Cheese Log

Cheese talk - this Saturday (9/19)

2009-09-17T16:19:00.003-05:00

If you have been waiting with baited breath for the conclusion of the cheese experiments, swing by where it all started:

Saturday, September 19, 2009
Porter Phelps Huntington Museum presents Talks on the Life & Labor of Elizabeth Porter Phelps (in conjunction with Hadley, MA's Family Day)
link to event details

At 2pm I will be giving the talk:
"What did Elizabeth Porter Phelps cheese taste like?"

The event is open to the public.

RIP Cheese

2008-03-19T23:33:00.002-05:00

This has been a long time coming, and I have been dreading and avoiding it. But with experiments, not all can be successful.

Today I gave it up, and put the cheeseman to rest. The smell was not right, the temperatures have been way out of whack for the past few months and I knew it had to be done to keep eaters of cheese safe... I had to throw him away.

I am more than sad, but there will be more cheesemaking in the future.

Holiday Cheer

2007-12-19T23:00:00.000-05:00

Things seem to be overly moldy... again. The smell is not so great either.
Perhaps the basement isn't the best place for the cheese.

Moving Day Part 2

2007-11-30T17:30:00.000-05:00

So it is long overdue, but the cheese has now been moved to the basement. Hopefully he will continue to ripen successfully.

Pre-Thanksgiving

2007-11-20T17:14:00.000-05:00

Moving Day

2007-07-29T15:06:00.001-05:00

So, I have been under the weather as of late and the cheeseman has been stinking to high heaven... so the idea came to pass that perhaps it was time for one of us to relocate. Me having more things, it was time for the cheese to go... downstairs that is.

He is now resting outside on the porch. I am hoping that more frequent airing outs will be more successful with controlling the mold situation.

Field Trip

2007-06-24T15:08:00.000-05:00

It was such a lovely day, cheeseman decided it was time to go outside and play.

(Warning: Extreme wrinkle close up!)

And then it was time for a bath. A saltwater scrub and some dry-time on the table.

Leaning to the side

2007-06-05T19:07:00.000-05:00

I am back home and Cheese is more lopsided and definitely in need of a brushing.

The wrinkles seem to be getting a little deeper, but the mold seems to be under decent control and not penetrating the cheese.

Canadian Cheese

2007-05-31T22:49:00.000-05:00

I got to taste cheeses from British Columbia... in British Columbia!!

Most interesting was a tomme-style washed with blackberry port. It made me slightly homesick and very exited because it was just around 6 months old and still gave to pressure (just like cheesie!).

Not ready - yet

2007-05-26T18:58:00.000-05:00

Originally today was going to be the official "cut the cheese" day, but cheeseman is still a little soft and I really want to see what another month or two can do. It is a bit of a risk because flavors (both good and bad) will intensify, but since it wasn't too salty when I cored it, I think its worth the gamble.

6 months old!!

2007-05-19T18:47:00.000-05:00

Things are looking pretty good...

Cheese is 6 months old today!

Cheesemaking, Part II

2007-05-02T11:05:00.000-05:00

Last night I made curds, today I made mozzarella!

I loosely used this recipe: Fankhauser's Mozzarella Recipe

It came out a little bit rubbery, but the flavor was awesome!

Coring

2007-04-25T23:31:00.000-05:00

The day has finally come... Tasting Day.

I cored the cheese (a bit unscientifically, with paring knife) and tasted it. The knife was short, so I didn't get all the way into the center, but I still could get a good view of what is going on.

Soft, creamy, a little damp and no veining or mold on the inside!

Then I plugged up the hole with lard.

The texture: soft, creamy a bit velvety.
The taste: a little spicy/peppery, like the aftertaste of arugula.
(I was worried it would be too salty, because of the over salting at the beginning, but it was not salty at all. In fact, I could not taste salt at all.)

Since the consistency is so soft, I am going to let the cheese age for a bit longer. The tentative Cut The Cheese day is now going to be in late June, early July.

