Here's a 2 pound, 7 ounce hunka muenster cheese from two gallons of raw Jersey milk (picture taken Monday evening after brining and I sprayed the red bacteria on). I followed the recipe pretty much exactly, but here's where the recipe and I start diverging.
I'm supposed to let it sit at 60 degrees and 85-95% humidity for 14 days and then 50 degrees and 95% humidity for several days before waxing it. The problem is that I don't have any place with that high humidity. The basement maybe, but the basement also has creatures that like cheese. So I have it in a cupboard above a bowl of water, which I'm sure is not going to work. Not sure what's going to happen, but I guess we'll find out.
Cheesepress note: You may remember that the 6-inch wood follower didn't fit the PVC pipe? Well, I cut down the wood piece, but forgot one crucial thing. Wood swells when it gets wet. Oops. That's why one surface of this cheese is at an angle. Doesn't affect the flavor at all, but I need to do a bit more work on the cheese press.
woohoo Jordan! Looks great! Try a box of some type to hold the humidity. I started with a plywood box before I got my cheese cave worked out, it worked okay. Also, I picked up one of those cheap plastic cutting boards from wlamart and cut it for a follower. It's easier to keep clean and doesnt warp ;) If you really want to stay with wood, go with maple. It swells less and resists bacteria growth ;)
ReplyDeleteGood idea about the plastic cutting board from Walmart! So how did you get the humidity into the box? Also - how long does it take for the cheese to start turning colors? It still looks the same. Granted, it's only been 2 days... OK, I'm being impatient!
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