Franco's 7 day Lancashire Cheese

[jenny_haddow]

Rik,
I don't think I've been so interested in a subject for a long time, utterly fascinating.

Jen

[pokerpete]

It's very interesting to read the traditional methods of making the cheeses we know so well, but I suppose the best we can claim when making it ourselves is the it is in the 'style of'...... Having said that, it still tastes very good for something produced so simply. I must say though, the simplicity of production is down largely to some first class instruction from Rik

Cheers

Jen

I only posted this history for a matter of past interest in the subject.
No doubt the cows they they used at that time lived for 12-15 years, and gave a smaller milk yield, as against todays hat rack Fresians that last maybe 5 years, but give a high milk yield.

[jenny_haddow]

Always pleased to learn a bit of history Pokerpete, it's one of the foundation stones for progress.

Jen

[Gail]

Hi everyone
I tried to make this recipe this week and have had a bit of a problem.

I have a dutch cheese press and put the curds into a 6" diameter tin to press it. I put a 10kilo weight on the arm. That was yesterday. Initially it pressed a bit and some whey came out but when I got up this morning the cheese had expanded and pushed the follower out of the tin and when I unwrapped it I could see hundreds of air pockets under the skin of the cheese. Today I have rewrapped and repressed it this time with about 20 kilos on the arm and it is pressing.

I am really confused about this weight thing and if I ever have any problems with my cheese making it invariably is because I havent used enough weight.
Anyone got any guidelines or clues to help me?

I wish Rik was still here.

Gail x

[jenny_haddow]

Yes, we certainly miss Rik.

When I made this cheese I used 30 kgs of weight on the arm of my dutch cheese press, and I had no problem.

I suggest a look at David Fankhauser's website for a more scientific explanation. There are links posted to it throughout the cheese section.

Jen

[saucisson]

I wonder if you had some gas producing fermentation going on in your cheese Gail, it will be interesting to see how it comes out.

Dave

[Gail]

Hi
I pressed it again for another 24 hours with a huge amount of weight!
Today I took it out of the press and it was very squidgy. So I cut it open and it is full of little holes. I have taken a photo of it and will try and post it later. It is also still quite wet when I press it I can see the whey in the holes. It tastes quite nice if a bit rubbery texture but the flavour is ok.

Is it ok to eat? Or should my pigs get the benifit?

I will do another lot tomorrow but it is wasting a lot of milk when I made it with 10 litres of milk.
There are only 2 things that could have done this I think and that is that I use goats milk and not cows but then thats all I have here and it usually doesnt make a difference; or that I left it longer than the 90 minutes after I added the rennet as I had to go and help hubby do something. Could that have caused the bubbles?

I love the alchemy of cheesemaking but it is a bit like golf... soooo frustrating when it goes wrong but oh how satisfying when it goes right

Gail x

[saucisson]

I've left it ages and never had aero cheese, so I think you have something new here. If it were me I'd leave it just to see what happens, but be prepared to bin it. Of course if the pigs look hungry let them have it

Dave

[jenny_haddow]

I'll have a look through some of my books about this soon. However, I'm mega multi tasking at the moment looking after aged parent while the other is in hospital having her hip done, going to work, house hunting (found one!) and preparing to move.
Hopefully I'll be back with some sensible posting in the next few days.

Cheers

Jen

[jenny_haddow]

Hi Gail,

Have a look in Cheese Making FAQ,s under the e-coli section. Note what Rik says about 'blown curds'.
You may have produced these; also known as 'bloated curds' I believe, and a result of foreign micro-organisms being introduced into the milk. Goats milk is very prone apparently.

Hope this helps

Jen

[Gail]

Thanks for that Jenny it was very interesting. I have had blown curds before when they floated and threw the lot away. My curds dont float so it is not that I dont think. I reckon it is something to do with the pressing as I have had another cheese do the same thing and actually split the wax after a week or so! Unfortunatley a bliddy mouse then got in and helped himself.

It seems to be happening to lots of my cheeses. This week I had another go at the 7 day cheese and it has worked a treat but I used a huge amount of weight with it. It didnt happen with the stiltons so that does point towards something after moulding do you think?

I am trying to see the farmer down the lane this week to see if I can buy some cows milk from him. Getting fresh pastuerised milk here is very very expensive. Most french people use UHT.
I would love to have a go with cows milk if I can get it just to see how different it is from the goats.

Gail

[Gail]

Here is a pic of my holey cheese.

[Gail]

And this one is an even earlier attempt

[BlueCheese]

Cheese looks real nice holey cheese, taste anything like Swiss ?

[saucisson]

My immediate thought too. Rik used to say making holey cheese was perhaps beyond us beginners, if you can do this reproducibly then you could be onto a winner, if it tastes nice

Dave