My son is coming home for Christmas and I was going to make him some Muenster. He is in the Army and stationed at Fort Drum New York, an 18 hour drive from here. He likes Muenster.

I have 3 recipe books that all have basically the same thing in it. The recipe posted on this site in the Recipe section does not have any of the B Linens sprayed on it, and it only ages for 7 to 10 days, best I remember. I want to do the red mold ripened kind, that ages longer. The one on this site is also pressed and In the recipe books it is not pressed, it is pressed by flipping the mold so it presses under it’s own weight.

I’m thinking of pressing it but I’m not sure why. I think what we have here in America was pressed. I just want the curds to knit together so it’s pretty.

Since the B Linens is sprayed on the outside of the cheese I’m thinking that I could press it like a Monterey Jack and it would still grow the proper red mold. It’s not like the Bleu Cheese where you need the air to grow the mold is my thought.

Has anybody else made the red mold ripened version? Any comments on it?

Does anybody know how strong it gets as it ages? I’m thinking that it will end up being 4 months old, maybe 5 if I can get to it real soon. They say that in America the cheese is milder than it is in Europe because of the aging time. I don’t have any frame of reference for how long they age it in Europe, because I don’t know how long they age it here.

I am suppose to start getting raw milk on Thursday’s starting next week. I plan on making cheese every weekend to fill up my cheese cave for Christmas.

I get the red mold when I do a washed rind cheese, I dont add B linens.

I’ve never done a washed rind cheese. I know that the Swiss recipe says to wipe off the outside with a brine everyday, and it doesn’t grow a red mold. I will have to read up on washed rind cheeses. I wonder why they give a red mold if you didn’t spray them with B Linens to make it grow. I found a site that says that they wash the cheese with a cloth soaked in beer, and another says that they wash the cheese in a solution containing Brevibacterium Linens.

What do you wash your cheese with that causes the red mold to grow?

just brine, dont recall witch one it was or I would post a link. Probably airborne bacteria.
Stinking Bishop cheese is a common one. “It is similar to Munster and is washed and rubbed with perry, an alcoholic drink made with a local variety of pear”