Some Thoughts on Cheese Making

Again today, I'm in the process of making cheese.  This time I'm having a go at Edam - it's currently setting after the addition of the rennet.

It struck me today that the really hard part about trying new cheeses is that they take months to cure.  I like to know the success or taste of a cheese before I attempt to make another one.  If the recipe I've used is not right, or something was lost in translation (translation from cheese-making jargon to what I understand).  I'd prefer to know about it before I charge on in potentially making the same mistakes over and over and having a shelf full of cheeses (this represents hours and hours of work and plenty of milk) that are only good for the pigs.

My last batch of Camembert was a disaster.  I'd been getting rather hard crumbly Camemberts but they were still completely edible, you could slice it and eat it just fine on a cracker.  I did some research and wondered if I'd been a bit rough with my curd.  So for the last batch I was extremely gentle.  The curds didn't look like cottage cheese this time, they held their mostly cube shapes.  But it was harder than ever.  you can't safely slice this batch.  I've taken to grating it with a lemon zester and using it in potato bakes where I might have used parmesan.  It's worked okay, but it is frustrating.

Camembert only cures for a month!  Today's Edam will need to wait for two months before I know if it's any good.

I've been making different types of hard cheeses so I'll have a variety to try and decide whether or not to make again.  Currently curing is Gouda and a Farm Cheddar.  Actually, I think they're both up for tasting in the next couple of weeks.

Another thought is that many of the recipes available are not really designed for the home cheesemaker.  The smallest quantity of milk I've found in these recipes is 4 litres.  Most are approximately 10 litres and I've found a few that are 20+.  Four litres is manageable.  Ten litres is easy to work out reduced amounts and conversions.

Ten litres isn't entirely practical unless you go and buy special equipment for cheesemaking.  I've taken to sterilising a large bucket and using that.  Otherwise I have one large stockpot that will only barely hold ten litres and a large bowl that isn't really big enough for all the whey.

A further thought is that it really is quite incredible how a small difference in process can make such a different cheese.  I've made feta, minas, camembert, gouda, edam, cheddar, mozzarella and ricotta.  With the exception of mozzarella and ricotta, most of the cheesemaking process has only small variations in what you do to create such vastly different cheeses.  They use the same cultures (I only have two cultures) and the same volume of rennet.  Camembert has Penicillum Candidum added.  The time left to set, whether or not it's then heated in whey and whether it's pressed are the main differences and then how long it's left to age.

It's a journey anyway and one I'm having fun with.