Hanker for a Hunka

2007-04-21T19:31:00.000-05:00

In lieu of slicing into cheeseman and inspired by last weeks findings, I opted for a piece of Appleby's Cheshire.

It is surprisingly creamy, yet crumbly and nutty right next to the rind. A substantial part of this delicious dinner:

(Appleby's Cheshire, baguette, Couronne Lochoise and pea tendril salad.)

No More Kid Gloves

2007-04-15T20:21:00.000-05:00

Tonight, someone asked to take a look at the cheese, I kindly obliged. When I went to put him back I realized that I wasn't moving him gingerly, oh no, I picked him up and flipped him over without worrying about the structural integrity. The rind is truly formed!

A new reason to pump iron

2007-04-10T22:48:00.000-05:00

The waiting game is becoming tedious. Each day I contemplate coring cheesie, just for a little taste. It is becoming harder and harder to restrain. To pass the time I have been brushing up on my cheesemaking knowledge. Visiting: Neal's Yard Dairy I finally discovered why I had so much trouble having the muslin stick to the outside of the cheese.

The cheesemakers of Appleby's Cheshire demonstrate their technique:

That's right, an IRON! They run an iron over the top of the wheel, to heat the cheese so the cloth sticks. This tid-bit of knowledge makes me want to make more cheese ASAP.

Ugly Underbelly

2007-04-07T19:13:00.000-05:00

The straw mat was taking longer to dry than anticipated, so I put the cheese back in the fridge on a plate, with part of the cheese resting on the lip of the plate so air could still circulate.

Big mistake...

There definitely was not enough air circulating, and the mold went crazy. I brushed off as much as possible and returned him to his comfy, dry straw mat in the fridge.

Mold, lots of mold

2007-03-24T15:44:00.000-05:00

I went to flip le cheese and the entire straw mat was covered in mold. Unbeknownst to me, condensation was forming on the back wall of the fridge, then dripping down and puddling onto the straw mat.

I brushed the cheese and scrubbed the mat with boiling water and vigor. I feel like a very bad cheese parent, neglecting bedding and whatnot.

New Fan

2007-03-17T17:39:00.000-05:00

I bought a new battery-operated, oscillating fan for $2.99.

With two new AA batteries, it lasted for less than 8 hours.

I am going back to the drawing board.

Spores Galore

2007-03-15T09:29:00.000-05:00

The mold is spreading. A small patch is now growing on a corner of the straw mat.

Everything is smelling a lot more vegetal, almost like dirt/compost.

Buzz in Need of Rescue

2007-03-13T19:21:00.000-05:00

Buzz Lightyear died two hours after I put him in the fridge.

After a new set of batteries, he was up and running again. I checked in on the situation, a few hours later, and the fridge smelled like burning plastic. Apparently Mr. Lightyear is really a child's play-thing and not up to the task of long-term air circulation.

Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue

2007-03-11T23:09:00.000-05:00

The cheese has been lacking air circulation. At first I didn't think this would be a problem, but the rind is still not as firm as it should be. Trying to purchase a fan in the middle of a New England winter is as about as successful as herding cats. So I was quite grateful to find the Buzz Lightyear fan, at the deceptively named Dollar Store, for $2.

After several failed attempts at trying to keep the "on" button held down while keeping the fan upright to do its fanning, I rigged up this.

Using the neon green cord, I tied the fan upside down to one of the door bars, and using a plastic zip tie, held down the "on" switch.
The first few attempts ended with straw getting caught around the foam blades, but after some height adjustments, it seems to be working.

At the suggestion of a cheese friend, I also swapped out the dish towels for a bowl of salt water.

Cotton Candy Mold

2007-03-06T22:57:00.000-05:00

Here is the white mold. Close up, it looks a bit like wisps of cotton.

The good new:
The rind is drying out and the cheese is firming up!
The even better news:
It appears that the orange mold has stopped spreading. (You can see it above, on the top edge in the foreground, getting covered over with the fluffy, white mold.)

