I use ghee instead of lard. I heat it until liquid, then step one (for me) is to coat the whole cheese with liquid ghee. Like you, I suspect mold happens where there are air bubbles and coating with ghee before applying the ghee soaked bandage seems to fill the holes. Also, I heard somewhere to put the bandaged cheese back in the press and press it briefly. I've tried that and it seems to work. I'm just learning so who knows? My other recent experiments have been in trying to cut the curd but not smash it. I have no idea if this is really true, but it seems like when I am very gentle with the curd (which is hard to do when cutting) that I get a higher yield and it is not dry. Just thoughts. I get so much from watching your videos. Thanks!
I recently made a bandage-wrapped cheese that I pressed after wrapping. I'm curious to see how that impacts mold penetration to the cheese.... When you finally taste your ghee-coated cheese, I'd love to know what the final flavor is like, if you want to report back...
@@crazyabundance3159 I just opened that cheddar and it was wonderful. It was truly the best cheddar I have had. I have only used Ghee, and at this point have no urge to try anything else. So I have nothing to really compare it to. There is no specific taste of the ghee in the cheese. At most it adds a subtle flavor. But no one talks about how to unbandage a cheddar so I have ended up just washing the whole uncut cheese under warm water and using a food brush. Perhaps in doing that I lost some flavor? And since the longest I have been able to stop myself from eating the cheddar is 5 months, aging it more would make the effect of the ghee more pronounced. There is another thing I have thought about which is that I once over did the ghee a bit and got a sort of caramel flavor. I might try to use something like that sometime, or adding rosemary, or ... If someone who has used lard tries ghee it would be nice to hear if they can detect a difference. For me I think ghee will continue to be the whey.
Once again, your throw away comments (over cooking the curds; maybe warm up the ale) are pure gold. They make your channel worth more than the ones that do it perfectly each and every time (and I get left wondering why mine went south).
Wonderful! I made this a couple of months ago, but I added also mustard seeds (Gavin Webber recipe). I also made a cheddar that I mixed in the curds, with the salt and some whiskey, and then after pressing, I soaked the whole cheese in whiskey ( in a zip-loc bag, so there is not so much whiskey). I can't wait to cut that one, probably for Thanksgiving. If you want to have an idea of how it might taste, find a good cheese store and buy a wedge of Sartori's Bellavitano soaked in bourbon cheese. I am sure you will love it Can't wait for the taste test video
I just watched the entire video, not just the beginning. I was going for a walk with my neighbor and I could not watch the first time. Love the marble appearance of the cheese when you cut it. I had the same problem with curds not stitching properly because they got cold, but for subsequent cheddar-type cheeses I tried to keep the curds warm over hot whey or water bath, and I submerged the entire mold filled with curds in the warm whey for a few minutes and then put in the press. I get now smooth rinds and no more problems. Maybe you try it next time, see how you like that. I love your videos. I always learn something new: I did not know you can cut raw milk cheeses sooner than what they say. . . . Keers to that!!! Thank you, Jennifer!!
I tried a merlot soaked cheddar last week. The curds were small and some were white and some were red so it looked like ground beef. I'm going to have to process it into cup cheese :)
That beefy look is primarly the reason I haven't made any wine-soaked cheeses, ha! Brown ale gives the cheese a much more palatable toasty-cheese look, I think... ☺
When you mentioned the lard/mold getting into the crevices of the cold curds it made me think of an ale soaked blue cheddar. The Roquefort mold would have all sorts of places to develop veins. I’m just curious if the alcohol would kill it. Maybe boiling the ale first to evaporate the alcohol before soaking the curds? I might have to try that someday once I get better with the basics. I’m going to try making Colby again this weekend and hoping it doesn’t turn out with an aged cheddar texture like the last one. I am pretty sure I over cooked the curds and cut them too small so I’ll adjust and see what happens. Thanks again for the great content.
