Tag: recipe
Earthy Cheese: The Connoisseur’s Guide to Rich Flavors
Exploring the Deep, Complex World of Rich, Earthy Cheese: A Connoisseur’s Guide
There is something profoundly magical about the first bite of a truly exceptional, rich, earthy cheese. While mild, milky fresh cheeses certainly have their place on the summer table, it is the robust, deeply savory, and terroir-driven wheels that capture the hearts of true culinary adventurers.
Characterized by complex notes of damp forest floors, wild mushrooms, toasted nuts, roasted root vegetables, and deep umami, earthy cheeses offer a completely edible landscape. They tell the story of the soil, the grass, the cave, and the traditional craftsmanship of the cheesemaker.
Whether you want to elevate your next gourmet cheese board, curate the ultimate wine and cheese pairing, or simply satisfy your craving for bold, rustic flavors, this comprehensive guide dives deep into the universe of rich, earthy cheese.
What Makes a Cheese “Earthy”?
To truly understand earthy cheese, we have to look closely at the science of terroir and affinage (aging). Just like fine wine, cheese actively reflects its environment through three primary pillars:
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The Milk: Animals grazing on wild pastures, alpine herbs, and diverse grasses produce milk with complex flavor precursors. Sheep and goats often contribute gamey, robust undertones, while rich cow’s milk delivers buttery density that carries deep savory notes.
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The Microflora and Rinds: Many earthy cheeses feature natural rinds cultivated by specific molds, yeasts, and bacteria. Washed-rind cheeses and natural-rind blues develop earthy, fungal profiles—reminiscent of fresh chanterelles, moss, and autumn leaves.
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The Aging Process: As moisture evaporates over months or years, proteins break down. This process concentrates flavors, yielding deep umami, savory broths, and crunchy tyrosine crystals that contribute to a multi-layered sensory experience.
Iconic Varieties of Earthy, Rich Cheeses
The world of specialty dairy is vast, but certain styles reign supreme when it comes to rich, umami-rich profiles. Here are the varieties every cheese lover should explore:
1. Alpine-Style Cheeses (Comté, Gruyère, Appenzeller)
Hailing from the high-altitude mountain ranges of France, Switzerland, and Austria, Alpine cheeses are legendary. Made from raw cow’s milk when cattle graze on lush summer pastures, these cheeses are aged patiently in mountain caves.
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Flavor Profile: Nutty (think toasted hazelnuts and brown butter), sweet, and intensely earthy with distinct hints of wild mushroom, roasted onion, and broth.
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Texture: Dense, smooth, and occasionally crystallized.
2. English Stilton and Artisan Blues
While many blue cheeses can be sharply pungent, styles like traditional British Colston Bassett Stilton lean heavily into a rich, savory, and damp-earth profile rather than pure sharp acidity.
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Flavor Profile: Deeply savory, robust, peppery, and mushroomy, balanced by a creamy, buttery mouthfeel.
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Texture: Rich, crumbly, and velvety.
3. Aged Gouda (Boerenkaas)
Young Gouda is notoriously mild and creamy, but true aged Goudas (matured for 18 to 36 months) undergo a miraculous transformation.
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Flavor Profile: Brimming with butterscotch, toasted pecans, deep caramel, and an underlying earthy mushroom funk.
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Texture: Extremely firm, granular, and packed with satisfying crunch crystals.
4. Washed-Rind Stinkers (Taleggio, Époisses, Limburger)
Do not let the aroma intimidate you; the washed-rind family delivers some of the most decadent, rich eating experiences in the world. Rinds are regularly washed with brine, beer, or wine, fostering friendly bacteria that create a savory, meaty depth.
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Flavor Profile: Brothy, meaty, intensely mushroomy, and rustic.
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Texture: Luscious, gooey, and spoonable at room temperature.
How to Build the Ultimate Earthy Cheese Board
Designing a charcuterie and cheese board centered around rich, earthy cheese requires careful balancing. Because these selections pack a powerful punch, you want accompaniments that complement rather than compete with their complexity.
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The Foundation: Opt for dense, rustic sourdoughs, walnut-raisin bread, or seeded rye crackers. Their hearty grains echo the earthy notes in the cheese without overwhelming them.
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Sweet Accompaniments: Dried figs, dates, and tart cherries cut through the rich, fat-heavy profile of aged cheeses.
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Honey and Preserves: A drizzle of dark buckwheat honey or a dollop of fig jam adds a sweet contrast to funky blues and nutty Alpines.
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Savory Elements: Toasted Marcona almonds, hazelnuts, or pickled cornichons add necessary crunch and acidity to cleanse the palate between rich bites.
Perfect Wine and Beverage Pairings
Pairing wine and beer with rich, earthy cheese is an art form. The primary goal is to match the intensity of the cheese with a beverage that can cut through its fat and highlight hidden flavor notes.
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Bold Red Wines: Full-bodied reds like Barolo, Nebbiolo, Cabernet Sauvignon, or a rustic Chianti Classico stand up brilliantly to the intense umami of aged Goudas and Alpine cheeses.
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Sweet and Fortified Wines: Port, Sherry, and Sauternes are classic companions for rich blue cheeses and washed-rind varieties. The residual sweetness tames the salt and funk, creating a luxurious harmony.
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Craft Beers: Robust dark beers like oatmeal stouts, porters, and Belgian Trappist ales are phenomenal with earthy cheeses. The roasted malt characteristics mirror the mushroomy profiles of the cheese seamlessly.
Culinary Uses: Cooking with Earthy Cheese
While these cheeses shine brightly on a grazing board, they can also transform simple home-cooked meals into gourmet masterpieces.
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Grated Over Pasta: Swap standard parmesan for an aged Pecorino Romano or a long-aged Alpine cheese over wild mushroom risotto or handmade truffle pasta to amplify the umami factor.