I did end up removing most of it tonight. The mold became less cute and fluffy, and slightly grey and dingy looking. Most of it came off with a gentle brushing.
(There is a dark grey/black mold that grows off the sides of cheese, called 'poile de chat' - cat's hair. It is usually found on goats' milk cheese, so I am pretty confident the mold on cheesie is a type of penicillium... but I am not 100%)

The Fuzz

2007-03-03T18:41:00.000-05:00

There is a white fuzz enrobing most of the cheese. I am not sure what it is, perhaps penicilium?

Against my better judgement, I am going to let it grow for a few days.

Wrinkles are beautiful

2007-02-25T22:25:00.000-05:00

The cheese has finally started to firm up! The lard is drying out a lot faster, and with the exception of a few wrinkles, the rind is looking a lot better.

Still a decent amount of mold, but currently none of it seems to be spreading.

Half Way There

2007-02-19T21:30:00.000-05:00

Happy Half-way Birthday Cheese!!

To celebrate the cheese's 90 glorious days of existence, I broke out the last of the homemade pumpkin ravioli. (The ravioli that are filled with the ricotta from the cheese's leftover whey.)
Brown butter, shallots, 4 types of mushrooms, fresh sage and a hint of nutmeg... mmmmm!

Here are the birthday pictures. (Note the cheese was too cool to wear a party hat.)

And He Shall Be My Squishy

2007-02-17T20:51:00.000-05:00

It is almost the cheese's half-way birthday, he will be 3 months old this Monday, and my goal was to core and taste the man. Sadly, while the edges are firming up, the sides and the middle are still squishy - like a ripe banana.

The good news is that it smells more and more like cheese. Less and less like sweet salt marsh, gaining a stronger rotting/funky smell. The closest real-cheese-smell I can relate it to is generic blue cheese smell, but I wonder if that is just because of the mold.

Note the gray colored spots are really blue-green, and the spot in the middle above the white one is dark brown. (Owning a camera phone does not a photographer make.)

I brushed off all the mold, with the exception of the orange spot from the underside that refuses to budge, I think things are looking a-ok.

Fridge Woes 2

2007-02-13T10:31:00.000-05:00

7:23 am
65 degrees
humidity over 80%

Apparently the timer didn't tell the fridge to turn on last night. The mold that had just started growing last night, has flourished.

After 20 minutes, 2 extension cords, a surge protector and a new outlet, I got the fridge back up and running. (With enough time to spare to grab free coffee and doughnuts before work!)

I have yet to hear from the "dairy consultant," so I am just going to brush off as much mold as I can and try to keep temp around 50.

411

2007-02-05T17:27:00.000-05:00

The mold fiasco from yesterday left me nervous, so I called in the big guns... a dairy consultant.

Removing the extra muslin apparently unleashed a furry. The sweet apple smell is gone. Cheeseman smells like a footlocker and mushrooms.

M.O.U.S.s

2007-02-04T23:32:00.000-05:00

I began brushing off the excess mold forming on the outside of the cheese. This was pretty easy, since much of the lard was still soft, except for the edges. Then I used a chopstick and moist paper towel to collect the mold, working my way around the cheese.

I decided to lift up one of the "bandages" to see how the surface was doing.

Low and behold, a lot more mold; mold in colors that was not on the chart of cheese molds.

As I peeled back the layers, more mold.

Mold Of Unusual Size!

At this point, each time I scraped the mold, my nose started to run (spores flying all about and my allergies when haywire).

With cuticle cutters, I stripped back all the extra muslin.

I was ok until this...

Orange mold usually only forms on washed rind cheese. What is it doing here?!

I scraped off as much as I could.
Most of the molds do not like salt, and the mold chart recommended washing the rind with a brine solution (after scraping off extra mold) to keep the surface clear.

(Glistening from the bath)

Back in the cheese hut, with the handy-dandy new timer set to turn on and off every 6 hours, and the hydrometer reading in the 70s.

Mold-o

2007-02-03T16:45:00.000-05:00

A cheese friend lent me Farmstead & Artisan Affinage Training Manual by Peter Dixon. It contains a bunch of articles about cheese and affinage (the art of aging cheese). Sadly, there were no pictures, but there is a chart that lists types of molds by color.

