, cleaning some cheeses and some of them give off gas into the vac packs and need to be repackaged. Not my favorite chore. I did see a soft fresh cheese, queso fresco with cranberries, using sweetened dried cranberries, that I thought would be tasty spread on toast over new years. I'd only want a 1 lb batch, one gallon of milk, so I need to come up with a 1 lb mold. I'm thinking probably a cottage cheese container with holes drilled in it. I read an article today, that taking cheese and sausage are probably not good things to take through TSA security at airports. I had no idea this could even be a problem. So I guess, don't travel with your cheese and sausage. www.cheatsheet.com/culture/things-you-do-that-really-tick-off-tsa-agents.html/8/
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Post by feather on Jan 26, 2018 6:40:02 GMT
Well, DH works late and gets home at 2 am. So DS and I did inventory on the cheese cave finally. 88 lbs, many that can age the longer the better. We are gearing up for some short aged cheeses we need, apparently we need provolone, which I'll make tomorrow (today), and 4 gallons of milk are in the garage. This will help DH not to need to buy cheese. I'll start the day sanitizing equipment and counter space, make the provolone, put it in curd form in the refrigerator overnight, then stretch it once the ph is less than 5.3. Cool it and brine it. I want some greek feta which I learned that if I make the 10% salt solution with a little vinegar and CaCl2, it won't get oversalted, it won't get slimy and I can keep it aging in brine for up to 10 months in the refrigerator, how cool is that? Then some bel paesi (sp?). There were a dozen packages in the cheese cave that need maintenance, I'll open the packages due to gas build up or whey or mold, clean them up, repackage and relabel. Those I should be able to get done in an afternoon. DH is retiring next month. Last week he discovered my kitchen tool, the zester. www.amazon.com/OXO-Good-Grips-Zester-Grater/dp/B004VLYQGS/ref=sr_1_7?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1516948483&sr=1-7&keywords=zesterNow he can only have his pizza with grated frozen mozzarella and parmesan. He is in love. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't feel the same way about his hammers or screw drivers. I feel like an invasion is coming on.
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Post by shellymay on Jan 26, 2018 17:54:55 GMT
DH retiring, hum does this mean the aged cheese will be disappearing a little quicker in the future Congrads to him!!!!!!
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Post by feather on Jan 26, 2018 18:37:53 GMT
DH retiring, hum does this mean the aged cheese will be disappearing a little quicker in the future Congrads to him!!!!!! Yeah Congrads to him! He eats everything from our house, that is to say, he doesn't eat out except on rare occasions. I imagine he'll eat it at the same rate as before, or I hope so. DS, I imagine will move out this next year but he is welcome to stay longer if things remain as pleasant as they are now. We are now going to try to figure out, in the long aging cheeses, how much more parmesan and romano, cheddar, maybe colby, to make, that will be ready in 2019. Knowing we made 7 batches of parmesan, we went through 4 batches (much of it eaten before aging a full year), in 2017, so we'll probably make 4 batches/year, a year or so in advance. I could make 8 batches and be ready for 2020, I guess. Does that seem crazy? It seems a little crazy to me but logical too. Opinions? The longer the parmesan ages, the drier and stronger flavored it gets. I have to say, though, it is nice for us to have a cheese deli in the basement. I feel incredibly spoiled spoiled spoiled and blessed. I really have some regrets about cheese making. I wish I was making cheese when I had 3 boys/teens to feed, and they helped in the kitchen, so they would have learned this too. I know they would have enjoyed it. All 3 of them, have, at one time or another held jobs in the food preparation/automation and packaging/deli/restaurant business. I'm getting ready for making the provolone today, but, a short cheese day as I only need to get it into a curd form and stash in the fridge (to pull and form tomorrow). Then clean up the roaster and dishes again, write out the recipe for the cheese journal. shellymay, I'll tell Dh of your well wishes for his retirement.