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Elevated Grilled Cheese: Combine sharp aged cheddar or a melting slice of Gruyère with caramelized onions and wild mushrooms for the ultimate gourmet comfort food.
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Savory Baking: Fold chunks of nutty, aged Gouda into artisanal bread dough or savory scones alongside fresh thyme.
Final Thoughts
Embracing rich, earthy cheese is an invitation to slow down and savor the craftsmanship of food history. From damp, misty European cellars to local artisanal creameries crafting small-batch wheels, these cheeses offer an unmatched sensory journey.
Next time you visit your local cheese monger, step away from the familiar mild blocks and ask to sample something aged, bold, and unapologetically earthy. Your palate will thank you.
The Ultimate Guide to Cheese and Beer Snacks for Football Season
The Ultimate Guide to Cheese and Beer Snacks for Football Season
There is an unspoken rule of autumn: as soon as the crisp fall air rolls in and the television networks cue up that familiar opening football fanfare, your palate starts craving two things above all else—melted cheese and cold beer.
Whether you are hosting a high-stakes tailgate outside the stadium, organizing a couch-bound watch party for your fantasy league, or simply tuning in for the primetime matchup, game day food requires a specific game plan. Enter the ultimate culinary tag team: cheese and beer snacks.
From velvety beer cheese dips to sophisticated pairings that will impress even the most discerning craft beer snobs, this comprehensive guide will walk you through how to elevate your football season snacking. Let’s dive into the playbook.
1. Why Cheese and Beer Belong Together on Game Day
To understand why beer and cheese make such an elite game-day pairing, you have to look at the science of flavor. Both beer and cheese are fermented products, meaning they share complex flavor profiles—ranging from sharp, earthy, and nutty to tangy, sweet, and bitter.
When you incorporate rich cheese and beer snacks into your spread, magic happens. The effervescence and alcohol content of the beer act as a palate cleanser, cutting through the dense, creamy coating of melted cheese on your tongue. This keeps your taste buds refreshed and ready for the next bite, which is crucial when you are grazing through all four quarters.
The Golden Rules of Pairing:
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Match Intensity: Pair light, mild cheeses (like fresh mozzarella or mild gouda) with light lagers or pilsners. Pair bold, aged cheeses (like sharp cheddar or blue cheese) with robust IPAs or stouts.
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Complement or Contrast: You can either match flavor notes (like a nutty Swiss with a brown ale) or contrast them (like a salty, sharp cheddar with a sweet, malty amber ale).
2. Playbook Favorite: The Ultimate Hot Beer Cheese Dip
No football spread is complete without a warm, bubbling dip sitting center stage. While store-bought queso has its place, nothing beats a homemade beer cheese dip spiked with your favorite brew and loaded with bacon.
Ingredients for Success:
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16 oz sharp cheddar cheese (grated fresh for the best melt)
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1 cup Amber Ale or crisp Pilsner
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3 tbsp unsalted butter or bacon fat
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3 tbsp all-purpose flour
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¼ cup heavy cream
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2 tsp Dijon mustard
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Crispy bacon crumbles and sliced white cheddar for decoration
Game-Day Execution:
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In a medium saucepan, melt your butter or rendered bacon fat over medium heat. Whisk in the flour to create a smooth paste (a roux), cooking for about one minute.
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Slowly pour in your amber ale, whisking constantly to prevent lumps.
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Stir in the heavy cream and Dijon mustard, letting the mixture thicken up.
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Reduce the heat to low. Add your freshly grated sharp cheddar one handful at a time, stirring continuously until completely melted and velvety smooth.
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Serve warm in a hollowed-out bread bowl or a fun football-shaped dish, topped with smoky bacon bits. Pair these cheese and beer snacks with soft pretzel bites or thick-cut kettle chips.
3. Winning Cheese & Beer Snack Pairings for the Big Game
If you are setting up a snack stadium or a charcuterie board for guests to graze on during a long afternoon of back-to-back games, distinct snack pairings are a massive crowd-pleaser. Try these winning combinations:
| Snack Item | Cheese Companion | Beer Pairing | Why It Works |
| Classic Buffalo Wings | Crumbled Blue Cheese | West Coast or Hazy IPA | The hop bitterness and citrus notes in the IPA cut right through the rich, spicy buffalo sauce. |
| Loaded Nachos & Queso | Queso Blanco & Monterey Jack | Crisp Mexican Lager | Clean and refreshing, a lager keeps the heavy toppings from weighing you down. |
| Soft Pretzels | Sharp Cheddar Beer Spread | Munich-style Dunkel or Amber Ale | The caramel malt flavors in dark lagers accentuate the baked, yeasty crust of the pretzel. |
| Sliders & Burgers | Smoked Gouda or Cheddar | American Pale Ale | Pale ales offer enough malt backbone to stand up to beef without stealing the spotlight. |
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4. Quick & Easy Game-Day Assembly Ideas
Not everyone has hours to spend in the kitchen before kickoff. If you are strapped for time but still want to deliver elite-tier cheese and beer snacks, use these shortcut assembly ideas:
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The Beer-Caramelized Onion & Gruyère Sliders: Toss thinly sliced onions into a skillet with a splash of brown ale and butter. Let them simmer until jammy and sweet. Pile them onto slider buns with juicy mini burger patties and a thick slice of melting Gruyère cheese.
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Beer-Battered Fried Cheese Curds: Head to the freezer aisle or your local butcher for quality cheese curds. Toss them in a quick batter made from flour, spices, and a crisp pilsner, then fry until golden and crispy. Serve with a spicy sriracha ranch.
