I was looking though my old cheese journals, and I came across a Muenster that I haven’t attempted for 5 years.  As I recall, I had some trouble with this one.  The thing is, it’s so soft the cheese cloth gets full of curd during the press and it ripped the cheese apart in order to peel off the cloth.  This was the reason I originally went to a no cloth press on the final press.  Well, I decided to give it a whirl again.

The recipe I was using called for culture as an option, so I went with the no culture - primarily to save time, since it was already afternoon before I got my milk home.  I had a good solid curd mass in 40 minutes, so I cut it and followed along with recipe instructions.  I was to let it set 5 minutes, then cook to 102 F.  There was no mention of setting after the cook, but I did give it 15 minutes.  Then, since the curd was still relatively soft, I decided to press under whey for 15 minutes.  This helped, but the curd was still exceedingly wet.  (Note to me:  next time cook it longer)  Anyway, into the press it went, and rivers of whey were pressed out.  After the initial press, I went about removing the curd and flipping and rewrapping - but when I started to take it out of the mold it was so soft I knew I would not be able to work with it.  So I left it in the mold for another hour.  At this point I was able to remove it and turn it.  I put it back into the mold for a couple hours at 100 lbs.  I then flipped it and pressed without cloth for 12 hours at 135 lbs. 

This morning I removed it and was going to dry it in preparation for the cave, but it still felt too soft for me.  So, back into the mold at 135 lbs. for an as yet undetermined amount of time (forgot to mention, but it’s in an 8” mold).  I had salted during the cook process, but the curd tasted exceedingly bland at this point; so I’m going to need to soak it in brine.  I’ll post a pic when it comes out of the press later today.

The muenster is now finished.  18 hours pressing at 135 lbs, followed by 6 hours soaking in brine.  It has a really nice taste, and seems firm yet slightly spongy.  I’ll be cutting it in half so I can work on a mild one while the other half matures further.  It came out just over 5 lbs from 4 gals. of whole raw milk.

By the way, there is a nice yellow color to this wheel, although I used no coloring agent.  That’s entirely due to the high cream content.

I was turning my cheeses this morning and I noticed that the Muensters, which had been packed into vacuum bags, had ballooned up.  I cut them open and checked them - there was no off odor, no evidence of mold.  So they were given another salt rub and sealed in new vacuum bags.

Again, looks great!
“spongy” sounds like some contamination and fermentation ??? hope not, is it leaking liquid?

No, it’s not leaking liquid.  The “spongy” is just that the wheel is not real hard, like a cheddar would be.  It’s actually what I was looking for.

Checking my cave this morning I noticed that the Muenster is again ballooning the vac. bags.  This time there is liquid that has been expelled, and a slight odor that I can’t identify - but it’s a slightly sharp smell.  I did taste a bit, but with all the salt rubs, all I could taste was salt.  I’ve resealed them again, with yet another, albeit light salt rub.  No visible signs of anything amiss, texture is firm, wheel is not slimy.

Ballooning indicates fermentation of sorts :(
Maybe store it in a colder location.

So, fermentation indicates yeast, right?  Does that mean I’ll be having wine with my cheese????

Anyway, I’ve moved it to the fridge, which is around 45 F.  That should slow things down a bit.

I would go close to 4c, it might put the yeast to sleep .

It might put the yeast to sleep, but to no purpose.  The cheese will not age at that temp; and the yeast will just reactivate when the temp warms again.

After a while in the refrigerator there was no further ballooning of the bag, so I thought I’d check it out.  It had a tangy odor and tasted sour, so it’s toast.  The chickens enjoyed it though!

RIP, sorry to hear :(