I made a couple of Romano cheeses on the weekend (2 x 1 kg weight) I followed the instructions and pressed at 20 Kg for 8 hours (overnight) I had a well shaped wheel of cheese, then I had to brine them in 26% brine for 8 hours and drain and dry them. The book I was following sugested about 2 days would form a good skin, well mine has a good skin except ontop? I have left them out for 3 days now and there is still a bit of dampness on the top side of the cheese, also a few drips of brine draining when upside down.
I am tempted to put them in a normal fridge to dry off the top, is this OK or should I place them in the cheese fridge which is set at 10 C ( kitchen fridge is 3-4 C. or should I just leave them out for a few more days? After they skin over I will wax them, maybe I should have pressed longer.
The brine should protect the cheese from mold, that would be my main concern. If its still damp, it might be very wet inside the cheese still. How sponge is it to the touch.
It is quite firm, sort of tennis ball firm (hard to describe) I think the fault could be that when I pressed the cheese I had chees cloth in direct contact with the cheese except on top where I had the follower in direct contact and this caused a different surface to the cloth (I use a dense plastic follower that I had made up on a lathe, very smooth compared to the cloth). I will do as you say Nabil and place them on a rack top side down in the cheese fridge for a few days and see how they harden up) ps they smell wonderful. This is only my third attempt at cheese making, so far I have made 1kg Mozzerella, 1 cheddar, 2 x 1kg cheshire cheddars and the Romano. THe Mozz is all eaten and was great the others are maturing for hopefully 2-5 months in the cheese fridge (if I can wait that long)
always keep in mind to press the cheese gradually, this will enable the cheese to expel the why steadily , otherwise u will end up with whey pockets inside…
My experience with this brine method is nil, therefore let me ask, does the wheel float? If so, did you flip it in the brine every so often so that the top received equal exposure to the solution?
yes, it will float , because brine is heavier than cheese,
you have two option here:
1- put cheese in brine and dry salt the above surface—i do not use
2- I put the wheel in brine and a flipped dish (with very small weight) to sinking it down…
in both above way, u should flip the wheel in the middle of the brine time , example ( 24 hours for 2 pound cheese, i flip it after 12hour , and also sink it down again)
Well I has my 2 x 1kg cheeses in a 5 litre bucket of brine and I put a saucer on top to make them sink and I think I flipped then 4 times in 8 hours but I can’t stop fiddling with my cheeses as I like to see what is going on (probably should leave them alone)
If it totally submerged I dont thingk its so important to flip since it is covered, unless it near the surface, maybe the salt concentration will be different, thats my guess.
flipping , is not just related to salt, as the cheese so so fresh , the moisture will travel inside it downward , so by flipping it , u will help to distribute salt moisture evenly