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The Ultimate Game-Day Cheese Board: Skip the cooking entirely. Build a board featuring sharp aged white cheddar, creamy brie, spicy pepper jack, and a funky blue cheese. Surround them with water crackers, pepperoni slices, candied pecans, and a bowl of grainy mustard. Match the board with a flight of diverse craft beers so guests can experiment with different flavor combinations.
Score Big This Season
Football season only comes around once a year, meaning every weekend is precious cargo. By swapping out boring snack options for dynamic, flavorful cheese and beer snacks, you guarantee that your home is the ultimate destination for every kickoff.
Whether your team secures a blowout victory or suffers a heartbreaking last-second loss, a table stocked with warm beer cheese, crispy pretzels, and ice-cold brews ensures everyone goes home a winner.
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Chocolate Cheese? 6 Ways to Eat this Unusual Treat
We know what you’re thinking. Surely, you can’t have chocolate and cheese? But we’re here to tell you that at Shisler’s Cheese House, you can, in fact, have both!
Our chocolate cheese is made from a local recipe and all locally produced ingredients combining fine chocolate fudge with premium cream cheese. The result is the perfect smooth and creamy balance of sweet chocolate and mild cheese.
This could be a perfect gift for that food lover in your life who has everything and is always on the hunt for new flavors to try.
We’re also sharing several different ways to really enjoy this here on the blog today. We’re sharing sweet ideas, but we’d love to hear from you if you enjoy this in a savory dish!
1. As a delicious snack
Our chocolate cheese is perfect for those mid-afternoon sweet cravings. Some of our customers even like to enjoy it with peanut butter. We love it as a movie night treat with our popcorn! It’s also delicious when paired with nuts, especially almonds. It can be easy to get bored when we eat the same snacks all the time, so try something new today.
2. Baked into brownies
If you love cheesecake brownies, this is a little bit of a cheat to make them even more quickly and easily than usual. Fold some chopped up chunks of chocolate cheese into your favorite brownie mix for a cheesecake style swirl. You’re sure to impress at the next bake sale with this innovative twist.
3. With a glass of dessert wine
Serve with a glass of sweet Moscato wine after dinner and see if your guests can guess what they are eating! You could even add to the fun by serving other mysterious foods, or give them a clue by creating a whole cheeseboard full of sweet and savory pairings. Add jellies and pickles to really get creative.
4. Grated over cakes and desserts
Instead of a dusting of cocoa or powdered sugar, add the wow factor by grating over a little chocolate cheese. It will look great and add a hint of chocolate flavor to your creations.
5. Grated over hot chocolate
You’ve got whipped cream, mini marshmallows, a chocolate flake, and now… chocolate cheese! This will melt into the top of your hot chocolate for a delicious, creamy effect.
6. In an ice cream sundae
Just as you might add cubes of fudge to your favorite ice cream sundae, you could add chopped chocolate cheese. Be sure to pile it in with plenty of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, brownies, chocolate sauce, and sprinkles. You could even add a cherry sauce for a real pop of flavor.
We hope you enjoyed our ideas for eating chocolate cheese today. We are really excited to offer you chocolate cheese at Shisler’s Cheese House and we hope to see you soon to try it. We challenge you to find your favorite way to eat it and let us know in the comments.
You can even order online right now.
Cheesemaking: How To Make Cabra Al Vino
Recipe
What You Need
3 Gallons of Goat’s Milk (not Ultra-Pasteurized)
1/8 tsp MA4002 Culture*
1/8 tsp Single Strength Liquid Rennet
Cheese Salt
Salt Brine
Calcium Chloride (for pasteurized milk)
What To Do
1. The first step is to heat and acidify the milk. So let’s begin by heating the milk to 95F To do this, place the milk in a container and then place it in a large pot of very warm water. If you heat it on the stove, be sure to heat it slowly and stir it as it heats if you heat it on the stove.
After heating the milk, the culture can be added. The powder can become very cakey and sink in clumps so to prevent this, sprinkle the culture over the surface of the milk and then let it sit for a couple of minutes. This allows the powder to re-hydrate before you stir it in. After stirring, let the milk sit for a further hour so that the culture can get to work.
2. After an hour of ripening, add 1/8 tsp. single strength liquid rennet. Stir the rennet in for about a minute in a slow up and down motion. The rennet will begin to coagulate the curd, let it sit for 90 minutes. You will see the milk thicken after around 40-45 minutes, but it still needs the full 90 minutes for a proper curd to form.
One way to check for a good curd, insert a knife into the curd at a 45-degree angle and lift slowly until the curd breaks. The edges should break cleanly and the whey that will rise should be clear, not cloudy.
3. It is now time to cut the curds and cook them. Cut the curd vertically in both directions, at about 3/4-1/2 inch then let it sit for 5 minutes.
The second cut should be horizontal with a spoon or flat ladle and then cut slowly to a pea size, taking about 10 minutes.
Remove 30% of the whey after allowing the curd to settle.
Add back some water at a temperature of 110F slowly to heat curds to 97F over 10 minutes.
Stir the curd for 30-40 minutes to achieve a moderately firm curd.
The final curds should be cooked well through. Examine them to make sure enough moisture has been removed. A broken curd should be firm throughout and the curds should have a moderate resistance when you press them in between your fingers.
The curds should be allowed to settle under the whey when this point has reached.
4A. The basket molds which should have been previously sanitized can now be put on a draining surface but with no cloth.
Remove the whey down to just above the curd surface and begin transferring the curds to the molds. Use moderate hand pressure for a firm pack into the molds.
You should stack the two molds for a moderate amount of weight.
Continue to do this for 30 minutes with no cloth and weight by simply reversing and restacking the molds after 15 minutes.
4B. After 30 minutes, turn the cheese in the molds with no cloth.
Now stack 2 high and weight at 5-7lbs for 30 minutes. Turn in the molds and re-wrap in cloth using the same weight and time as above.
