Cheese reference and my blue got loose!

If you are even remotely interested in cheese making you have to run right over and check out Dr. David B. Fankhauser's, (Ph.D.), extremely interesting cheese site, Fankhauser's Cheese page. Wow does he know his stuff and he has tons of recipes. The best thing about Dr. Fankhauser is that he makes the science of cheese making approachable. And he's been known to be extremely gracious in answering slightly hysterical emails from...ahem... someone we all might know. Thanks Dr. F for all your great info - and for teaching us how to get 'er done.

That wasn't there before.....

In totally unrelated news..... apparently my blue mold got loose in my cheese fridge! Remember when I attempted to make a Roquefort-goat blue cheese? Well. Honestly, I'm a little afraid of that cheese. Its there - looking at me. Actually it looks like its about to crawl away. So its been sitting in the cheese fridge while I gather up the gumption to do something with it.

While I'd been hiding under the table trying to avoid the Roquefort - the blue mold, apparently, had gone on walkabout. And it got into the gouda that was curing just above it. When I finally opened the fridge I saw the distinctive blue veining you'd see in a lovely blue cheese - in my gouda!. Upon closer inspection I found that there was a small hole in the light yellow cheese wax I'd used. A-ha! The entry point for the blue bacteria spores to creep into the gouda.

I was calmed by a noted cheese expert and instructed not to throw out the cheese! But that I could still use it. And yep, the blue mold just kinda found its way into the gouda since they were sharing a space. Since I wanted to cure the goudas for a bit longer I decided to rewax them.

This time I used black cheesewax from Leeners - which I received by next day delivery -no extra charge! It just showed up the next day. I love those guys. However, my UPS guy who hates us anyway, is now convinced I'm a loon. I heard the truck while I was milking and ran around the corner, clomping along loudly  in my barn boots and muddy work clothes and yelling YOOOO-HOOOO!!!! I was trying to get his attention but instead gave him a huge laugh. I swear I'm gonna be on "People of Walmart" on day... sheesh!

Waxing my cheese.

Anyway. The pix aren't great but the black cheese wax is just beautiful. I think its going to be stunning when I finally open these cheeses. You can see that I melt the wax in an old pan (in a double boiler) and use a natural bristle brush. Mostly I can just dip the cheese into the wax and use the brush to touch up with missed spots. The black wax allowed me to get the whole surface waxed and not leave any holes - unlike the light yellow wax which was the same color as the cheese.

Hopefully the blue mold will remain contained - or at least will stay out of my gouda.  If not I think I've invented a new cheese.  We can call it Barnyard Blue.

Happy Thursday everyone!