I do have air conditioner, just trying to hold off to help with the bills :( but will have to since its now in the 30c during the day now, even my fish tank is 82f so will have to put the Air on today.
Finally cracked this cheese, believe it or not this cheese has not seen the inside of a fridge, been on the kitchen counter the whole time. It does not melt, it is high in acid and is crumbly, as anticipated with the past history I have had with hard cheeses. It taste a cross from a nippy and Parmesan.
Its a bit of mold that I cut off, nothing nasty to the nose. Im not please in that it was a nother failure to make Swiss, but with the PH meter now Im hoping to change that. On a positive not im very glad that its enjoyable to eat, def a pasta cheese.
Neil…
Please understand that I’m not trying to tell you what to do here. I’ve also struggled with swiss in the past, but honestly I finally decided that the problem was more with the recipe I was using than anything else.
I would love to see you try the recipe I posted in the recipe section of this forum.
Like any recipe, it is not foolproof but it does give (by far) the best results I’ve seen.
Each swiss I’ve made using this recipe comes out nice and soft…nice and elastic and does form eyes (although very small ones). I’m certain that if I give this same recipe a try while also prepressing under the whey I will finally see the success that I’m hoping for.
You’ve given me a lot of good advice since I’ve been here. I would simply like to return the favor.
I really do think you would be happy with this recipe if you’ll give it a try.
OK there’s been a lot of talk recently about pressing Swiss under whey. I’m at a loss to understand what it is you are doing. All I can think of is that you submerge the wheel in whey. With what do you press and for how long???
Rich, I’m with you on not exactly udnerstanding this process.
From what I gather it is all about keeping air away from the curd, during a pre-pressing of the cheese.
Basically, (and again, I’m going on what I’ve read), after draining a small amount of the whey you add a follower to the cheese curd…while it’s still in the pot, still under why…..and add a weight for approximately 10 - 15 minutes.
This forms the curd into a mat that is not able to introduce air into the mass (since it’s under they whey). The supposedly produces a very closed cheese texture that will then allow the cheese to “blow” once the gas begins to produce.
My problem is finding a suitable follower to fit inside of my cheesepot and….from the photos I’ve seen the curd is in a cheesecloth bag before the pressing begins. I’m not really sure how to get it into a bag without removing it from the whey.
I’m trying to do as much research as possible before giving this a try.
If anyone has any suggestions or ideas or (please Lord) experience I would love to hear it.
Btw….
Rich, I saw in another thread that you commented on the photo I’ve used as an avatar.
In case you didn’t recognize the artist, it’s Salvador Dali. From what I’ve read about Dali, he was a bit of a nutcase, but I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen art that I enjoy more.
Dave I just can’t pass this one up. If you love the art of a nutcase, what does that make you??? Understand, I’m not accusing, i just cannot pass up an opportunity like this.
Now, as to the pressing under whey. The follower would be no problem at all. One could just cut a disk of the proper size out of a UHMW cutting board, or even a wooden one for that matter. But the bag is another matter. You could put cloth into the pot at the start, but what’s to keep it in place? Perhaps line the pot with shortening and stick the cloth to it???
No Rich! You don’t get it!
BECAUSE I recognize him as a nutcase, that makes me NOT a nutcase (at least that’s what I tell myself.) LOL
I’ve watched some videos of professionals making parmesan and they have a procedure where they take a LARGE cheese cloth and work it under the whey and under the curd, while it’s still in the vat. This is done by moving the cheese cloth in a back and forth motion while lifting at the same time. This seems to suspend the curd in the pot and then they are able to move the cloth under the curd and lift it in a “bag”. I’m sure this is someting that would be much easier done in a large kettle than in a 12” diameter x 12” deep pot, like mine.
I picture myelf giving this a try, but only after a trial run or two.
What I’m thinking about doing is making a cheese…...saving the whey and dumping in some rice.
Then after the rice has cooked, I’ll take a large piece of cheese cloth and see if I can pick the rice up.
I figure if I can get the rice into a bag then the cheese curd should be a piece of cake.
Your idea on a follwer is a good one and I just happen to have a brand new HDPE cutting board that’s plenty big enough to work.
I bought this a couple of months ago to make some followers for my 6” mold but it seems that I use either my 7-1/2” or 8” mold for pretty much everything now.
Thanks for the suggestion. This gives me a project for the weekend.
Thanks Dave, I am more hopeful since I have the PH meter, I will look at your recipe, im just waiting for a chance to get more milk and swiss it will be