Make sure you keep the curd warm at 75-80F. You can do this by insulating with a thick towel. This needs to be done because the bacteria are still working and producing acid from the remaining lactose.
Turn the cheese again in the cloth and stack the molds 2 high, weighted at 15lbs. Turn and re-wrap at 30-minute intervals for the next 4 hours.
You can now press the cheese for about 5 hours and by this time it should have reached its final acid level and moisture. If you have a pH meter, the final reading should show 5.2. Remove the weights when it reads this and you will now be ready to salt the cheese in a brine bath.
5. Now it is time for the salting. So, remove the cheese from the cloth and they will be ready to go into the brine at 52F.
The final cheese weight will be approximately 1.5lbs each which makes the final brine time 5.5 hours.
You will need a saturated brine prepared for salting the cheese, here is a simple brine formula:
– 1 gallon of water
– 2.25 lbs of salt
– 1tbs. calcium chloride
– 1 tsp. white vinegar
– Bring the brine and cheese to 50-55°F before using.
The cheese will float above the surface so please be sure to sprinkle a small amount of salt on top of the cheese surface. Flip the cheese halfway through the brine period and sprinkle some salt on the other surface too.
Wipe down the surface at the end of the brine period and let the surface dry for a day or two at around 52F and 85% moisture.
6. It is now time to finish this cheese with a traditional twist. You will soak the cheese in wine for several days which will increase the surface acidity substantially and make it less hospitable for mold growth and hence less work in the aging room.
Two pieces of cheese will fit comfortably in a 1-gallon zip-lock bag and a small amount of wine will do just fine to soak the cheese in. Be sure to squeeze out the excess air and zip the bag closed.
Wash the surface with the light brine to remove any surface mold that developed and rehydrate the surface, before you soak the cheese in wine.
A Vino is recommended for this, Petit Sirag grape in particular. Use about 12-16 ozs of the wine and then you can happily drink the rest.
Pour the wine into the bag with the cheese and then squeeze the air out before sealing the bag.
After soaking, you can age the cheese in the bag in an aging room at 52F for 36 hours, turning several times.
Now you can remove the cheese from the bag, wipe down the surface and dry it off for 24 hours. Allow for the first dose of wine to migrate into the cheese before the second wine soaking.
Finally, repeat the wine soak for another 48 hours and turn it regularly.
7. After all the soaking, age the cheese at 52-56F and 80-85% moisture.
Age the cheese for 4-6 weeks at which point, it will be ready to consume.
There will be very little mold growth on the surface.
A fine dusting of white mold shows up every 3 or so days, it will just need a quick cloth wipe to remove it.
Cheesemaking: How To Make Caciotta
Recipe
What You Need
2 Gallons of Milk (Not UltraPasteurized)
2/3 Packet of C201Thermophilic Culture (1/2 packet if using raw milk)*
1/2 tsp Single Strength Liquid Rennet
Salt Brine
Calcium Chloride (for pasteurized milk)
What To Do
1. The first step is to heat and acidify the milk. So let’s begin by heating the milk to 98F To do this, place the milk in a container and then place it in a large pot of very warm water. If you heat it on the stove, be sure to heat it slowly and stir it as it heats if you heat it on the stove. The higher temperature will be more in line with a happy temperature for the Thermophilic bacteria.
You can add the culture once the temperature is at 98F. The lower culture amount is in character with the slightly less acid final cheese.
The powder can become very cakey and sink in clumps so to prevent this, sprinkle the culture over the surface of the milk and then let it sit for a couple of minutes. This allows the powder to re-hydrate before you stir it in. After stirring, let the milk sit for a further hour so that the culture can get to work.
2. You can now add about 2.5ml or 1/2 tsp of single strength liquid rennet. The rennet needs to be added and mixed for one minute but not enough that the milk is agitated.
The milk needs to sit for around 20 minutes so that the culture can get to work and the rennet can begin to coagulate the curd. The milk will begin to thicken after around 8 minutes but be sure to allow the full time for coagulation and check for a nice clean break before cutting.
You should utilize coagulation time by preparing the molds, cloth and draining area by sanitizing them all.
3. You need to cut the curd as soon as it has firmed well.
To cut the curd, you must cut it into walnut size pieces to maintain a higher moisture in the final cheese. It is very important to be gentle in the cut and stir it so you don’t break the curd further. Cut the curd vertically in both directions and then wait 5 minutes before the horizontal cutting. When stirring, it should be slow and gentle but just enough to keep the curds moving and separated for releasing the initial whey.
Stir the curd for another 10 minutes. Check the curds for excess moisture. You can raise the temperature to 102F if needed for the next 15 minutes of stirring. If you don’t need it, simply maintain the 98F temperature for the entire time.
The total stir time is 25 minutes.
To determine the final moisture, it will be a rather subjective decision and will depend on the milk quality, cook temperature and rate/time of stirring.
4. After removing around 40% of the whey, the curd will begin to show, this is when you can begin molding. Give the curds a nice gentle hand stir to discourage the matting in the vat.
Transfer the curd to the mold and pack it in lightly. The mold will need to be packed well above the top surface and you will have to wait as the whey drains to add more to get all of the curd into the mold.
5A. When you have fully transferred all the curd into the drain cloth and mold, the cloth can be neatly folded over the top. You should then flip the basket every 15 minutes and on the 2nd turn, it should be turned in the cloth and returned to the basket.
If the cheese is left at room temperature, you will need to warm it up otherwise it will begin to chill and bacteria cultures will slow and even stop and the fermentation of the curd will not be completed which will result in problems for the final cheese.
When the forms with the cheese are ready, place them on the draining rack and add enough hot water to maintain the temperature. 120F water tends to cool quickly to 100F and maintain this temperature.
