I have 2 things to say :
1) Nothing like reading the instructions!
2) Thank goodness for the internet!
I read through some cheesemaking forums at lunchtime Thursday and figured out what I can do to age this muenster cheese (only 3 days late, but hopefully still rescue-able).
I can use a plastic container with water on the bottom, placed in a cool area of the house, to create a humid atmosphere. My goal is to have the container at around 60 degrees and 90% humidity. (In the winter, I have barriers separating the cool area from the warm area of my house, in order to heat a smaller space. The cold area of the house is at 40 degrees, so I should actually put the cheese in a cooler part of the
warm area of the house. The thermometer on the dining room table indicates that the dining room table would be a perfect place to keep the cheese if I want it to be 60 degrees.) Ideally, I guess, I would have some sort of fan circulating air around the cheese, but that will wait for some perfect world in the future when I have unlimited money and time to make everything perfect. (Cynical - yes, but that's OK.)
So there it sits, on the dining room table, by the east windows.
I washed the cheese in a saline mixture with some B Linens bacteria added, which seemed to be a recommendation in the internet forums. I was concerned that I'm not seeing any color, but the forums say that it will be 5-10 days, and even then it may not be red. Whew. Life is still good.
Now take cheese making like you're doing . . . THAT seems difficult to me. Chicken Mama said to me yesterday, "Dang, I wish I could make cheese like Jordan!"
ReplyDeleteYou're right - the only thing to do is jump in and try and that's how experience happens. Because of course all three of us, you, me and Chicken Mama know - she CAN make cheese like me. All I did, not even 2 months ago is buy some milk and start trying. Easy peasy.
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