Well, a week or two ago I actually started posting on this forum after 8 months of intermittent lurking.  I must say, this is a very friendly community and exceptionally civil compared to some I have participated in.  I look forward to spending more time and sharing information, trials and tribulations of this hobby.

As for myself, some of my background is in my profile.  I started making cheese about 9 months ago after receiving a basic fresh cheesemaking kit from a friend to whom I had expressed an interest.  To say I dove in is an understatement.  I was fortunate enough to attend two workshops this past summer with a master cheesemaker who was relocating to NY; this helped me immensely in understanding what goes on in this process.

I have been part of a “cow share” program and I was receiving a gallon of fresh raw Jersey milk every week, but she is being “dried up” to calve again and I will have to work with commercial milk for awhile.

In this post and the next I am including pix of the cheeses that I served at our New Year’s Eve party.  I was pretty popular this holiday season, as I brought cheese to every event we attended.  Some of them were a bit overripe by 12/31, but were still enjoyed by all.  My understanding is that I can only post 5 pix per post, so the rest will be next post.

Hmmm.  I didn’t realize that the names of the pictures didn’t display.  Here, from left to right, are:

A small (1 lb.) manchego that picked up some roqueforti from a nearby stilton in the cave.  Luckily, it didn’t get to well established. 

The next two are views of a chunk of stilton from a 2 lb wheel that are about 5 months old.  The curds knitted on this one a bit more than I would have liked and the veining is somewhat limited, but the flavor is terrific.  I wish I would have taken a photo of the whole wheel with its rind. 

The last one here was an attempt at Cambozola that didn’t develop the blue because the curds knoitted together.  I still tasted quite good.

The other cheeses.

From left to right…

Goat Camembert

A very ripe lactic mold ripened goat cheese, like Selles Sur Cher

A small mold ripened (candidum) lactic cow milk cheese that reached a spoonable consistency

An attempt at Epoisses that picked up some roqueforti and never got runny.  The taste is fabulous so I am hoping it is mainly a moisture issue.

Some very nice looking cheeses, congrats. Looks like u apply the blooming culture after the curds are caked?

Neil - 06 January 2009 08:58 PM

Some very nice looking cheeses, congrats. Looks like u apply the blooming culture after the curds are caked?

Nope…I add the culture directly to the milk.  It’s one less step in the process.  I may try the spray on app at some time.

I mentioned it because your brie was solid inside, usually the case when its sprayed on. (first pic on second line) I wouldnt spray it, ive heard people having problems with that. Fine in the industry, they have spraying rooms for that.

That was my first attempt at a 100% goat “camembert”.  It did ripen a litt quickly on the outside.  I think I need to work on the process a bit.

One of the things I like about this hobby is that even if the cheese doesn’t turn out exactly as you planned, it’s still pretty tasty.

Tom,

I have tried to age my Epoisses tries at around 46f at 80% humidity and even with regular washings they have become very hard and not runny at all.  I have also tried using B linens in the milk and spraying.  what are you doing to different to make the cheese not hard.  My comment on the other thread regarding trying them in plastic boxes for the first few days was an idea to keep them soft. 

Also, when you used lactic acid renetting (with a small anount of rennet) for 16+ hours, did you get a curd formed below a layer of whey and some top floating sourish scum?  This was my result and I did not trust the underlying curd so I dumped it.  Also what sort of temp did you do the extended lactic acid renneting?  I am in Singapore and have tried doing it both at the ambient evening temp (86f) and have tried it in my cave that is mimicing high latitude ambient room temp (72f) and both times had the same smelly results. Also I was using 6-8 drops of veg rennet.  Are you using animal rennet instead (I have not tried this yet and am not sure if it will make a difference).

Thanks,

Gerrit

Gerrit,

I will post a reply to the above in your Epoisses thread, as I think it would be good to maintain the continuity there.

Tom,
I have to say that the cheese looks fantastic. Sounds like the cheese bug hit you, just as it did in my life.
I’ve made so much cheese this winter that I honestly have no idea what I’m going to do with it all. Regardless, I have a cheese planned for this weekend and probably every weekend the rest of the winter.
I’m sure you were a very popular guest at holiday parties if you took your cheese along. I’ve found that people are first of all amazed that someone is able to make cheese at home and then even more amazed when they taste it.
I also agree 100% with your statement that even if the cheese doesn’t turn out perfectly, it is still very tasty. I truly want to turn out what I consider a proper Camembert style of cheese yet if all of my attempts taste as good as the first ones I made I can still be happy with them (well, sort of anyway….I have this little perfectionist problem that keeps me from being completely happy with anything).
I’m glad you stopped lurking and started posting. I look forward to your input.