So far, I think the cheese has at least three types, maybe four.

BLUE - Penicillium

WHITE - Scopulariopsus, Penicilium or Geotrichum

PURPLE - Aspergillus

While a few of these can produce good flavor, most of the advice says to brush/wash off most of the molds. This will be tomorrow's project.

Apples

2007-02-02T17:56:00.000-05:00

The cheese smells like sour apple candy today.

Raw Milk

2007-01-31T22:34:00.000-05:00

The raw milk lecture tonight was amazing! Not only did I get to sit next to a super famous anthropologist, I learned a ton of new facts about milk.

Such as:
Most of the B-vitamins in cow's milk are in the milk fat; most commercial skim milk contains additional powdered milk to make it look whiter; & pasteurization kills many enzymes in milk, including the one that helps humans digest lactose.

(The Culinary Historians of Boston had an impressive spread of cheeses and snacks to go along with the chat!)

Meters

2007-01-31T13:21:00.000-05:00

Upon the fantastic suggestion of PickledBeets, I bought these at lunch:

Heavy Duty Timer - $14.99 + tax
Hydrometer/Thermometer - $8.99 + tax

(Hydrometer was suggested months ago by Michael of Twig Farm.)

Cheese expenses to date: $101.48

Heat = Stink

2007-01-30T17:43:00.000-05:00

I forgot to turn the cheese fridge back on this morning. (I have been shutting it off at night, to keep the back from freezing and to keep the electric bill reasonable.)
I did not realize this horrible oversight until 10:36 a.m., well into the work day. Asking your boss to "go home to check on the cheese" apparently is not a valid excuse for leaving work.

I just arrived home and the boy stinks... a lot.
Musty, damp, flooded basement funk added to the rotting fruit cocktail and old man sock smell.

At first I felt like a delinquent cheese owner, but they didn't have refrigeration in the 1700s, so maybe this will just help speed the aging process.

Cheese dip

2007-01-29T18:09:00.000-05:00

I swear I have not been taking my cheese-flipping duties lightly, but the top of the cheese was definitely had a concave shape this morning. It is not too drastic, there do not appear to be any cracks, but I am not sure these "cheese experts" are correct about only flipping it twice a week. I am going to ramp it back up to every other day to be on the safe side.

Lucky 13

2007-01-29T18:00:00.000-05:00

There are now 13 spots on the cheese - ranging from the size of a tic-tac to a full quarter.
Most of them are bright yellow, three have hints of green, one of those has a dark green/blue hue in its center. One spot is dark brown.

A cheese friend has offered to lend me his book on mold. (Apparently it is similar to a bird watching book, only with pictures of cheese mold and but does not come with a whistle.)
Hopefully I can correctly identify each and then brush/rub/scrape any bad mold off.

Stats

2007-01-24T22:04:00.000-05:00

Current Height - 4"
Current Diameter - 6 1/2" or 6 3/4" (still lop-sided from the hernia)
Smell - old man socks (worn approx. 4 days without washing) filled with rotting fruit cocktail

5 gallons raw milk - $35.00
5 gallon bucket - $7.50
cheese cloth - $2.29
cheese press & mold - borrowed in exchange for a sample of final product
2 yards muslin - $2.75
1 cup lard - $1.00
kosher salt - n/a
rennet - $6.50 2.0 oz + $5.75 s&h
annatto - $1.23
refrigerator - borrowed for a cheese friend
straw - borrowed from a cheese shop
electricity (dec.) - $14.28
Total to date - $76.30

Cheesey Events

2007-01-22T17:32:00.000-05:00

http://www.myspace.com/cheeselogblog

You can be a Friend of Cheese and also see upcoming cheese/food related events!
(The first one is about cheesie's ancestor, raw milk.)

CHEE$IE

2007-01-21T17:10:00.000-05:00

Cheeseman is running the electric bill sky-high. We are not talking 1.21 giagwatts, but since he has lived in his fridge, there has been a 22% wattage increase!