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Post by shellymay on Jan 26, 2018 20:05:51 GMT
Make sure and tell him I hope he stubs his toe the first day on retirement, (for not drawing my name on the cheese drawing)
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Post by feather on Jan 28, 2018 20:09:21 GMT
The second half of making the provolone was supposed to happen yesterday but it didn't.
Provolone and mozzarella in the traditional methods takes a long time for the acid to get strong enough to bring the ph to lower than 5.3. I made the curds on Friday, then let them sit at room temperature for Saturday and Saturday night and then pulled them on Sunday. It's not an easy cheese to make if you think it will be done at any specific time, it takes time, testing , time, testing, and that can be frustrating.
I have ph test strips and a meter. I tried everything under the sun yesterday to calibrate the ph meter and it was a no go. So my testing was taking some of the curd and seeing if it would stretch or not in 170 degree F whey. It finally started test out stretching at 11 pm and I was too tired to stretch it all. I was taking a chance that it would over acidified if I left it overnight but when you are dog tired, you sleep.
I got up this morning and did the dishes that collected! I stretched the provolone and made 2 2lb loaves and put them in icy cold 18% brine and they'll stay there until tonight.
One good thing I discovered. DH had some cotton gardening gloves, never used, and I wanted to wear them inside of the kitchen rubber gloves so the 170 degree F whey wouldn't burn my hands. They worked GREAT! I was able to put my double gloved hands in 180 degree F whey to mash the curd and my hands didn't get too hot. I was amazed. After I was done I washed the rubber gloves and left the cotton gloves inside of them and they are ready for the next time. I'd advise ANYONE planning on making a pulled cheese in hot water or whey, get some cheap cotton gloves and wear them inside of kitchen rubber gloves, that combination really works.
After the brining is done tonight, I'll put them in 'onion bags' as suggested here somewhere on the thread, to hang in the cheese cave and form a rind. Woo hoo, fun stuff.
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Post by feather on Jan 30, 2018 20:02:18 GMT
Then yesterday I made feta cheese for the first time. It is such an easy cheese, no need for a cheese cave, no need for a press, it can be 'pressed' in a flattened ball wrapped in cheese cloth and pressed with 1/2 gallon of water between two bread boards if you like.
One of the things I learned about feta, is that much of the commercial feta is a little too salty for me. I didn't know you could fix it by soaking it in milk for up to a day, for the salt to come out.
It got cut into chunks, dry salted, and it rests at room temperature for 6 days, then it is put in a 10% brine for up to 10 months in the refrigerator. Even though it hasn't developed much, we tasted it, and it was good. It will be good on salads with cucumbers/tomato/lettuce/olives, good on pizza.
I just started a batch of milk for bel paese, a firm melting cheese that ages in the refrigerator for 3 weeks and then it is ready to eat. Then, for a while, I have no cheese plans, except, eating cheese and cooking with it.
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Post by shellymay on Jan 31, 2018 15:15:46 GMT
No plans for a while, hum maybe time to purchase a goat, no make that two goats so they have companionship, lol and time to start milking goats for making cheese with, lol... I picked goats because they can fit in your back yard easy enough and no big cow patties to clean up
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Post by feather on Jan 31, 2018 16:02:49 GMT
Me get goats? I can't imagine it. I was reading the regulations on chickens here and we are allowed to have 5 female chickens per backyard....FIVE, that's not much at all. I doubt we could get away with a goat. Bummer. The cheese I was making didn't set a good curd and I'm not sure why it didn't, even after 2 + hours I couldn't get a clean break. I turned up the heat a little, promptly took a nap and when I woke it was 20 degrees F too high. Mushy curd separating. So I didn't cut the curd, we slopped it into the cheese cloth and square mold, and put pressure on it, the whey ran clear. But it won't be Bel Paese. Maybe it will be something like romano, having a higher cooking temperature, we'll call it our slop-cheese. I'll brine it today in 18% salt solution and hope for the best. The rennet I am using is a year old so it may be losing potency. On the other hand, the cheese I made the day before set a good curd, so I'm not sure it is that. I'll have to try again on another day. DH really wants the Bel Paese, so I'll plan for that in this next week. Today I flip the 3x3x1 inch slabs of feta and salt them. They won't be done drying until Sunday, then they go in the 10% brine in the fridge. Thanks for the goat-encouragement. Shelleymay, why aren't you making cheese, if you have goats?
