Little Green Cheese

Cheese making at home with Gavin Webber the Cheeseman

LGC 044 – Waxing Cheese

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Waxing cheese is fairly straight forward, but Timothy asks what type of cheese can you wax.  I step through the various cheese that I wax and why, and the process I go about waxing them.  You can check out my method of waxing cheese in this video tutorial.

The cheese news is about those naughty cheesemaking criminals in Russia.

Today’s Q&A is about the following topics;

  • John asks about vacuum packing equipment for cheesemaking.
  • Emiliano asks if you can use PVC pipe as a cheese hoop.
  • Shirley asks about the difference between waxing and vacuum packing.
  • Sophie wants to know why she can’t get curds to set in Alaska.
  • Mike asks what sized mould am I using in the Farmhouse Cheddar video tutorial.
  • Murray’s has issues with holey cheese (see photo below).
Holey Cheese
What caused this holey cheese?

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LGC 030 – Recipe Tips

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During the show I talk about the importance of sticking to the recipe.

Please forgive me if I sound a little harsh, but it is very important to not vary too much from the recipe.  Otherwise, how are you going to repeat that amazing taste four months down the track especially if you deviated too much and didn’t record your changes.

This weeks new is from Tasmania.  Ian Fowler comes from a very long line of cheese makers and is making cheddar style cheeses in the Bay of Fires on the east coast.  I play an audio clip from an interview he gave on the ABC. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-22/bay-of-fires-tasmanias-smallest-cheese-company/5572612

I also answer questions about using the correct milk for the right cheese method, why you should wax your parmesan, and talk about butterfat yield from different types of cow.

Also here are the photos I promised.

 

David’s not so pressed cheddar;

 

Connies blue smelling Jarlsberg

And one that I didn’t mention, but Murray sent me a picture of a very fresh Peppercorn Cheddar

Peppercorn Cheddar by Christine and Murray

Also, if you like this podcast, and would like to help promote it as a personal favour to me, please head over to iTunes and give it a rating and a honest review.  Once you have clicked on the link, then click the “view on iTunes” button and leave a review.

This helps raise the podcast in the iTunes charts, which ranks against the likes of world famous food podcasters like Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson, and Martha Stewart to name a few.

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So, until next time curd nerds, remember to Keep Calm and Make Cheese!

Parmesan Technique

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Cheese making can be daunting and confusing when you first start out.  I know that it was for me, but I found that by taking a basic cheese making course before I made any type of cheese really helped me learn enough to get started in this hobby.

I realise that many people do not have the opportunity to attend a class, so this is the main reason why I offer to answer readers questions as best I can.

Today’s question comes from Nadim in the UK, who has lots of questions about starting out on his cheese making journey, mainly about Parmesan technique.

Hi Gavin

I am Nadim from UK, I recently seen your web blog and it is extremely help for home-made cheese maker, I am a fan of cheese but when tried at home cheese making, but after looking at your blog, you have now inspired me to make it at home!, I want to try either with parmesan or cheddar, but I am stuck with few question, if you please could help me with this then I shall highly appreciate.

As this shall be my first time so i was thinking if it is possible I make cheese in small wheel, probably 300 g – 500 g..? or it has to be in minimum 1 kg wheel..?

I am currently living in share house, so i wont be able to buy wine fridge, do you think if I can store cheese in wooden box in my balcony for aging ..? or any other recommendation ..? I have read somewhere that normal kitchen fridge would not be suitable due to its lower temperature,bacteria contamination and moisture..

Also could you please tell me what would be minimum best time to try the cheese..? 9 months is bit long time, not sure if I would be patient enough to wait this long after making my first cheese!!

last but important, do I need to rotate and wipe out cheese every week even after waxing.? what if I wax it after removing from brine water and drying out..?

looking forward to hear from you soon. thanks

Nadim

Good questions Nadim.  I will answer your questions in respect to making Parmesan cheese.

The wheel on the left is a 3 week old Parmesan before waxing.  The other is a Caerphilly.

 

Recipe size – If making parmesan, I would stick to using the full 8 litres of milk that the recipe asks for.  The cheese does shrink quite a bit, so you end up with about a 800 gm wheel of cheese at the end.

Maturation Temperature – It doesn’t really matter how you keep your cheese at 13°C as long as you can maintain it over the long aging period of 9 months minimum.  Some people use basements, some use insulated boxes, some just use a cupboard lined with greaseproof paper.  It doesn’t matter  how, as long as you keep the cheese at the target temperature.

Aging time – For a 1 kg wheel of Parmesan, the minimum time before trying would be 9 months.  The longer the better really.  In the last week, I tried a two-year-old Parmesan, and it was extremely tasty, much better than one aged for only a year.  If you want to make a cheese that is full of flavour and has a short maturation time, try a Caerphilly.  I highly recommend this semi-hard cheese for beginners, which is very tasty.

Waxing – If you do decide to make Parmesan, then for this sized wheel I highly recommend that you wax the cheese after 3 weeks of aging.  Normal wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano weigh about 38 kg when fully mature and are able to maintain their moisture content.  For a much smaller wheel like the one in my recipe, you need to wax the cheese so that it does not dry out whilst aging.

During the initial 3 weeks without the wax, wipe the surface with a brine solution daily to prevent/inhibit mould growth.  The cheese needs this 3 week period without wax to dry out a little, otherwise if you wax it straight after brining and air drying, it would be far too moist and whey will collect between the cheese and the wax, ruining the flavour of the Parmesan.  After waxing you do not need to do this as the wax coating prevents oxygen from reaching the cheese which does not allow the mould to develop.

Summary – Hopefully this post has been informative to all beginners as they take their first steps towards milk’s immortal!

For all readers, let me know via a comment if you would like more of these types of post.  I would love some feedback, good or otherwise.

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