In addition to taking him out of the fridge every night for a little air, I am shutting of his watt-guzzling hut for a few hours each night. (I would send him to the basement for the duration of his aging, but it smells really weird down there and I am afraid he would get funky, in all the wrong ways.)

Nightly circum perambulation

2007-01-16T23:50:00.000-05:00

I think I have solved the ice-on-the-back-wall-of-the-fridge problem. A nightly stroll.

I turned off the refrigerator for a few hours, left the door open, took the cheese out, and flipped it, then returned it to its bed of straw.

Hopefully this will speed the mold growth (I am officially calling the spots mold, although I have yet to see any fuzz, drying or spores) and keep the fridge from becoming a freezer and killing the cheese.

Momentary Spotlight Thief

2007-01-15T19:55:00.000-05:00

Only a select few have ever seen le cheese, (most notably, ANFRFBP - Awesome Neighbor Friend Responsible For Birth Pictures). That all changed last night.

A great group of friends gathered my apartment for a birthday party. Cheese stole the spotlight from the festivities when inquiring minds wanted to know what he looked like. There was a bit of apprehension when I warned that he, indeed, has started to reek. But to everyone's surprise (mine included!) it didn't smell like much when I opened the fridge door.

"Wow, that's kinda fruity," and "It doesn't smell bad at all," were the most commonly uttered phrases.

Cheese gracefully went back to the fridge when the cake arrived.

And a FFoF (Fellow Friend of Fermentation) brought homemade beer to the party!

All in all, a fantastic evening.

See spot... sit!

2007-01-12T22:02:00.000-05:00

The picture is a little over-exposed, but you can actually see one of the yellow spots, its now turned a hint of green in the middle.

There are three spots near the top and one on the underbelly, but tonight is flip-over night, so reverse that. All signs are pointing towards mold!

Cheeseman is sitting out on the counter because the straw mat he was resting on froze to the back of the refrigerator. Apparently the morning waterings have just condensed on the back of the fridge and frozen in one giant mass. The fridge is on the warmest setting, but obviously it’s still too cold. If it didn't stink so much (yes, its back to smelling like rotting fruit, pungent as ever) I would consider leaving it out on the straw mat in the open, but honestly I am not sure I can tollerate all of my clothes smelling like rotting fruit.

Cheese Pox?!

2007-01-09T22:19:00.000-05:00

There are 3 spots on the top of the cheese, ranging from a pea to almost the size of a penny.

I am not sure, but it looks like it could be the start of mold!

Fruit and Flowers?

2007-01-06T22:21:00.000-05:00

Cheese is smelling fruity, again. The really stinky, rotting smell seems to be lessening, and fruit, almost floral smell is taking over.

Time for a girdle

2007-01-02T22:24:00.000-05:00

Everything is getting a little droopy. The cheese cloth is bending at the seams. I don't know whether its better to un- and re-wrap, or just leave it be. The whole point of the muslin and lard was to form a protective seal, but if it's starting to pull away... I am wondering if it is doing any good.

First week of kindergarden

2006-12-26T22:27:00.000-05:00

I was a bit worried, leaving the cheese for two whole days, unattended for the holidays, but I have returned home and he seems to be doing quite well. He sufficiently soiled the towels in his fridge, from the tears dripping down onto it, so I have replaced them. (I remembered to wash them straight away, with a little baking soda in with the soap to alleviate the downright unpleasant smell.)

It is hard to believe that it has been 5 whole weeks that the cheese has been in existence! Now is the time to start flipping him only once a week, but he still seems pretty soft. When I pick him up, his sides give way to my fingers. He springs back immediately, but I am fearful of allowing him to sit on one side for too long. (I do not want him to heave to one side like before.) Erring on the side of caution, I am going to flip him every other day for the next week, and see how he does.

Deck the halls with balls of cheese

2006-12-24T22:31:00.000-05:00

No news is good news. La cheese is doing well, a few bits of straw keep sticking to his side, but besides that all seems in order.

