Post by Lannie on Jan 26, 2022 8:22:14 GMT -5
It's been so long since I made cheese, I've really been looking forward to getting back into it. So now that I'm getting milk from one of our neighbors, and her other cow just calved last week, she's flush with milk, and I was able to get six gallons day before yesterday. OMG, CHEESE, CHEESE, CHEESE!
Except I forgot one thing. Just because the colostrum has cleared doesn't mean the SCC is sufficiently down to set a firm curd... It took an hour and a half, but I finally got a soft curd to form, so I forged ahead and cut the curd, and "cooked" it for another hour and a half. It was actually looking pretty good, so I strained it in the mesh colander for 20 minutes, then plopped the curd mass in a large bowl to break it up and salt it, and it was exuding whey at an astonishing rate, LOL! I had to tip the bowl a few times to get rid of more whey, and more whey, then I finally said to heck with it and broke it up as fast as I could, salted it, and tossed it in the mold.
That is one FAT cheese I made! I have no illusions I'll be able to age it. Not only was the curd too soft, but I think there was too much cream on the milk as well. I couldn't really see the creamline very well because it's the same color as the milk, and I really wasn't paying that much attention at the time. My excitement over making cheese overrode my logic circuits.
Anyway, after several flips and rewraps, it went in for its final pressing at around 4:00 yesterday, and I'm going to leave it until 4:00 this afternoon. If it's not wheyed out by then, it never will be. But IT WILL BE DELICIOUS! Just the SMELL of the cheese as I was stirring the curds, draining, turning, etc. was sinfully good! I can't wait to bite it!
I did learn my lesson, though, and I will wait another couple of weeks before I try making cheese again. Maybe I can actually wax and age the next one, LOL!
Except I forgot one thing. Just because the colostrum has cleared doesn't mean the SCC is sufficiently down to set a firm curd... It took an hour and a half, but I finally got a soft curd to form, so I forged ahead and cut the curd, and "cooked" it for another hour and a half. It was actually looking pretty good, so I strained it in the mesh colander for 20 minutes, then plopped the curd mass in a large bowl to break it up and salt it, and it was exuding whey at an astonishing rate, LOL! I had to tip the bowl a few times to get rid of more whey, and more whey, then I finally said to heck with it and broke it up as fast as I could, salted it, and tossed it in the mold.
That is one FAT cheese I made! I have no illusions I'll be able to age it. Not only was the curd too soft, but I think there was too much cream on the milk as well. I couldn't really see the creamline very well because it's the same color as the milk, and I really wasn't paying that much attention at the time. My excitement over making cheese overrode my logic circuits.
Anyway, after several flips and rewraps, it went in for its final pressing at around 4:00 yesterday, and I'm going to leave it until 4:00 this afternoon. If it's not wheyed out by then, it never will be. But IT WILL BE DELICIOUS! Just the SMELL of the cheese as I was stirring the curds, draining, turning, etc. was sinfully good! I can't wait to bite it!
I did learn my lesson, though, and I will wait another couple of weeks before I try making cheese again. Maybe I can actually wax and age the next one, LOL!