Now cover the pot and hold the cheese here for at least 1 hour to 1.5 hours while the cheese finishes its lactose conversion to lactic acid. Check the cheese at 20-30 minute intervals to assure the temperature is correct and also turn the cheese in its form at the same time.
This will complete the lactose conversion and thus keep the cheese from any late acid development which will lead to a sour and crumbly cheese defect.
5B. Be sure to continue to turn the cheese in the basket form every 30 minutes while it is in the warm chamber. The cheese will be less sweet, the longer it stays warm.
After around 1 hour, remove the cloth and at around 1.5 hours, move the cheese to a room temperature draining area to let them gradually cool.
You can leave the cheese at room temperature until the evening which it should then be moved to a cool environment of 55-60F to prepare for the salt brine.
The cheese should be consolidated with a nice tight surface with an imprint of the basket molds.
There is no need for any pressing or press weight because of the high moisture and heating which had been done.
6. By the next morning, the cheese will be ready to brine.
You will need a saturated brine prepared for salting the cheese:
A simple brine formula is:
– 1 gallon of water
– 2.25 lbs of salt
– 1tbs. calcium chloride
– 1 tsp. white vinegar
– Bring the brine and cheese to 50-55°F before using.
You should now set the cheese in the brine for around 2 hours.
The cheese will float above the surface so please be sure to sprinkle a small amount of salt on top of the cheese surface. Flip the cheese halfway through the brine period and sprinkle some salt on the other surface too.
7. Wipe down the surface at the end of the brine period and place the cheese in the aging space at around 52-55F and 85-90% moisture. The high moisture is needed for good mold growth. The cheese needs to be turned and wiped daily. The wipe will be with a cloth which is dampened with a 6-8% strength brine to remove the mold, then air briefly before returning to the aging space.
The cheese will soften after about a week to 10 days as the high moisture encourages the enzymes to work on the protein structure.
At around 2 weeks to 2 months, the cheese will be ready to eat.
Cheesemaking: How To Make Bleu d’Auvergne
It is not recommended to make this cheese unless you have made a few other kinds of cheese in the past for experience. The cheese needs to be around 4-5 lbs to develop a good blue.
However, if you are wanting a smaller version, you can change the scale down from 5 gallons to 2 gallons:
2 gallons of milk (Not UltraPasteurized)
1/16tsp MM100, 1/32tsp TA061, 1/16tsp P.roqueforti culture
Liquid Rennet (1/8tsp)
Colander and butter muslin to drain the curds
Small Cheese Mold (the curd may initially mound over the top but will settle with the lightweight suggested here)
For a 2 gallon recipe, I suggest a 4-5 lb. weight, only enough to settle the curds, not enough to consolidate them. For a 5 gallon batch, no weight is needed.
Salt non-iodized medium grain
Recipe
What You Need
5 Gallons of Milk (Not UltraPasteurized)
1/8tsp MM100
1/16tsp TA061
1/8tsp Penicillium Roqueforti
2 ml (just under 1/2 tsp) Liquid Rennet
Cheese Salt
Calcium Chloride (for pasteurized milk)
What To Do
1. The P.roqueforti needs to be rehydrated in 1/8 cup of boiled and cooled water before heating the milk.
The first step is to heat and acidify the milk. So let’s begin by heating the milk to 90F. To do this, place the milk in a container and then place it in a large pot of very warm water. If you heat it on the stove, be sure to heat it slowly and stir it as it heats if you heat it on the stove.
Once you are done heating the milk, all the cultures can be added, including the rehydrated mold. The powder can become very cakey and sink in clumps so to prevent this, sprinkle the culture over the surface of the milk and then let it sit for a couple of minutes. This allows the powder to re-hydrate before you stir it in. After stirring, let the milk sit for 60 minutes before adding the rennet.
2. Now, add 2ml of single strength liquid rennet.
Let the milk sit for 90 minutes while the culture works and the rennet coagulates the curd. The milk will begin to thicken in around 20 minutes but you need to wait the full 90 minutes until you see a good curd.
The thermal mass of the milk will keep it warm during the 30 minutes but it is fine if the temperature drops a few degrees during this time.
The coagulation is much longer than most cheeses because the extra time will allow for more moisture to be bound into the curd structure. This is what makes the cheese so creamy.
While the coagulation is taking place a draining area should be sanitized and prepared.
– For a small 2 lb. curd mass, this can be as simple as a large colander lined with cloth.
– For the larger cheese, I am making in the photos here, I use a large tray set at an angle to drain well and lined with draining cloth.
3. The next step is to separate the curds but retains as much moisture in the curds as we can while forming a good surface that will stop the curds from consolidating too much on molding. This will result in a lot of small openings between the curds for the blue mold to work its magic.
You initially cut the curd surface into large cubes to retain the final moisture of the cheese:
– Cut to 1/2-3/4″ then rest 5 min, the larger size will retain more moisture and provide larger openings internally for the finished cheese
– Stir intermittently over 20 mins, stirring just enough to firm the curd surface and keep the curds from consolidating
– Drain 20% of whey and then stir gently 10-15 min
– Repeat the 20% whey removal and gently stir for 10-15 min.
The stirring in step #2 is to keep the curds separate but not dry them out too much. Step #3 and #4 of whey draining and stirring are to firm the curd surfaces while maintaining the internal moisture. This is ‘Grain’ development which is very important for this cheese and can be one of the most challenging parts of this recipe.
The final curds should be plump and springy and you should examine them to make sure that the curds have a light skin on the surface and remain heavy when held in your hand. They should also not slump together excessively or be too firm throughout.
Once you have reached this point with the curds, don’t allow them to settle under the whey, but transfer them to a draining cloth.
4. When the curds have been transferred to the draining area, don’t allow the curds to the mat and consolidate after the final whey removal. Give them a gentle stir before transferring to avoid consolidating.