Loosing weight

2006-12-21T22:32:00.000-05:00

The tears on cheese’s side are becoming thicker, and slightly tan in hue. The lard and muslin feels a little loose near the top and bottom seams, which makes sense if the cheese is tearing and releasing some liquid, but I am not sure if this is a bad thing for his overall health. (When I wrapped him, everything was very taut.)

Official stinkage

2006-12-16T22:33:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to find accurate ways to describe the changes to senior formage, but I am now at a loss. Even in my cold medicine haze and stuffy nose, I have been attentive to the cheese. I open of the fridge for his daily flip and I am hit by a wall of funk. Everything that it has been smelling like, lard, salt marsh, rotten fruit cocktail, well its just gotten a whole lot stronger. Not putrid, but lets just say that I am not looking forward to opening the door tomorrow.

There is a reason people kept dairying rooms

2006-12-13T22:37:00.000-05:00

Every morning before I leave for work I water the cheese and the Christmas tree. (The Christmas tree has been a recent addition to this daily routine.)

I have an open water bottle that I fill at night and let sit out, to allow most of the chlorine to evaporate. (Chlorine kills bacteria; good for people drinking tap water, bad for cheese that needs bacteria to taste yummy.) In the morning, I dribble a little water on each towel to make sure they are nice and damp.

After a fine evening with good friends, tasty sweet potato fries and delicious beer, I came home to my room filled with ode-de-cheese. There was a sticky, smelly puddle under the fridge. (Apparently I was a little heavy-handed with the “watering” this morning and it oozed out onto the floor with all its cheesey goodness.)

After some elbow grease and an hour of airing out, the room is inhabitable again.

In other cheesetastic news, the “tears” seem to be lessening, or at least becoming thicker and moving more slowly down the side of the cheese.

Going bad is so good

2006-12-09T22:39:00.000-05:00

I think I have identified what the cheese now smells like… salt marsh, lard, a wee hint of cheese and slightly rotting fruit cocktail (specifically the kind with the bright pink cherry halves that my mom used to serve with cottage cheese after we watched Sesame Street, just before Mr. Rogers).

Cheese friends nod and say “that’s good” when I tell them about this new fruity development. But these same people also look very surprised and slightly perplexed while nodding.

Washing the washer

2006-12-08T22:40:00.000-05:00

I changed the towels hanging in the fridge, keeping it nice and humid. I forgot to wash them right away. They have now tainted the washer with an awful funk. Three loads of laundry later and it still smells.

Fruit Loopy

2006-12-07T22:41:00.000-05:00

The cheese smells a bit fruity. I do not know how else to explain it. I have no idea if this is good or bad.

The Noes Knows

2006-12-03T22:42:00.000-05:00

It finally smells like cheese! I opened the fridge for cheese’s nightly flip, and out wafted the glorious sent of cheese! Not ode-de-Kraftsingle, no this was the same salt marsh and lard odor, but with a noticeable hint that something was fermenting. It did not smell bad, but if I opened up anything in my kitchen fridge and it smelled similar it would be in the garbage, not my belly. I think this a very good sign.

Do cry for me, argenchessia!

2006-12-01T22:43:00.000-05:00

For those who were waiting with bated breath about cheese’s spontaneous weeping, you may let out a sigh of relief. A very kind cheeseperson informed me that it is normal. (The extra moisture inside the cheese has to go somewhere as is dries.) This was extra reassuring because more droplets have been forming since the rewrapping. I am going to take this a good sign that everything is working well, but for added insurance I have stepped up the re-dampening of the towels to make sure the humidity inside the fridge stays up near 80% so the cheese doesn’t dry out too fast.

Not-so-secret-admirer

2006-11-29T22:44:00.000-05:00

Cheeseball got his first note!
The fine gentleman who drops off fresh produce on the back stoop left this:

Naturally, like any proud parent, I hung it on his fridge.