Dave

Dave,

Thanks for the inputs.  I must admit that I hadn’t been in the forum for awhile but did a lot of reading over the holidays.  It is great that you have been posting so many of your experiences.  I realize that what really makes a forum valuable is the dialogue and you are a great contributor.

And by the way, Rick, thanks for providing this venue.

My wife gave me a 30 qt stockpot and a large tomme mold for Christmas, and tonight I am doing my first “BIG” cheese.  I’m not set up yet for pressing large hard cheeses, so I am attempting a St. Nectaire.  We’ll see how it goes.

As I also have been lurking around here for about 9 months, we must have started making cheese around the same time. I got milk last night, and your plan to make St. Nectaire inspired me. Where did you get your recipe? I am trying a batch 10 gallon today based on information on making this cheese that I found in Patrick Rance’s “The French Cheese Book” and “French Cheeses” by Kazuko Masui and Tomoko Yamada. I am very curious where you base your procedure on. Thanks

Welcome Oude !!

Some background info on the cheese;

————————————————————————————————————————-
St-Nectaire Cheese
St-Nectaire Cheese is made in Auvergne, France, in 72 districts in total in the Cantal and Puy-de-Dôme départmentes. The cheese has a soft, milky taste.

The average cheese weight is 3 1/2 pounds (1.6 kg), for which about 12 US quarts (12 litres) of milk are needed to make it.

There are two versions of St-Nectaire Cheese, an industrial version, and a farmhouse version.

The industrial ones have runnier insides; while the farmhouse versions are firmer.

The industrial St-Nectaire Cheeses are made in a dairy using pasteurized milk, which can come from several herds. A well-known commercial brand is Roussel.

The farmhouse ones are made using unpasteurised cow’s milk. The milk must come from a single herd of Salers cows.

The cheese is made twice daily, morning and evening. The milk is put in a vat, and starter culture (lactic acid bacteria) and calf’s rennet are added. The temperature is kept at 91 F (33 C) so that the curd is never cooked. Within 15 to 25 minutes, the milk will be curdled, at which point it is cut into pea-sized pieces, then stirred for 15 minutes.

The whey is drained off, then the curd is put in moulds, and pressed. The cheeses are then turned out of their moulds, and stamped with their producers’ mark. They are salted, wrapped in cheesecloth, placed back into a mould, and then pressed for 24 hours, during which time they are turned once.

The cheeses are then stored for 7 days between 42 and 50 F (6 and 10 C), then sent for aging on wooden shelves for about 6 weeks. They are then washed with brine, scraped and turned.

Some producers prefer to only wash the cheese, resulting in ones that have a pink rind; some prefer to only scrape the rinds, giving a grey rind. The grey comes from a mould called “mucor” geotrichum candidum fungus, though the strain varies from cheesemaker to cheesemaker. Other cheeses end up with rinds with mould on them that is white, yellow and red.

The farmhouse versions of St-Nectaire Cheese have a 45% fat content.

History
St-Nectaire Cheese was originally cave-ripened on straw.

Its French AOC was granted 1 December 1955. Commercial production was allowed starting 5 September 1961.

Oude Kaas - 07 January 2009 03:19 PM

As I also have been lurking around here for about 9 months, we must have started making cheese around the same time. I got milk last night, and your plan to make St. Nectaire inspired me. Where did you get your recipe? I am trying a batch 10 gallon today based on information on making this cheese that I found in Patrick Rance’s “The French Cheese Book” and “French Cheeses” by Kazuko Masui and Tomoko Yamada. I am very curious where you base your procedure on. Thanks

Hi Oude, and welcome.

I used the basic info in Masui and Yamada as a starting point.  I was looking to make my first “larger” (i.e., greater than 2 gal cheese), but I am not set up yet to press hard cheeses.  Something in the style of St. Nectaire seemed a reasonable project.

I used 4 gal commercial whole milk (my Jersey source is literally dried up right now) MA4001 culture, and added Geotrichum, and a little dash of B. linens and P. roqueforti just to get a variety of flora started.  Set, cut, and milled the curd at about 91F, then drained it for a couple of hours.  I then cut the curd into ~1 in cubed and put it into a large tomme mold.  In retrospect, I would probably use 1 gal less milk as it is much thicker than a St. Nectaire….looks more like a giant Camembert.  It has about another 12 hours of pressing to go…it was turned and salted this morning.  I am hoping to end up with a tasty pressed, uncooked cheese in a couple of months.  We shall see.

Yes this forum is my favorite, i started here, i learned a lot, and i am willing to give what i know for the sake of cheese-making lovers

cheese

I have just posted my attempts of making a St. Nectaire style cheese.

Looks real nice !! Thanks!