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Post by stickinthemud on Jan 31, 2018 16:06:04 GMT
feather, Redfish--thank you both for demonstrating that home made cheese is possible. Cheesemaking has always seemed a mysterious, delicate, finicky process and not something I could possibly attempt. Perhaps someday now I might... Thank you!
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Post by feather on Jan 31, 2018 16:16:36 GMT
I've had people ask me what sort of dog I had when I've been out packing with my goats. Seriously. So you should get a couple a 'dogs'. Now that is an excellent idea! Oh the norwegian goat-hound we've been wanting to get. stickinthemud, OH please give some a try. Pick a cheese you want to make and maybe we can walk you through it. If you want a recipe or two, we should be able to come up with them.
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Post by feather on Jan 31, 2018 18:52:45 GMT
My slop-cheese stuck to the cheese cloth a little, lost a little cheese before I put it in the brine, oh well. Even though I'm resolved that this cheese is a failure, Dh is ready to try it as soon as 3 weeks passes for aging. He seems more adventurous than I thought he would be.
Then I had the unexpected STINK~! I turned the feta over, at room temperature that I'm salting and drying, OMGoodness, it STINKS like FETA!!!! ha ha. I put my face about 2 feet from it when I was turning it. I don't think it will make it to 6 days of drying and developing that flavor, it's stinky already, in a good way. I can't wait for it to be ready, my mouth is watering. I have some sharp lipase powder and some mild lipase powder to use in that kind of cheese (some mozzarella, some provolone, parmesan, romano, and feta), I used mild lipase and this is what is causing the stink, yum. I don't really ever know if I should use the sharp or the mild lipase in my cheeses, so I just make some note of it. Goat and sheep milk already have this lipase culture naturally and cows milk, none.
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Post by shellymay on Feb 2, 2018 16:39:18 GMT
Well don't get any of those lamancha goat's as they have no ears and hard to pass off as dogs, but now a Nubian I believe has big floppy ears and tall like the lamancha goats, so you would have to call it a basset hound mix,
Setting the record straight, I don't own a goat............. Sheep I own sheep, meat sheep!
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Post by feather on Feb 2, 2018 16:50:36 GMT
Well don't get any of those lamancha goat's as they have no ears and hard to pass off as dogs, but now a Nubian I believe has big floppy ears and tall like the lamancha goats, so you would have to call it a basset hound mix,
Setting the record straight, I don't own a goat............. Sheep I own sheep, meat sheep! Basset Hound mix? Ah so you own sheep, yum, sheep meat. They kind of looked like dogs in the picture. I'd love to get my hands on some of that! We might have to do a trade. Sheep's milk also makes really great cheese, if you ever had time to pursue that.
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Post by shellymay on Feb 2, 2018 17:01:59 GMT
feather, Wow that is a interesting chart...... thank you for posting that. Me make cheese lol, maybe in my next life, but trading sheep meat for cheese well now there is something to concider, I love a good barter
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Post by shellymay on Feb 2, 2018 17:46:10 GMT
Hey, my goats that were taken for dogs? LaManchas. I've gotten chewed out more than once for letting their ears get that frost bitten, both as dogs and goats. People never cease to amaze me.i mean how do you confuse a goat with a dog? And how do you look at a herd of goats, sans ears, and come to the conclusion that they all had their ears frozen off in exactly the same manner?! Especially little babies in May.
Here is your sign www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBjelRDKHUk
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Post by feather on Feb 5, 2018 0:56:35 GMT
The feta cheese went into the 10% brine and we made some cucumber, tomato, mixed marinated olives and feta salad (a little vinegar, basil, oil, salt), oh MY it was good. Even DH asked for more. I was pricing a good feta (versus a commercial too salty feta) and it was 9 to 10 dollars/lb, so that's about 40 dollars of cheese right there. It's so much better than what I've bought in the past.
