Hi guys….
Wednesday night I made a muenster and added jalepeno peppers to it. It came out of the press looking really nice but also fairly soft compared to most other cheeses that I’ve made.
Since that time I have been wiping the cheese daily with a dry cloth and also rubbing it with a small amount of salt each day yet no matter what I do this cheese will not stop weeping whey.
The is probably the second softest cheese I’ve ever made. The first was a colby that literally fell apart when removing it from the press. The problem there was way too much adult beverage while making the cheese and I sort of had the idea to squeeze the cheese in my hand before putting it in the press.
I figured this would expel a LOT of whey but instead all it did was trap it in the curd. Oh well, it seemed like a heck of a good idea at the time. :-p
Now on this muenster I did not have too much to drink. I also did not experiment away from the recipe except for cooking the curd for approx. 15 minutes at 102 degrees F.
I guess my question is mainly for Jring and Rich since they have both made this cheese, using the same recipe….
Is it supposed to be soft and does yours weep whey for days on end?
Please let me know how your’s came out.
Thanks,
Dave
Yes, its a soft cheese; and it will sag a bit after the pressing stage. Mine will usually have a wet bottom for about a day or so. Did you possibly cook it too fast? That would trap moisture. Are you letting it set at room temp, or in a cooled environment? Also, how many pressing stages did you use? All at once, or turn and repress a couple times?
Rich,
As for the cooking I went up to 102 degrees over a 30 minute period. I then held the curds at 102 degrees for another 15 minutes.
As for the pressing, I think that might be the problem. Normally I will start out with 8 - 10 lbs. for 20 minutes or so and then increase the weight to the final press amount.
This time I followed the recipe and put the 40 lbs. on right at the first and then flipped and re-dressed at the 12 hour mark. I’m wondering if excessive pressing too early in the game trapped the whey.
I put the cheese up on bamboo rods to facilitate drying. Before I had it sitting on a cheese board without any type of mat. Hopefully this will help the cheese dry out more completely.
At least I now know that it is supposed to be a soft cheese. Now if I can just get this extra whey to expel, I can give it a try in a couple of weeks.
Thanks for the response.
Dave
Yup, sounds like the pressing was your downfall on this one. It should still taste good, though, so don’t do anything rash. Also, you needn’t wait a couple weeks to try it. Its good to go in 5 days.
On extended aging of this cheese: I had waxed half a 3 lb. round and aged it an additional 7 weeks. It soured on me! Maybe it has to do with the lack of culture; but I would NOT recommend extended aging.
The pressing is what I figured as well.
I will say that it is drying out much better now that I’ve lifted it up on the bamboo rods. At least the whey is getting off of the cheese which will do nothing but help.
I did use this same recipe about a week ago to make a harder cheese. I went ahead and added a 1/4 tsp. of mesophilic A starter to the recipe and cooked it for an extended period of time (about an hour). It turned out as a smoother jack style cheese that is really tasty.
I cut a small wedge out of it a day or so ago, just to sample and it melts beautifully. I think this recipe could turn out a really great cheese with just a few modifications.
I do have this cheese waxed so hopefully I won’t see the same souring problems you had. I would guess that the addition of starter and the longer cooking time should take care of it. Also, it is the consistancy of Monterey Jack so I’m pretty confident it will keep.
Thanks for the input and the advice.
Dave
Okay, after hearing of Rich’s souring problem I decided to cut this cheese tonight. It has only been five days (and is still weeping a little whey), but man it really does taste geat.
The cheese is not nearly as moist as I had envisioned and in fact has a very nice texture. The jalepenos give it a nice flavor without adding a lot of heat.
Thanks for posting this idea. I’m pretty sure this will be one I will be making in the future. In addition to the Jalepenos, I also added some re-hydrated crushed red pepper and they really add to the overall flavor.
This is also a pretty cheese. The red, green and white really look nice when sliced. I’m going to take some of it to work with me tomorrow and get an unbiased opinion. One of my employees is a cheese connisseur and is brutally honest concerning the cheeses I have him try.
The only thing that I think that would make this cheese better is if it could age for about a month without souring. I might try another batch with some Mesophilic A starter and give it a try. If the cheese could just have a bit more sharpness I think it would be excellent.
