Can you guess what I have been up to today?
what’s in the pots?
Well, since it isn’t knitting or crochet, it must be… cheese-making. I recklessly decided to make two cheeses today – a hard cheese which I have made many times before and a new variety. I was so busy concentrating on the new cheese that I made a mistake with the order of additions for the hard cheese… I coagulated the milk before adding the microbial culture. I think it’s going to have an odd texture as a result but, who knows, it might be a triumph!
Anyway, the new variety is an alpine-style cheese; something akin to Raclette. Interestingly, it does not use a cheese culture to start, but instead it is inoculated with yoghurt. The result was some very stretchy curds, but then the key characteristic of Raclette is that it’s very stretchy when melted, so maybe this bodes well. It is pressed only overnight, unlike the hard cheeses, which are pressed for up to 48 hours, and the pressure applied is lower, both of which mean it will retain more moisture. Currently both cheeses are pressing and since I only have one cheese press, I am using my alternative (bought specially for the purpose):
one cheese press and one clamp
The hard cheese is in the clamp since there is no gauge, but I have a good feel for the amount of pressure that needs to be applied. The alpine cheese is in the press, with the pressure set according to the recipe.
The hard cheese will be waxed for maturing, but the alpine cheese is going to have a washed rind. You can wash the rind in brine or vinegar or alcohol. To keep my theme of local ingredients, I have decided to use a local beer… now I just need to choose which one:
I wonder which will go best with the cheese?
The Snail of Happiness 
coppicelearner
/ March 11, 2017Good luck! Hope they turn out well.
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Tanglewood Knots
/ March 11, 2017You are so talented! I would never dream of making cheese!! I bet they will both be delicious – be sure to make some notes of the out of order steps you did so that you can recreate it when it turns out fabulous!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 11, 2017I have a special cheese-making notebook in which I record details of every batch. I’m gradually learning more about what works and what doesn’t.
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katechiconi
/ March 11, 2017Fingers crossed the hard cheese turns out OK. As you say, the texture may be a bit variable, but you never know, it may be a triumph! If you’ve invented your own brand new kind of cheese, what will you call it? 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 11, 2017I think it would have to be swac (back-to-front Welsh cheese). I suspect it’s going to be rather dry because of the very broken curds, but I won’t press it as much as usual to compensate slightly. If I mature it for long enough it should be tasty and I can always just use it for cooking.
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katechiconi
/ March 11, 2017… or Swac-rarebit.
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arlingwoman
/ March 12, 2017Looks like a good day’s work! I have always wanted to try making cheese, but have only got as far as making yogurt, which is a wonder when fresh and homemade! Good luck with your cheeses and your rind washing choice! Do you ever make Glamorgans?
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 12, 2017Do you mean Glamorgan sausages? I f so, then ‘yes’!
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arlingwoman
/ March 12, 2017Yes, I love those things…
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Laurie Graves
/ March 12, 2017Good luck! Keep us posted.
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Emma
/ March 13, 2017Yum! Raclette cheese is so good, I wish we could find it more easily in Australia 😦 maybe I should try making my own like you’re doing 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ March 13, 2017I think it’s worth a go… I’ve not tried it before, but hopefully it will work ok
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