Allow the curds to drain for 10-20 minutes and stir gently while making sure that the whey drains well and the curds remain separated.
Small openings will be formed in the cheese body which are essential for the blue mold to develop and do its magic while aging, this is because the blue requires aerobic environment. Enzymes will be produced as it grows which will allow the proteins and fat to form, leaving the texture soft.
5a. The curd can now be moved to the molds. Initially, it will have a very open texture but the cheese will retain a good supply of lactose and as the bacteria continue to convert this lactic acid, the curds will shrink, release whey and begin to consolidate somewhat. The openings should be left throughout the cheese body.
There is no weight required on the large-scale cheese because the cheese weight will be enough to form a tight surface. You need to turn the cheese as soon as the curd begins to consolidate a bit (15-20 minutes) and then flip it every 30 minutes for 3-4 hours as the acid continues to develop. Be sure to keep the cheese at room temperature during this time.
To make sure that there is an even consolidation and whey drainage, turning is important. At each turn, you will notice that the cheese has formed smoother surface and rests lower in the mold.
5b. The cheese should be kept at room temperature until evening to allow the final acid to develop. Whey will continue to weep during this time.
Then move it to a cooler space for it to rest overnight. (Make sure the aging space is at 52-54F).
6. This blue cheese needs to be salted over a period of 4-5 days with dry salt. It will receive less salt than most of the other blue cheese which results in a slightly milder flavor in the finished cheese.
Weigh out 2.5% of the cheese weight in salt. The final weight of this recipe should approximately be 6.5lbs, therefore the salt required is 2.4oz by weight.
Salt by applying 30% of the salt to the top surface and spread it evenly to the edges and then rub as much as you can into the sides. The sides will get less salt but they will also get treated twice as much. Allow 8 hrs to form its own brine and be absorbed by the cheese. You can then let the cheese rest overnight and turn it the next morning and treat the other side the same as on the first day. On the third day, the remaining salt is split between the two surfaces and the surface will have become hardened by the salt extracting moisture at the surface.
The dry salt will form a brine and be absorbed by the cheese.
For the next week, the surface will soften as the salt penetrates the cheese and interior moisture migrates to the surface.
Be sure to turn the cheese daily and maintain a high moisture of 90-95% and temperature of 46-54F. During this period, the proteins will begin to transform.
7. In around 1 week, the initial protein changed of the cheese will be well underway meaning that it is time to punch holes to aerate the cheese for mold growth. There should be many small openings internally from the care preserving curd structure through the draining process. If there are not any openings, you will only see blue developing in the holes you punch. You can use a skewer to make these holes about 1 inch apart on both the top and bottom surface and extending about 2/3 the way into the cheese.
Once you have made the holes, you will need to turn the cheese daily to even out the air flow. You should see signs of blue mold growing internally and a bit on the surface after around 3 weeks.
If the surface remains too moist, you will see a rose to orange colored surface developing and if less moisture, a slight white drier surface mold will develop.
In a good aging space that is well controlled, the cheese can be stored on their edges for better air flow. You can turn them about a quarter turn every day.
The cheese will be ready in about 60-75 days depending on how you define ready.
It will take a lot of patience to get this cheese right but it will definitely be worth it.
Cheesemaking: How To Make Brick Cheese
Recipe
What You Need
4 Gallons of Milk (not ultra-pasteurized)
1/2 tsp MM100 or 1 Packet C21 Buttermilk Culture (30-40% less culture for raw milk)
1/16 tsp C10 Bacteria Linens
3/4 tsp (3.75ml) Liquid Rennet
Salt for Brine
Calcium Chloride (for pasteurized milk)
What To Do
1. The first step is to heat and acidify the milk. So let’s begin by heating the milk to 88F. To do this, place the milk in a container and then place it in a large pot of very warm water. If you heat it on the stove, be sure to heat it slowly and stir it as it heats if you heat it on the stove.
Once you are done heating the milk, you can add the culture and Bacteria Linens. The powder can become very cakey and sink in clumps so to prevent this, sprinkle the culture over the surface of the milk and then let it sit for a couple of minutes. This allows the powder to re-hydrate before you stir it in. After stirring, let the milk sit for 10 minutes. This is such a short ripening time because we need to have very slow acid development to produce a sweet cheese.
2. Now, add around 3/4 tsp of single strength liquid rennet.
Let the milk sit for 30 minutes while the culture works and the rennet coagulates the curd. The milk will begin to thicken in around 15 minutes but you need to wait the full 30 minutes until you see a good curd.
The thermal mass of the milk will keep it warm during the 30 minutes but it is fine if the temperature drops a few degrees during this time.
3. Now is time to cut the curds and release the whey. Start by cutting the curd into 3/4-1 inch squares, then allow it to sit for 2-3 minutes for the cuts to heal. The curd will still be very soft which will prepare it for a more even cut size.
For the second cut, cut the curd into 3/8 – 1/2 inch pieces as evenly as possible. Let it sit again for 5 minutes, being sure to give it a very gentle stir every minute or so to keep it from matting.
At this point, the curd will remain quite soft and will slump back into a single mass at this point, so gentle stirring is needed until it becomes a lot firmer.
The whey will also have begun to rise, so stir it for 10 minutes. During this time, the curd will begin to firm up.
4. This is the step to begin drying out the curds. You can do this by slowly increasing the heat from 88F to 100F over 45-60 minutes. The time is long to make sure the curd is very dry. Giving the curd a slow and consistent stir will keep the curds from breaking but at the same time, it will encourage the whey to be released.
5. This part is very important for slowing the acid production required for the sweet cheese body.
You need to allow the curds to settle and remove 25% of the original milk volume (1 gallon) as whey. This will deprive the bacteria of lactose while slowing the acid development).