Dave
Sorry for the late reply. I’ve been bogged down in work for a couple of weeks. My muenster did not weep, but it was very moist and soft. I put horse radish in one or two batches, and it was good, but did not have a smooth texture. The next time, I’m going to use just the juice from the bottled horse radish and see how it turns out. My husband really likes the horse radish cheese, and likes the soft texture of the muenster.
Jeanne…
Thanks for the reply. I’d not considered using horseradish in a cheese. That does sound tempting. I’m a pretty big fan of mild horseradish so I think I’ll be giving this idea a try.
Even though the cheese was a “weeping” one it did taste great. Alas, it is now history since my employees (and a few customers) made light work of it earlier in the day.
I posted earlier that I tried adding some Mesophilic A starter to this recipe and used an extended cooking time of the curds. This cheese really turned out nice and it is one of the best melting cheeses I’ve made yet.
I want to try the Jalepeno variety with this modified recipe and see if it adds some sharpness to the overall flavor. All in all, this seems to be a fool proof recipe and I thank you for posting it.
The cheese with starter reminds me of the Monterey Jack recipes I’ve tried, only with a much nicer and more appealing texture. I also can’t wait to try out this recipe using both the starter and my newly aquired b. linens for a more traditional muenster.
Thanks again,
Dave
So what temp and how long did you cook when you added the meso? And also, how much meso? Did it still have a soft texture?
My husband had found some horse radish cheese at the store and brought it home, is what gave me the idea.
I’m going to have some cheese-making time this weekend, so I want to try your suggestions here. I’m looking for something that will age quickly, yet hold up well, for Christmas gifts. Now I just need to find a piece of six-inch PVC.
Jeanne…..
I added 1/4 tsp. of Mesophilic A starter and let it ripen for an hour. I then added the rennett and let it set for 30 minutes. I then cut the curd (approx. 5/8 - 3/4) and slowly raised the temp to 102 degrees F. After that I held the temp at 102 for one hour and had a nice firm curd.
After pressing, the cheese was not in the least bit soft and in fact turned out with the consistancy I would expect from a gouda. As stated before, I cut the cheese (sorry) after only 5 days and the taste and texture was really fantastic.
My youngest daughter and I tried melting it in the microwave and it was one of the best melting cheeses I’ve done. The flavor really came to life after melting.
As for the 6” mold, try this….
Go to your local plumbing supplier (Home Depot, Lowes, Rural King or equivalent) and ask for a 6” THIN WALL PVC cap. This is a cap that has a flat bottom and has an inside diameter of just over 6”. They might try to sell you a schedule 40 cap but this will not work nearly as well. The schedule 40 caps have a dome bottom which woudl be hard to stabilize.
I have made two molds out of these caps and they work perfectly. Simply drill several holes in the bottom of the cap and then cut a follower out of some type of wood or plywood. I used 1/2” plywood and wrap it in saran wrap before use.
This system works really well and is very low cost as compared to commercial molds. You can expect to pay under $8.00 for the cap and the follower is basically free if you have scrap wood or plywood in the garage.
Another (and probably better) idea would be to go to your local hardware store and have a follower made out of plexi-glass. They might not be able to cut the circle you need but if you know of anyone with a scroll saw they can make short work of this project. The way I’ve made followers out of plywood is to lay the cap (upside down) on the plywood….trace around it with a pencil and then cut it out with a jigsaw. This has worked well so far.
I then use a common household bowl (with a good fitting diameter) on top of the follower. The press rests on the bowl which then presses on the follower. Under the cap I use another household bowl that the cap rests on. The functions as a whey catcher.
It’s fairly primative but it does work.
If you need a photo of my setup, let me know and I’ll try my hand at uploading a picture.
Hope this information helps.
Dave
Wow! I didn’t expect such detailed info. I’ll try your suggestion for the thin-walled cap. If that’s not available, I’ll break down and buy a ten-foot piece and cut it down. I’m just being cheap and not wanting to buy such a long piece, and haven’t been able to find anything else. I’ll confess, though, that I’ve not spent a lot of time looking. I have four-inch molds and also tried some two-inch, but it didn’t work out very well. There wasn’t enough room for the cheese cloth and the curds, so I tried putting a cheese cloth cap on the bottom, which resulted in the curds kind of pooching out at the bottom, which produced a pretty vulgar-looking cheese, as you can imagine. Anyway, thanks for the suggestion and the improvement of the recipe. I’m excited to have some time to make cheese this weekend.