Papa's got a brand new bag

2006-11-28T22:54:00.000-05:00

I have calmed down a bit, cheesepuff is looking well. (A little lop-sided, but who am I to pass judgment.) I took him back to the O.R. and it was an intense hour and a half. After taking the bandages off it looks like he is going to make it. His insides are where they belong and besides a little drying out at the top, he still smells like salt marsh and hopefully will make a full recovery.

I set to work re-bandaging him, slowly this time. I employed the “mummy” method of adding extra strips across his top and sides to secure the muslin to his body, then slathered him in lard. Hopefully it will keep out air and mold and he will be able to make it to a ripe old age.

DISASTER!

2006-11-27T22:55:00.000-05:00

Cheesie was not looking well this afternoon; he was leaning to the side. I acted fast, rushed him downstairs to the operating room (aka the kitchen). After removing his bandages I saw the situation was worse than I thought… he has a hernia! His side has a crack and his middle was pushing out. (I was too upset to photograph, so just use your imagination here.)

At first I thought I could repair him, but his innies kept becoming outties. I re-wrapped him up, and returned him to his straw bed to rest, on his wound. Fingers crossed he will be alright in the morning.

One week birthday!

2006-11-26T22:56:00.000-05:00

Cheese is one week old today! Good news for him, great news for me... I only have to flip hime once a day instead of twice.

Thanksgiving Feast

2006-11-25T01:21:00.000-05:00

My contribution to Thanksgiving this year almost trumped the bird.

Using the ricotta I made from the cheese's whey, I made pumpkin ravioli... from scratch.
The process completely took over my mother's kitchen for 3 hours (she forgave me once she tasted them!). They were served up with mushrooms and sage sauteed in brown butter. Everyone had seconds.

Crying?! There's no crying in cheesemaking!

2006-11-24T22:57:00.000-05:00

He has started weeping. Four little beads of light-yellow water have formed around his middle. I am not really sure what this means or how to make it stop. (I have consulted a cheese expert and am anxiously awaiting a response.)

More steam in the sauna

2006-11-23T23:00:00.000-05:00

I was a little worried about the humidity level. For the cheeseman to grow up sharp and strong he needs at least 80-90% humidity. Some fine folks in Vermont have suggested adding moist dish towels. So now he has damp curtains lining his door.

Wrapping

2006-11-21T23:02:00.000-05:00

The neighbor friend came back over to assist with the donning of the cloth. With a pot full of lard and some sterilized muslin, we were in business.

First step, unmolding:

You can see how much whey was forced out. When I put the curds in, they were slightly overflowing.

The unveiling...

Ooooh! Look how sweet and round he is! Smells not like cheese at all; a bit like the ocean or salt marsh.

Dipping the muslin in the lard. (Note, by this point I burned my fingers twice.)

Ok, here is where things got tricky…

Someone decided to be difficult. I could not get the cloth to lie flat, no matter how much lard I rubbed on. Drastic times call for drastic measures and there was only one answer… duct tape.

Now that would be complete nonsense, but tape was sort of the answer. We made a series of “belts” of fabric to wrap around the body to secure each piece. And it worked!

To mimic a cheeseroom or natural cheese-aging cave, I'm using a refrigerator, set to its warmest setting. (I borrowed it from a fellow who also is fond of cheese, as you can see by all of the fun stickers.)

Here he is, snuggled into his new bed to rest for 6 months.

Not quite ready

2006-11-20T23:29:00.000-05:00

I rushed home with lard and muslin all set to dress senior cheese in his first duds. Sadly the man was not ready. He was still loosing a substantial amount of whey. (He has been switched out of the laundry basket to a towel on the floor.) So I added so more weight to the press to help expel the extra liquid.

The force is strong with this young one. He literally broke the mold; snapped the L-bracket right off the cheese press! Some slight adjustments later, we were back in action, pressing-a-whey!

One person's trash...

2006-11-20T00:31:00.000-05:00

After grabbing a tasty dinner, it was time to tackle the left over whey. Bringing it to a slow and steady boil, slowly but surely it turned into ricotta.

