My one month old swiss. Please take a look and let me know what you think.
Posted: 19 January 2009 07:14 PM   [ Ignore ]
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Hi guys,
I don’t know if you remember, but the first swiss cheese I made using an 8” mold didn’t turn out so well. The curd did not knit together and the wheel came out looking all cracked and nasty looking.
This was before I learned of the need to increase pressing weight as the size of the wheel increased. Since I’ve been trying this new method I have not had any other problems.
When I first looked at this wheel out of the brine I was ready to throw it in the trash. I just knew that during the sweating stage I would have mold problems beyond belief (and I wasn’t disappointed). During the sweating, I literally had to carve up the surface of this cheese since no amount of brine or vinegar wiping would get rid of the mold.
Well tonight ended the three weeks of sweating and there was no way I was going to try to store this cheese any longer. The surface had 1/4” deep pock marks all over the surface from carving out the mold. I decided instead to cut it open…trim off the rind and see what I had.
Well folks, I am so happy I didn’t throw this cheese away.
The texture within the wheel is perfect (nice and elastic and nice and moist) and I did get some tiny little eyes which is a first for me.
Also, the taste is quite possibly the best swiss cheese I’ve ever tasted. After one taste my wife pronounced it the best cheese I’ve made to date.
Of course it is a quite young swiss so the very strong flavor is not developed but it gives me a lot of hope for the two month old swiss I have in the cave.
Anyway, here’s a couple of pics of the cheese after cutting and trimming off the rind. I was somewhat surprised that the rind was only about 1/16” think around the perimeter of the cheese. Usually I see a rind that is closer to 1/8” thick.

Dave

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Posted: 19 January 2009 09:12 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 1 ]
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LOL, proving once again u never throw out a batch, it looks fantastic, actually like Havarti, Well Done smile

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The Cheese Hole

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Posted: 20 January 2009 02:59 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 2 ]
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The holes are about the size I had in a full term swiss (attempt). The reason for the thin rind is the short age.  The rind would increase in time.  Guess in cheesemaking, you have to eat your mistakes!

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Posted: 20 January 2009 10:43 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 3 ]
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This is one mistake that’s pretty easy to eat.
Hope I make more mistakes like this one. grin

Dave

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Posted: 21 January 2009 02:26 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 4 ]
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can u test if it melts? and how it melts
and if it string a little bit ?

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Posted: 21 January 2009 03:12 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 5 ]
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And how it tastes with corned beef?

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Posted: 21 January 2009 08:32 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 6 ]
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Nabil….
I’ll give melting a test tomorrow night. I hadn’t thought of giving it a try, so thanks for the suggestion.
As for the corned beef…....
Rich, I’m about as Irish as it gets (dad full blooded and mom half) but I HATE corned beef.
Only tasted it once and thought I would puke.
Now, melted on a piece of ham and laid between a couple of thin slices of pumpernickel…now there’s an idea.  tongue laugh

Dave

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Posted: 22 January 2009 11:18 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 7 ]
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Use to eat allot of of swiss on ham under a grill LOL, that was in the eighties though. Now I thingk fresh made bread goes great with home made cheese (Guess what I had last night) wink

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Posted: 22 January 2009 06:57 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 8 ]
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Nabil..
Here are the test results concerning melting. I’m pretty happy with this cheese. Not only does it look good melted (at least in my opinion) it really tastes good, when melted.
You’ll notice that I did a previous melting test on this same saucer but couldn’t get my camera ready before it had started to set up.
Anyway, here are the pics:

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Posted: 23 January 2009 03:02 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 9 ]
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Neil - 22 January 2009 05:18 PM

Use to eat allot of of swiss on ham under a grill LOL, that was in the eighties though. Now I thingk fresh made bread goes great with home made cheese (Guess what I had last night) wink

I agree.  My breakfast today will be home made bread piled high with lactic cheese, seasoned with onion and celery.  Mmmm.

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Posted: 23 January 2009 11:19 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 10 ]
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That looks like a real nice melt !!! smile

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Posted: 23 January 2009 01:01 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 11 ]
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Neil, thanks. I am happy with this one (although it was the ugliest cheese I’ve ever seen).
Btw, your bread and cheese pics look fantastic. Sort of makes me feel cheated since my own lunch did not look nearly as appetizing. grin

Dave

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Posted: 25 January 2009 05:10 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 12 ]
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Likesspace - 23 January 2009 12:57 AM

Nabil..
Here are the test results concerning melting. I’m pretty happy with this cheese. Not only does it look good melted (at least in my opinion) it really tastes good, when melted.
You’ll notice that I did a previous melting test on this same saucer but couldn’t get my camera ready before it had started to set up.
Anyway, here are the pics:

the current cheese pH is perfect, now if u let it age for more three months, the pH will rise, and it will melt without string (like now)

Excellent work here, i feel happy for you, and i feel that i have to do it again… i am sad because two months i did not make cheese… but i will next weekend

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Posted: 25 January 2009 10:30 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 13 ]
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Nabil,
Thanks for the encouragment and for the information.
I respect your cheesemaking abilities and am happy to hear that this one is where it needs to be.

Dave

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