How tall is your six-inch thin-walled PVC cap? I called around and looked around today for what I need, but unfortunately, live in a very poorly-stocked area. Our local Locke Supply had one six-inch think-walled PVC cap, but said it would only about three inches tall. I don’t think that would be tall enough. I ended up with a six-inch schedule 40 coupler, which has a rim around the middle that, if I keep it, I’ll have to take my Dremel and whittle it off of there. I’m still looking. Probably need to go put my eyeballs on the thin-walled cap at Locke’s and see if it will work.
As far as a follower, I’m still working on it. I’m just excited to finally have the time to devote to something other than work.
Jeanne….
3 inches tall sounds about right for the 6” cap. I know it doesn’t sound like much but it really does turn out a very nice impressive wheel of cheese. I’ll go measure mine right now to see if this is the same type as what I have (puts on an old Styx c.d. for your listening pleasure while you wait on me)...........
Okay, measured from the inside, mine is about 2-1/2” to 2-3/4” deep. As I said, I know this sounds really shallow but you will be more than happy with the wheel it turns out.
The really great thing about this cap is that it is perfect for a 2 gallon batch of curds. In a cheddar, gouda or colby it fills the mold to the top with no curds left over.
On a swiss curd it does take about a 3 gallon curd to completely fill it.
Your 6” coupling will work although it might be a pain to dremel out the stop in the middle. I actually did consider one of these but the center stop kept me from giving it a try. I work for a company that sells plumbing supplies so all types and sizes are readily available to me. The cap just seemed like the easiest solution since all I had to do was drill 10 - 12 holes in the bottom and I was ready to go.
As I said, your coupling will work just fine. I didn’t have a dremel tool so the stop seemed intimidating to me. If you have this tool and are familar with using it I’m sure you will have no problem making a great mold out of it.
The only thing I would suggest is cutting some notches in the bottom of the coupling in five or six places. I still use a piece of 4” pipe when I want a log style of cheese instead of a wheel. I took a 4” hand grinder and cut these little 1/4” notches around the bottom perimeter of the pipe so that the whey could easily drain during pressing. They don’t have to be very deep, just enough so the whey can get out.
Good luck on making your mold and congrats on finding some time to do what you enjoy. Sometimes life keeps us from doing what we love but that is also what makes those times so special, once we find the time.
If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ve received a lot of help from members of this site and am thrilled when I can also offer advice to someone else.
Dave
You’ve convinced me. I’m taking the coupler back and going with the cap. I wasn’t looking forward to dremeling out the rim. The notches are a good idea. I also use a four-inch piece of PVC for my four-inch rounds and they drain fine, but the notch would ensure a complete draining of the whey.
Thanks for your advice.
Now to open a gouda with red pepper flakes that has been aging about five months. I’ll report back.
The pressing is what I figured as well.
I will say that it is drying out much better now that I’ve lifted it up on the bamboo rods. At least the whey is getting off of the cheese which will do nothing but help.
I did use this same recipe about a week ago to make a harder cheese. I went ahead and added a 1/4 tsp. of mesophilic A starter to the recipe and cooked it for an extended period of time (about an hour). It turned out as a smoother jack style cheese that is really tasty.
I cut a small wedge out of it a day or so ago, just to sample and it melts beautifully. I think this recipe could turn out a really great cheese with just a few modifications.
I do have this cheese waxed so hopefully I won’t see the same souring problems you had. I would guess that the addition of starter and the longer cooking time should take care of it. Also, it is the consistancy of Monterey Jack so I’m pretty confident it will keep.
Thanks for the input and the advice.
Dave
Dave, the Meso Muenster is in my kitchen and I just sampled the first taste of it. Its terrific! Better texture - more solid, less air spaces. Also, less moist, but still on the soft side - like a true Muenster. I pressed a wee bit differently also: 10# for 15 min; 20 # for 15 min; 40 # for 6 hrs; 40 # for 12 hrs. I used pickled peppers this time as my fresh supply had expired - still good, but not as good as fresh. I used 1 pkt of Meso starter for a 4 Gal. batch. I’ll be using starter in all my Muensters from now on. Thanks for the innovation.