Be sure to add back cool water at 65F immediately until the curd temperature drops to 85F.
Continue to stir until the curd is firm enough to mold. Make sure that the final curds are cooked well through and examine them to make sure that enough moisture has been removed. Broken curds should be firm throughout and when you press them between your fingers, there should be moderate resistance.
If there is too much moisture, the cheese will develop late acid and the texture will be pasty in the aging room. If there is too little moisture, the cheese won’t consolidate well or ripen correctly because of the lack of moisture for enzyme transport.
Let the curds settle under the whey and then remove the whey down to curd level again.
6. You can now transfer the curds to a sanitized mold which is sitting on a draining mat.
– They should be allowed to drain for 15 minutes with no weight.
– Then turn for the first time at 15 min.
– Turn again for the second time and add 5 lbs weight (2.5 qt water) for the traditional brick mold of 5″x10″ (50″sq). Our large cheese mold (M2) is about this same size.
Apply the weight for 2-3 hours and then let the cheese sit in the molds overnight with no weight applied. Be sure to turn the cheese again in the mold when removing the weight.
It is important you place a damp cloth over the cheese to prevent it from drying out. Try and keep the cheese between 70-75F during this time.
7. A saturated brine is needed for salting the cheese, here is a simple brining formula:
– 1 gallon of water
– 2.25 lbs of salt
– 1tbs. calcium chloride
– 1 tsp. white vinegar
– Bring the brine and cheese to 50-55°F before using.
The final weight of the cheese will be around 4.5lbs unless you have changed the ingredient measurements.
Set the cheese in the brine for around 10 hours (2.25 hrs per lb. of final cheese). The cheese will float above the surface, so sprinkle some salt on top of the surface of the cheese. Flip the cheese and re-salt the surface about half way through the brine period.
After brining, wipe the surface and let the cheese surface dry for several hours. The surface will darken slightly during this time.
8. When it comes to aging, you can do it two different ways:
– Stronger and more traditional aromatic cheese:
Keep the brick at 68-70F and 90-95% moisture. Wash and rub it daily with light brine for 7-10 days. After this time, it should have developed good bacterial growth on the surface and should be turned for the next 7-10 days. Once those 7-10 days, wrap the cheese and store at 42F until it is ready. 2-3 months being the total ripening time.
– Milder and less pungent version
For this brick, keep it at 55F and 90-95% humidity for 2 days and wash it daily. After those 2 days, dry the cheese and wrap it and move it to cold storage.
Note: The light washing brine can be made up with about 1-2 tbs. salt to 1 cup of cool water. Begin with the lower dose and if other molds become a problem, increase the salt.
Making Cultured Butter
These days, homemade butter made straight from your kitchen is a lot better than store-bought butter. This recipe will show you exactly how to make delicious cultured butter.
All you really need is cream and a jar. You can make it in a blender or a mixer using ripened cream, it is as simple as that. Just pour the cream in, hit the mix button and wait until you hear the “chugging” sound.
Start with having your cream at 50-60F to make butter. If it is too warm, the butter will be too soft and will be more difficult to rinse and knead later on. If it is too cold, the fat will have difficulty consolidating.
Recipe
What You Need
2-4 Pints of Good Quality Cream
1 Packet C21 Buttermilk Culture (Optional)
Salt (Optional)
What To Do
1. The basic rule for selecting your cream is the better the cream tastes, the higher quality your butter will be. Heavy cream is 60% milk solids and water, and 40% butterfat.
The cream from Jersey cows always produces the best butter because of its higher fat content milk. Their fat is dispersed in larger globules than milk from other types of cows, it also tends to churn into butter a lot easier. The pastured cows eat plants with higher beta-carotene which makes the cream deep ivory to gold in color because the beta-carotene colors the cream more than grain.
– Fresh Sweet Cream: The best cream for butter is non-ultra pasteurized, high butterfat content (36-40%), organic, and from pastured cows. Jersey cream makes churning faster, due to the larger butterfat globules.
If you are just using ingredients bought from a grocery store, you are probably starting off with better ingredients than the average butter. However, if you can find non-ultra heat treated cream from pastured cows, this will improve the flavor a lot more.
The hardest part of making good butter surrounds entirely around the cream. Most of the cream sold in the US is ultra heat treated (UHT).
Vat pasteurized cream is the best-pasteurized cream. It is heated only to 165F for 30 minutes. The only downside of this is that vat pasteurized cream is harder and harder to find.
2. To culture your pasteurized cream, you simply need to add a packet of C21 Buttermilk Culture to a quart of cream (simply adjust according to different sizes used). Butter cultures are “Mesophilic”, this means that the bacteria thrive in moderate temperatures. “Thermophilic” yogurt cultures require higher temperatures so they are not as effective here.
Bring the cream to 68-70F (It is important to not let the cream fall below 68F or go above 78F). Now add the culture and keep it covered and warm for 6-12 hours. The time depends on how much character you want to see in your butter. Basically, let your taste buds be your guide.
Once the cream has ripened, it should be a lot thicker and have developed an aroma. The taste should be delicious, with sour notes and it should have no aftertaste. Throw the cream away is it smells “bad”, or if the cream is bubbly and gassy. The reasons this might have happened because:
– The area where you are making the butter isn’t completely sanitized.
– The milk was exposed to bad bacteria.
– The cream was stored near items in the refrigerator that give off an odor which is not welcome in butter (onions, garlic, etc).
3. Now is time to separate the butter. Begin by warming the cream to 50-60F.
Using a jar, fill up the jar 25-50% full of cream. The more cream you have in the jar, the longer it will take to form butter because there will be less movement of the cream and movement is what makes the butter.
