The Cheese Thread

[PostModern]

My place is mostly vegetarian. My understanding is that rennet is a derivative of calves. We buy cheeses (cheddar even) made with "non-animal rennet". Anyone have an idea of what that is and if it can be bought retail?

 

[DJR]

Cheeselinks sell both the veg rennet and the bovine stuff

http://www.cheeselinks.com.au/Rennet.html

 

[PostModern]

Sweet. Thanks Ben for saving my lazy arse from having to find that out for myself.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

the corner store on campbell st near the masterbuilders called louies corner store ( the name is a little redundant but hey) also city liquor on the princes highway in fairy meadow should be getting it also which is closer to yours i think?

Sweet I know where that is

City Liquor - that's the old conterin deli isn't it - next to the video shop??

 

[AndrewQLD]

Made another Stilton a couple of weeks ago here is a picture of the mould forming after 12 days, the cheese is covered with white mould which appears first and as you can see in the picture the green mould is just starting to appear, I will post another picture in a week to show the changes.


Here is my cheese log file of the entire process.
View attachment Stilton_2.pdf

Cheers
Andrew

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

That looks like the start of a lovely Stilton Andrew :wub:

My Blue Cheese kit will be arriving from Cheeselinks tomorrow and I have some lovely Melton Mowbray Stilton than I am going to use to inocculate my first effort with. Can't wait to give it a go.

C&B
TDA

 

[warrenlw63]

TDA Caught in the act.

Warren -

 

[AndrewQLD]

That looks like the start of a lovely Stilton Andrew :wub:

My Blue Cheese kit will be arriving from Cheeselinks tomorrow and I have some lovely Melton Mowbray Stilton than I am going to use to inocculate my first effort with. Can't wait to give it a go.

C&B
TDA

Sounds like your off to a great start TDA, watching the cheese start to blue and then rapidly cover itself in mould is amazing. Good luck and have fun.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[capretta]

Here is my cheese log file of the entire process.

Cheers
Andrew

thanks for your thread andrew, you should get a commission from cheeselinks! i also got rennet, culture C and some cacl and i am just in the process of nutting out a cheese press /mould thing. have you any tips? what did you use for the tubes and followers in your picture? also just a small thing though, in your pdf file i couldnt see you mention innoculation with the mould although in your first post you add it to the milk at the very start??
cheers, cam

 

[AndrewQLD]

thanks for your thread andrew, you should get a commission from cheeselinks! i also got rennet, culture C and some cacl and i am just in the process of nutting out a cheese press /mould thing. have you any tips? what did you use for the tubes and followers in your picture? also just a small thing though, in your pdf file i couldnt see you mention innoculation with the mould although in your first post you add it to the milk at the very start??
cheers, cam

OOps, my bad. Thanks for that Cam, post has been edited with the corrected PDF,
My forms are made from PVC downpipe used for rain water, pick any size you like, followers are just made from Tasmanian Oak and the press is made from Pine.
Here is the press I made Press

You won't really need a cheese press for the Stilton, these are traditionaly left to settle in their molds under their own weight rather than being pressed with weights.

For anyone interested here is my Cheese File in blank format, this is a PDF form and is blank so you can insert your own data.
View attachment cheese_file.pdf

Cheers
Andrew

 

[capretta]

ahh excellent, that is the direction i was going with the press but that has made it so clear it is almost not fun now!!! (almost)
hope to have a batch down this weekend..
cheers, cam

 

[sluggerdog]

While I love a good Camembert/Brie etc I really love my Romano/Parmesan. I notice cheeselinks have a kit.

Anyone have experience with the harder style of cheeses?
Or is it best to stick with soft cheese?

 

[goatherder]

I haven't tried a hard cheese yet sluggerdog - mainly because you need a cheese press to make them. Making soft cheeses you don't need to go to the trouble of buying or building one. It sounds like a logical next step after soft cheeses though...

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

Just finished my first effort at making Stilton !

It was actually not as difficult as I thought it might be. I was mostly worried about keeping a constant temperature of 31C and it took a little bit of balancing at the beginning, but after that the thermal mass seemed to help it remain steady.
Now it's just a matter of patience .

Huge thanks to AndrewQLD and kirem for being great sources of information and help. :beer:

One question, can I handle it with bare hands when I turn it?

C&B
TDA

 

[AndrewQLD]

Just finished my first effort at making Stilton !

It was actually not as difficult as I thought it might be. I was mostly worried about keeping a constant temperature of 31C and it took a little bit of balancing at the beginning, but after that the thermal mass seemed to help it remain steady.
Now it's just a matter of patience .

Huge thanks to AndrewQLD and kirem for being great sources of information and help. :beer:

One question, can I handle it with bare hands when I turn it?

C&B
TDA

Congratulations TDA, I am sure it will be a great success. I would try to avoid handling the cheese with your bare hands until it has formed a crust/skin, probably around 6 weeks. I turn mine by putting another drainage mat on top and flipping over using those.
Don't panic if you do touch it, it will be fine. As the mold starts to form keep an eye out for black mold, this is one type you don't want, if it appears wipe it off with a cloth soaked in white vinegar. All the other colored molds, yellow, orange, green, blue are fine.
Hope you have a couple of photos to show us!
Cheers,

Andrew

 

[Screwtop]

Using the fermentation fridge for conditioning cheeses is fine but you need to up the humidity, either a small water feature/bubbler in the fridge or simply put the cheeses in the fridge in a container with a lid and a dish of water inside. I press my stilton and age it for 6 months.

For soft cheese such as quark it's possible to use lemon juice to curdle the milk instead of rennet.

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

I am useless at posting multiple pics to in a single reply to this thread but anyway.....

Here is the cheese after I finished making it on Sunday night. I placed it in a covered styrofoam box with a jug of water for some moisture.

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

Now it has only been 5 nights since I have made it and there are already signs of blue mold on both cheeses, quite significant actually. Is this too soon for the mold to be forming?
TIA.

C&B
TDA

 

[AndrewQLD]

Now it has only been 5 nights since I have made it and there are already signs of blue mold on both cheeses, quite significant actually. Is this too soon for the mold to be forming?
TIA.

C&B
TDA

Great stuff TDA, on some cheeses the mold completely covers the cheese, I had one that was a vibrant blue/green all over. Yours looks like it's progressing nicely. keep the pics coming.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[AndrewQLD]

Made another Stilton a couple of weeks ago here is a picture of the mould forming after 12 days, the cheese is covered with white mould which appears first and as you can see in the picture the green mould is just starting to appear, I will post another picture in a week to show the changes.
View attachment 13300

Here is my cheese log file of the entire process.
View attachment 13303
Cheers
Andrew

Here is the same cheese at 5 weeks, you can see it is losing moisture and has shrunk slightly. In the second photo the needle holes are visible, these allow air to enter the cheese so the blueing can begin inside.


Cheers
Andrew