اسفت لانزلاق يدك اسلوبك سهل و رائع افهم منك اكثر من الاخرين..واعتقدم ان فرم المكعبات يسهل اندماجها عند الضغط...واسال ان كان هناك بديل للبيره.وشكرا على مجهودك
I'm wondering who invented this system of curd cutting, and suggested that we can get "cubes" of any specified size by using those diagonal cuts. A little geometry shows that we end up with wildly varying trapezoids. Tiny on top and massive below. Then the whey is released from the different sized curds at very different rates. This takes extra time, and leads to overcooking and overstirring, with inconsistent results. So I wonder why you don't have a horizontal curd harp? The price is scary, but I made my own for a few dollars. I used a cake cooling rack that I removed every second bar from. I cut down one end with pliers so that it fit across my pot. Cut a vertical line across the centre of the curds with a curd knife, then insert the rack vertically, and rotate it 360°. It works best if you do this horizontal cut first then do the vertical cuts. Sometimes you need to figure a way to prevent the whole curd rotating in the pot as the rack pushes it around. I've yet to try a version with every bar cut out, and replaced with fishing line wound from end to end, which is much finer and gives a sharper cut. But the resultant perfect cubes from top to bottom are so satisfying! And so easy to work with.
Yogurt is a thermophilic culture and this is a mesophilic cheese, but there's a chance yogurt would work --- it just might be a bit different than expected. Might be worth an experiment!
Random question for you. How long will whey last in the fridge? I’m making a Colby today and I was thinking about saving the whey for making dinner rolls using the whey instead of water for thanksgiving. Do you think the whey will be good in the fridge for two weeks?
I tend to think I'm a BIT too "helpful"..... but here goes.... I think the reason your husband was able to drop it to over 80# so easily, was he did it "backwards" to your attempt when you hurt yourself. The way you were doing it all the pressure was coming from your fingers and all his was coming from his forearms... and his fingers weren't wet from the cheese. ;-) Be safe out there!
I use ghee instead of lard. I heat it until liquid, then step one (for me) is to coat the whole cheese with liquid ghee. Like you, I suspect mold happens where there are air bubbles and coating with ghee before applying the ghee soaked bandage seems to fill the holes. Also, I heard somewhere to put the bandaged cheese back in the press and press it briefly. I've tried that and it seems to work. I'm just learning so who knows? My other recent experiments have been in trying to cut the curd but not smash it. I have no idea if this is really true, but it seems like when I am very gentle with the curd (which is hard to do when cutting) that I get a higher yield and it is not dry. Just thoughts. I get so much from watching your videos. Thanks!
I recently made a bandage-wrapped cheese that I pressed after wrapping. I'm curious to see how that impacts mold penetration to the cheese.... When you finally taste your ghee-coated cheese, I'd love to know what the final flavor is like, if you want to report back...
I want to know how that ghee one tastes too! 😍
@@crazyabundance3159 I just opened that cheddar and it was wonderful. It was truly the best cheddar I have had. I have only used Ghee, and at this point have no urge to try anything else. So I have nothing to really compare it to. There is no specific taste of the ghee in the cheese. At most it adds a subtle flavor. But no one talks about how to unbandage a cheddar so I have ended up just washing the whole uncut cheese under warm water and using a food brush. Perhaps in doing that I lost some flavor? And since the longest I have been able to stop myself from eating the cheddar is 5 months, aging it more would make the effect of the ghee more pronounced. There is another thing I have thought about which is that I once over did the ghee a bit and got a sort of caramel flavor. I might try to use something like that sometime, or adding rosemary, or ... If someone who has used lard tries ghee it would be nice to hear if they can detect a difference. For me I think ghee will continue to be the whey.
Once again, your throw away comments (over cooking the curds; maybe warm up the ale) are pure gold. They make your channel worth more than the ones that do it perfectly each and every time (and I get left wondering why mine went south).
Thanks for all your videos. I love your dedication and the fascinating transformation from milk to cheese!
