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Post by feather on Jul 20, 2017 21:41:36 GMT
Between a bunch of research and redfish talking about her experience with parmesan, I think I got it figured out for me making it for my family!
Parmesan is not usually waxed or vac packed and loses moisture, it's rind gets thick and hard, like rock and if the wheel is small it loses moisture even quicker and more. If a small wheel loses moisture for 2 years, it would be a rock.
I was reading that parmesan in italy is aged without wax and it loses about 17% moisture from brine to finish. So I decided I'd do that and then wax my small wheels, or vac pack them. My first parmesan was oiled and brushed and washed and the rind was hard, I measured the weight from brine until then and it had lost 20% of it's weight. That is when I waxed it.
Parmesan is supposed to age for 10-12 months or a number of years. I'm only 3 months into it and it had been waxed, then opened, then vac packed, at a 20% weight loss, it smelled and tasted quite good. I'm quite impatient to say the least.
Today I shredded/grated it in the food processor and it didn't break anything, it turned out GREAT. I put the grated/shredded parmesan in a bag and labeled it and froze it. I can't wait to use it over popcorn or in lasagna. Our family uses a lot of parmesan. I have 6 more parmesans that are aging, sealed at different moistures, it can only get more interesting.
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Post by shin on Jul 21, 2017 2:29:17 GMT
Pretty impressive, that's no ordinary cheese you're making.
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Post by feather on Jul 21, 2017 2:54:03 GMT
shin, Thanks shin, we are trying to stock what we eat, and parmesan we eat. It's been such fun figuring it out, and the creative process, the accomplishment, and then the best part, the tastings. As homesteader/preppers, we are learning skills, besides what we stock. We certainly aren't prepped for everything, but one more skill helps.
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