Now, using a blender, mixer or food processor, fill it to around 25-40% full as it will get messy otherwise. Turn it on at a moderate speed and watch the cream change to a thick texture and then begin to separate.
It won’t take too long, only between 10-20 minutes, depending on the cream, temperature and how long you let it ripen, also the type of “churn”.
The sound of the moving cream will begin to change as the cream turns from liquid to whipped cream. Eventually, you will notice that it will “break” as the butter separates from the buttermilk. The color will also start to turn more yellow as the butter comes together. It will also begin clumping.
4. This step is very important because it keeps the butter fresh. The final butter might have some lactose and milk proteins remaining in the liquid. If you allow it to ferment, the butter can become very rancid in a short period of time. Washing and folding are what removes most of this. Cultured butter generally lasts longer because the lactose has been mostly fermented out to lactic acid.
Pour the liquid off and move the butter to a bowl when the butter begins clumping well.
Also, add some fresh, cool water and rinse the butter by pressing and folding in the bowl, you can do this two or three times until the water is basically clear.
5. Pour off the final rinse water and continue to knead with a spoon until it forms a nice ball. You will notice that water is working out of the butter as you knead it, keep draining this off as you form the butter into a ball. Put the butter in the fridge to harden a bit, if the butter is too soft.
If you desire, you can add salt to your butter during the final kneading. More liquid will come off if you do.
6. You can now press the butter into any form that you want or you can roll it into a ball and wrap or press into a special butter mold for aesthetics.
Don’t forget to taste some for yourself, though!
7. To store your butter, simply refrigerate it or for larger batches, you can freeze all of the butter that exceeds the supply of a few days.
Don’t worry, freezing butter will not harm it because butterfat crystalizes at about 60F, so taking it from 5F in a refrigerator down to -20F in the freezer, will not change its texture.
Cheesemaking: How To Make Belper Knolle Cheese
Recipe
What You Need
1 Gallon of Milk (Not UltraPasteurized)
1 Packet C20G Chevre Culture
1/2 tsp Pink Himalayan Salt or Cheese Salt
2-3 Garlic Cloves
1.5-2 Tbs Toasted Black Peppercorns
1/4 tsp Calcium Chloride (for pasteurized milk)
What To Do
1. If you are using pasteurized milk, add about 1/8-1/4 tsp of Calcium Chloride at this point. The first step is to heat and acidify the milk. So let’s begin by heating the milk to 86F. To do this, place the milk in a container and then place it in a large pot of very warm water. If you heat it on the stove, be sure to heat it slowly and stir it as it heats if you heat it on the stove.
Once you are done heating the milk, you can add the culture. The powder can become very cakey and sink in clumps so to prevent this, sprinkle the culture over the surface of the milk and then let it sit for a couple of minutes. This allows the powder to re-hydrate before you stir it in. After stirring, let the milk sit for a further 30 minutes so that the culture can get to work.
2. Now you just need to let the milk sit at room temperature for 12-14 hours. The temperature is bound to drop during this time. If you are making this recipe in the winter, it is best to keep the pot covered with towels or a blanket to keep it from getting cool. The best time to make this recipe is in the evening because the curds will be ready to drain in the morning and can be draining whilst you’re busy at work or doing other things.
The milk sugar is converted into lactic acid while the bacteria in the culture works. This increases the acidity of the milk and eventually causes the milk to form the curd.
The rennet also helps coagulate the milk. The milk will thicken into a gel-like texture after a few hours but really needs more time to become properly firm. The finished curd will begin to show whey rising to the surface.
3. The next task is to separate the whey and curds.
To begin, line the sanitized colander with the cheesecloth in preparation for draining. If you want to save the whey for cooking or other things, just drain it all into another pot.
The curds are now ready to be transferred to the draining cloth.
Once the curds drain for a short time, the cloth can be gathered, tied securely and hung for the final drainage. You can do this overnight or for several hours, depending on how dry you want the final cheese to be.
4. Now is the time to add the salt and garlic. Once the curd has fully dried, you can blend the salt and garlic into the curds.
Use around 2-3 cloves of garlic chopped into small pieces. Now add them to a mortar along with 1.5 tsp of the Himalayan pink salt, then crush them with the pestle making a uniform paste.
The drained curds will look like dough.
Transfer the curd to a bowl along with the salt/garlic paste, then begin mashing the curds and paste uniformly using a large spoon. Now allow this to sit as you prepare the black pepper coating.
5. Grind the toasted peppercorns to a medium-fine size. Spread them out evenly on a cookie sheet or your counter if you don’t mind making a mess.
6. Once everything is blended and mashed, you can take a small handful of the cheese and form it into a ball like a snowball.
The one-gallon batch should make around 5-6 balls which are slightly larger than golf ball sized cheeses. All you have to do is roll the cheese around in the ground pepper surface that you have prepared.
The cheese will still be tender due to high moisture, so handle it carefully as you transfer it to the drying mat.
7. You can now dry the cheese out before it is placed into the cave. This can be one by placing it in a room at about 50-60F and a moisture of 65-70% moisture. A fan can also be set at a low/medium speed to increase the rate of moisture released.
The reason for all this is to produce a firm, dry crust. This will become a lighter color as it dries. The pepper coating will keep the surface free of mold.
8. Aging can now finally begin. The cheese can go to the cave with about 52-56F temperature and 75-80% moisture. The higher moisture helps the aging of the cheese as it continues to dry to the center and achieve a uniform moisture that will be perfect for use as thin shavings.
The final cheese will be ready in 4-6 weeks but will continue to improve in flavor for a few months.
Cheesemaking: How To Make Alpine Tomme
This recipe will be made with 2 gallons of milk. However, if you want to make a 4-gallon batch it can be a lot better because it seems larger formats ripen a lot easier. The smaller batch size can be easier for home cheese makers.
Recipe