This just SOUNDS exciting! 😊
Wonderful! I made this a couple of months ago, but I added also mustard seeds (Gavin Webber recipe). I also made a cheddar that I mixed in the curds, with the salt and some whiskey, and then after pressing, I soaked the whole cheese in whiskey ( in a zip-loc bag, so there is not so much whiskey). I can't wait to cut that one, probably for Thanksgiving. If you want to have an idea of how it might taste, find a good cheese store and buy a wedge of Sartori's Bellavitano soaked in bourbon cheese. I am sure you will love it Can't wait for the taste test video
I just watched the entire video, not just the beginning. I was going for a walk with my neighbor and I could not watch the first time. Love the marble appearance of the cheese when you cut it. I had the same problem with curds not stitching properly because they got cold, but for subsequent cheddar-type cheeses I tried to keep the curds warm over hot whey or water bath, and I submerged the entire mold filled with curds in the warm whey for a few minutes and then put in the press. I get now smooth rinds and no more problems. Maybe you try it next time, see how you like that. I love your videos. I always learn something new: I did not know you can cut raw milk cheeses sooner than what they say. . . . Keers to that!!! Thank you, Jennifer!!
I tried a merlot soaked cheddar last week. The curds were small and some were white and some were red so it looked like ground beef. I'm going to have to process it into cup cheese :)
That beefy look is primarly the reason I haven't made any wine-soaked cheeses, ha! Brown ale gives the cheese a much more palatable toasty-cheese look, I think... ☺
I absolutely love your cheese videos and can't wait to get our dairy cow so I can begin cheese making. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
What about clabber culture vs freeze dried culture ? Clabber culture mature slower but more flavorful like organic food ?
When you mentioned the lard/mold getting into the crevices of the cold curds it made me think of an ale soaked blue cheddar. The Roquefort mold would have all sorts of places to develop veins. I’m just curious if the alcohol would kill it. Maybe boiling the ale first to evaporate the alcohol before soaking the curds? I might have to try that someday once I get better with the basics.
I’m going to try making Colby again this weekend and hoping it doesn’t turn out with an aged cheddar texture like the last one. I am pretty sure I over cooked the curds and cut them too small so I’ll adjust and see what happens.
Thanks again for the great content.
اسفت لانزلاق يدك اسلوبك سهل و رائع افهم منك اكثر من الاخرين..واعتقدم ان فرم المكعبات يسهل اندماجها عند الضغط...واسال ان كان هناك بديل للبيره.وشكرا على مجهودك
It's most common that people use wine or beer, but you can totally skip it if you want to avoid alcohol!
I'm wondering who invented this system of curd cutting, and suggested that we can get "cubes" of any specified size by using those diagonal cuts. A little geometry shows that we end up with wildly varying trapezoids. Tiny on top and massive below. Then the whey is released from the different sized curds at very different rates. This takes extra time, and leads to overcooking and overstirring, with inconsistent results.
So I wonder why you don't have a horizontal curd harp? The price is scary, but I made my own for a few dollars. I used a cake cooling rack that I removed every second bar from. I cut down one end with pliers so that it fit across my pot. Cut a vertical line across the centre of the curds with a curd knife, then insert the rack vertically, and rotate it 360°.
It works best if you do this horizontal cut first then do the vertical cuts. Sometimes you need to figure a way to prevent the whole curd rotating in the pot as the rack pushes it around.
I've yet to try a version with every bar cut out, and replaced with fishing line wound from end to end, which is much finer and gives a sharper cut.
But the resultant perfect cubes from top to bottom are so satisfying! And so easy to work with.
Can we use yogurts as culture Jennifer
Yogurt is a thermophilic culture and this is a mesophilic cheese, but there's a chance yogurt would work --- it just might be a bit different than expected. Might be worth an experiment!
Random question for you. How long will whey last in the fridge? I’m making a Colby today and I was thinking about saving the whey for making dinner rolls using the whey instead of water for thanksgiving. Do you think the whey will be good in the fridge for two weeks?
I think two weeks is too long for the fridge, but you could certainly freeze it!
@@jmilkslinger okay, thank you so much.
I think I would have warmed up the beer. It would not have her the flavor.
I tend to think I'm a BIT too "helpful"..... but here goes.... I think the reason your husband was able to drop it to over 80# so easily, was he did it "backwards" to your attempt when you hurt yourself. The way you were doing it all the pressure was coming from your fingers and all his was coming from his forearms... and his fingers weren't wet from the cheese. ;-) Be safe out there!