Then the slop cheese, the overcooked bel paese, is looking good, I washed it with brine and put it in the fridge for 2-3 weeks in a zip lock bag.
I really would recommend that if you are a fan of feta, you don't even need a mold or cheese cave or a press to make it. We'll be giving it a try on some pizza and then those little greek pastries with feta and spinach/greens. DS and I are fans of the marinated greek mixed olives with feta in our greek salads, so I'm getting more olives. 5 lbs of olives for less than $30 and I freeze them in pint containers and they last for all year.
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Post by feather on Feb 15, 2018 16:20:08 GMT
My curiosity got the best of me and I had to find out how that bel paese/slop cheese that I'd overheated, turned out. It is stored in the regular refrigerator, so I chopped off a big slice and heated it slightly in the microwave. It softened and I put it on some french bread. DH and I tasted it and it was mild, soft, and pleasant. Pleasant enough for DH to make himself some cheese sandwiches. So it wasn't a complete failure after all.
I think I'll make some lasagna and put this cheese in it. Now I'm hungry and it's not even noon yet!
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Post by feather on Feb 20, 2018 19:58:57 GMT
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Post by feather on Feb 21, 2018 16:26:12 GMT
The lasagna with parmesan, bel paese/slop, and cottage cheese, meat sauce, noodles, turned out near perfect and DH has been in heaven with it.
That recipe I used for provolone kicks butt. It is a gavin webber recipe from his video but I let the curd age overnight before stretching it. We will be making more of that for sure. It is so tasty, pungent.
My youngest son's roommate mentioned that he REALLY like gjetost. So that is my cue to make him some as his birthday approaches. I'm quite fond of him and how well he gets along with my son. I've never made it, but that's never stopped me from doing anything. I've also never tasted it, so I don't know what I'm aiming for.
Brunost--the common name for brown cheese made from whey, describing the family of cheese. Gjetost--made with goat whey and milk and cream. Mysost--made with cow's whey and milk and cream.
It's not really a cheese. The whey is boiled down until it gets thick and caramelizes turning it light brown. It is creamy, almost slice-able, slightly sweet and a little tangy (I've read). The whey must not be salted or coagulated with acid, it must be a sweet whey.
So the next time I make a cheese and have some sweet whey, I'm going to make mysost for him.
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Post by feather on Feb 26, 2018 19:16:44 GMT
Okay so I got to make some cheddar cheese white 6th one, for my birthday yesterday so I had a really good day doing what I like. I'm trying a new method, of more gentle handling of the curds, (like they are little babies that need gentle care) then graduated pressing from little to 25lbs in the first two hours. This will make it more moist, so we'll see how that goes. It's out of the press this morning and air drying for a couple days at room temperature. My DH, bless him, bless him, got me a spare roaster pan (18qt) and it was used $15, I love a good deal. I'm boiling/simmering/slowly cooking down the whey since yesterday. It's lost more than half of its volume, it's a creamy beige color so far and not thick. It smells really nice to me, like when you make caramel. It's going to make some mysost, for son's roommate. DH came downstairs and said he smelled some toast. The toaster is unplugged and no one made toast, so I'm going to assume he was smelling the cooking whey. He said, 'no whey'. I told DH this was a cooking experiment that we could eat. He said, 'maybe for you, not for me'. lol After the whey gets down to 1/4th the volume, it gets moved to a heavy bottomed pot on the stove, and I'll have to stir it for a few hours, so it doesn't burn. Towards the end cream gets added. It will be like fudge, I hear. I hope. I'm posting an internet picture of mysost to we can imagine it. and it is from this website. www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/recipe/cheese-recipes/mysost-cheese/It looks like I can choose to cook it to a lighter beige or a darker brown. I have no idea what I'm doing.
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