Newbie Question

[bluc]

Hello all just starting my cheese adventure and gathering items hope to get my press made this week.

I have the very basics straight in my mind and I am just wondering about the pressing draining stage. Does ambiant temp play a crucial role while pressing draining the whey? I am in a hot climate(not unusual to hit 30c even in middle of night) and am worried the curd will go off while draining. Especially with brie which I believe drains at room temp 3days.
I plan to have my press and curd in a sealed box with a sealed path to a bucket to hold the whey to stop insect activity.

I signed up for cheese forum and never recieved an activation email and tried curd nerd forum but it does not display the captcha so I cant post.
The standard baby brie mould anyone have an idea how many of these curd from 6l milk will fill?
I am setting up my anovo sous vide as a double boiler for setting the curd.
And I have a bar fridge I am converting to a cave.
Thanks in advance and I look forward to plenty reading here.

 

[Staestc]

Bummer that nobody responded to your post. Sorry about that, just now saw it. I can't answer the ambient temperature question. If it changes anything it will probably be the rate at which your cheese acidifies during the pressing. If you are monitoring pH then you should be able to work around that.

Did you get your press built and your cave converted?

 

[bernardsmith]

I also only just saw your post, bluc. Certainly not an expert but I think that you may be "overthinking" this. When you add cultures to your milk you are "spoiling" the milk and the increased acidity (now under your control) is what makes the milk curdle and form curds. As the bacteria multiply they will consume more of the lactose and further drop the pH because the bacteria convert the lactose in the milk into lactic acid. So there should be no need to worry about pressing your milk in a warm room- BUT typically, you would be pressing for only a few hours.*** You might be air drying for days.

All that said, I think you may want to find a cooler place to make your cheese. The faster the bacteria multiply, the faster they will convert the lactose (sugar) to acid and so the more bitter the cheese will be. This won't "spoil" the cheese but it may make the cheese more bitter than sweet and more bitter than you would like.

*** I say, "only a few hours" but I make kefir cheese and I press this under a lot of weight for 3 days or more but the pH of kefir cheese is very low - so low to begin with that you cannot effectively add rennet.

 

[bluc]

Yes i got the press and fridge sorted. Just finished my first cheese bout 1hr ago heres a pic.

And heres my press.

Thanks for the info

 

[bernardsmith]

Not sure if this is just me and my computer but I don't see any pics.

 

[Staestc]

It’s not just you Paul. I can’t see them either.

 

[bluc]

Hmmm i tried sharing from onedrive. Whats best way to share pics?

 

[bluc]

Hmm my post keeps dissapearing
My press I now have a turning knob rather than the spanner.

First cheddar

First brie

But after 3 days wrapped in baking paper disaster. Any ideas whats going on.?

 

[bluc]

Cheddar is still ageing. Brie bloomed for 8 days before wrapping. 3 days wrapped looks like white mould is dying back..

 

[bernardsmith]

I like your press. How do you determine how much pressure you are applying? And given the design does that mean that you are constantly applying more pressure as the whey is expelled and the height of the cheese drops?

 

[bluc]

I like your press. How do you determine how much pressure you are applying? And given the design does that mean that you are constantly applying more pressure as the whey is expelled and the height of the cheese drops?

No just using a spring and need to retighten to keep the correct pressure. If I made another press it would be either dutch press or direct weights..

 

[bernardsmith]

But the cheese you make look very good. My press is simply two wooden cutting boards fixed with O-rings and nuts onto 12 threaded rods. I use either gallon milk containers filled with water or bricks for weights. The one downside is that those boards need replacing after a year or so because the moisture tends to destroy their integrity but as they cost around $15 - $20, the overall price of that kind of press is small compared to commercially made cheese presses.

 

[Staestc]

Hmmm i tried sharing from onedrive. Whats best way to share pics?

In my opinion the best way to share pictures is to use the upload functions provided by the forum. When you use Onedrive or Imgur I can't see them at all on this computer. Probably can on my phone or laptop at home, but there's another issue. If your Onedrive or Imgur account every dissapears, nobody will be able to go back to any thread you have ever posted a picture in and see the picture. Often I look at old threads that half the pictures that were posted at the time are no longer available. So I always just use the upload a file button to upload my pictures to homebrewtalk.

 

[bluc]

I didnt see an upload option.I will try figure it out.

 

[shelly_belly]

There is a special 2-ply paper for ageing bloomy rind cheeses such as brie. https://cheesemaking.com/collections/aging/products/two-ply-cheese-wrap-clear-mold-ripened
Your baking paper probably let out too much moisture and the brie is starting to dry out. But it still looks good!
As an alternative you can age them in containers in your cheese cave. Brie needs to age at 90-94% humidity.
You can also eat them young when things aren't going so well - they just aren't as good as they are when ripe!

 

[bluc]

Thanks shelly belly..question bout blue cheese why is store bought white but most of the homemade stuff I see has a very bloomy blue rind...

 

[bernardsmith]

Just a guess, but I imagine that commercial cheese makers may limit the bacterium to the points where they inoculate their cheese whereas home cheese makers may wash their cheese with solutions of the bacteria.

 

[passedpawn]

Just a guess, but I imagine that commercial cheese makers may limit the bacterium to the points where they inoculate their cheese whereas home cheese makers may wash their cheese with solutions of the bacteria.

I add PR into the milk, and then wipe it down for the first few weeks while fermenting. This way I can close up any crags that might harbor unwanted mold - I don't press it in the press, just push the cubed curds into a mold. I end up with a healthy bloomy blue/green rind.

When it's ready for eating, I do wipe down (brine rag) one last time and clean up the outside of the cheese.