It took a lot of skimming and straining, but it ended up being just over 1 1/2 cups of cheese.

It is hard to see in this picture, but it's a lot darker than ricotta you can get in the red checked tubs from the grocery store... almost the color of light butter. (I am guessing this is from the addition of annatto)

It tastes pretty great too! Creamy, with a hint of peanut flavor.

Birthday Party!

2006-11-19T18:00:00.000-05:00

Cheshire cheese is usually dyed yellow with annatto. For some reason I thought it would be a lot more "authentic" to grind the seeds myself (instead of buying ground annatto, for just a few pennies more).

Here is about 20 seeds and a teaspoon of water that I tried to grind to release their orange-red, resin coating.

It started for form a paste, but it tasted bitter. So I decided to thin it out with some water.

In the mean time, I started bringing all the milk up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

(It took every pot in the house)

Here is the rennet & strained annatto water.
(Rennet is the enzymes from the 4th stomach of an animal that has not started consuming solid food. There are vegetable rennets and synthetic rennets available, but I am using liquid veal rennet.)

So the milk never quite reached 100 degrees, but it was pretty close. It was poured back into the original 5-gallon bucket (after being sterilized) and the rennet and annatto water was added.
45 minutes later, its time to cut the curd.

The curd is a lot softer than I expected. It should be holding its square/rectangular shape, and the whey should be less milky, a lot clearer with a tinge of grey or green. So I let it rest for 10 minutes to see if they curds would set up.

They did not set up. So began the straining processes. Employing some extra cheese cloth and a colander, slowly but surely the curds separated from the whey.

Then came the salting.

And flipping the curds to disperse the salt.

Then I lined the cheese mold with cheese cloth and started loading in the curd. They didn't all fit in at first, but after a bit of pressure, they all made it in.

The cheese mold, loaded into the cheese press, stayed in my laundry basket lined with towels to catch the whey. Every hour I added weight to the arm (the white wire on the right side of the photo) to increase pressure.

Souring

2006-11-18T18:27:00.000-05:00

To make cheese, you have to make milk go bad. (The milk has to acidify so when the coagulant is added the enzymes can do their magic and turn milk into curds & whey.)

I thought about buying a commercial start (a powder or liquid you add to milk to acidify the milk and add flavor) but then I found out there are plenty of bacteria that will spoil milk... in the air.

I sterilized a 5-gallon bucket and poured all the milk into it. I share the kitchen with a kitten, who would have loved for me to leave the milk within her domain, but it seemed safer in my bedroom. (The milk has to stay uncovered at room temperature for the bacteria in the air to get in and make the milk sour.)

5 gallons of milk weighs 42 pounds. 42 pounds of sloshing liquid is as easy to get up flight of stairs as a toddler who disagrees with his bedtime. You go left, it goes right. (Sadly, no one was around to photodocument the hillarity.)

Meeting the Milkwoman

2006-11-18T00:55:00.000-05:00

Heavily caffeinated, I set out bright and early to get organic, raw milk. When I got to the farm I met a very nice woman who showed me her barn, milking room and I was even so lucky that I even got to meet the cows. (One even licked my hand!)

The milk was from Ayrshires and Holsteins, fed a diet of organic hay and oats. The cows were milked just before I got to the farm, so their milk was still warm!

When I got home, I popped the top of one of the bottles and poured a tiny glass. I was expecting something magical, but was really rich, thick milk, and it tasted a little bit like fresh cut grass.

I put all 10, half gallon bottles, to rest in the fridge till cheese-making-time.

In the begining

2006-11-17T01:08:00.000-05:00

It was a warm day in autumn 2002 when the seed was planted. A tour guide at the Porter-Phelps-Huntington House mentioned that Elizabeth Porter Phelps, one of the previous residents, made cheese.

Coming across a few references to Elizabeth’s cheese and cheesemaking, made me wonder what it might have tasted like. And thus, the Cheese Log Blog was born.

The CLB chronicles my attempt at recreating 18^th century Massachusetts, Cheshire-style, cloth-bound cheese.