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on my way up to the vermont cheesemaker's festival last weekend i was lucky enough to be invited to tour the cellars at jasper hill, this insane $3.2 million cheese aging facility in greensboro, vt. they make and age some incredible cheeses there using their own milk and milk that is sourced from other farms in the northeast kingdom that are too small to effectively distribute their own dairy. we had to wear lab coats and sterilized boots and hairnets. every time you go into or out of a cave you have to wash your boots off in sterile foot baths. cool. ok here are some pictures this is the entrance to the cellars. it's underground. neat.  the first cave we went into was the bloomy rind cave. this is the harbison rack, which is a soft ripened cheese bound in strips of spruce bark which gives it a very earthy, woodsy, minerally flavor. we take this cheese back to our own caves in new york and wash it with a beer brine for eleven madison park to turn it into greensward. this rack has on it some very young harbisons which are less than a day old.  here they are after 11 days. ready to get wrapped up. even though they are a few weeks away from being able to eat, it's important to not let the mold run too wild or the rind will get ruined.  the washed rind cave. we weren't even allowed to go in this one because of the risk of contamination. fine. whatever.  this is the clothbound cheddar cave. by far the largest of the 6. jasper hill gets 35 pound wheels of cheddar from cabot and wraps them in muslin, then paints them with lard, then puts a second layer of muslin on. this protects the cheddar from cheese mites during its 14 month aging process, and also provides a great place for microflora to inhabit, as well as allowing the cheese to lose moisture, intensifying the flavor as it gets older.  the affineur who showed us around described the cloth layer as a "metropolis of microflora"  the bayley hazen blue cave. one of my all time favorite blues. they use loose stones as part of the floor to help regulate moisture levels in the cave.  young  almost ready. this is a few days after piercing. when blue cheese is made, the blue mold spores are mixed in with the curd. after it is pressed, it's pierced by needles to allow oxygen into the paste. this activates the mold and allows blue veins to form.  moldy cool. that place is really amazing. it's gigantic and it feels like being in a space ship filled with cheese.
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Jul 28, 2013 03:41
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 00:43 |
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Coco13 posted:This Saturday I'm going to the Festival of Cheese. I have very little cheese experience that isn't in the local grocery mart. Right now, my plan is try each cheese that's in Cheese Shop. Any other advice? eat everything
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Jul 31, 2013 19:32
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Luminaz posted:If you want something stronger than "usual" brie, you can taste the "Brie de Meaux" which is the best brie. You should also see if you can get your hands on Brie Fermier (Brie of the farm). It's styled after Brie de Meaux, but since you can't get the real stuff in America (they send over the pasteurized version, Fromage de Meaux, which doesn't taste nearly as good), I prefer Fermier. It's amazing: deep, rich, barnyardy, vegetal...it smells like butter and roasted cauliflower.
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Aug 22, 2013 13:55
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EatThePixies posted:What are you people talking about? You can buy raw milk cheese in the U.S. This is just a small company that makes and sells both raw and pasteurized milk cheese. I can buy in the stores and get it through a CSA, it can't be the only one. http://www.lifelinefarm.com/DairyDirectCheesePriceList.pdf Yes, as Kenning said, unpasteurized cheese in the US has to be aged at least 60 days. All of those cheeses you linked are over 2 months of age.
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Aug 28, 2013 00:58
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To everyone poo-pooing pasteurized American young cheeses, I suggest you go out and buy a wheel of Green Hill from Sweet Grass Dairy. It's a plump little Camembert-style butter bomb. Eat it, then come back here and call the US a "cheese desert".
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Aug 28, 2013 01:02
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Try one of Murray's Month Clubs! http://www.murrayscheese.com/monthly-clubs.html I'm biased because I work for the wholesale department there, but the month clubs are great!
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Dec 20, 2013 17:40
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If you're interested, I can get you 10% off.
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Dec 21, 2013 00:01
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I'm a big fan of the non-traditional Swiss cheeses like Scharfe Maxx and Challerhocker, which began to emerge from dairies a few decades ago after the government decided to allow other cheeses to be made besides the AOC-approved varieties. I count Challerhocker ("cellar-sitter") especially among my all time favorites; Walter Rass's farm in St. Gallen makes a firm but creamy, nutty, fruity cheese that has a sweet cream and butterscotch finish. If you ever have a chance to taste some, don't hesitate!
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Jan 4, 2014 16:15
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goodness posted:So I got a Cheese club for January and February. New to cheese, so thought this would be a cool thing to try. What do you guys think of the first month? Haven't tried any of these. The Amish blue might be good but to be honest Brie with walnuts in it sounds gross and I don't think I "get" the idea of stacking five different cheeses on top of each other. Report back!
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Jan 6, 2014 19:46
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Martello posted:You've never had baked brie with nuts and dried fruit? You're missing out, man. Sure I have, but baking in walnuts and aging the cheese with them are two totally different things. I'll bet the nuts make the cheese taste bitter.
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Jan 6, 2014 22:39
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goodness posted:Can anyone recommend a good soft, creamy (maybe sweet) cheese. Like the ones that almost melt at room temperature, I don't know what they are. Check out Fromager d'Affinois.
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Feb 1, 2014 03:30
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goodness posted:Ok thanks for the advice. If any of you guys could post your top 5 cheese, that would be an amazing help. I was going to do the cheese club, but its much more efficient to find out good cheese from you all. Bloomy: Harbison, Cellars at Jasper Hill Green Hill, Sweet grass Dairy La Tur Natural: Tomme Craeuse Ossau-Iraty Bleu Mont Bandaged Cheddar Washed: Vacherin Mont d'Or Langres Epoisses Hooligan, Cato Corner Farm Blue: Chiriboga Blue Rogue River Blue, Rogue Creamery Fourme d'Ambert Alpine: Pleasant Ridge Reserve Hoch Ybrig Comte Challerhocker
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Feb 4, 2014 15:35
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Cimber posted:Well, tried making Mozzarella today but I messed it up somehow. Not exactly sure what happened, but its not very firm. Its good as a cheese spread and in fact i'm munching some right now spread on a triscuit. Very creamy and tastes good. you don't need to knead it at all. you should really try to work it as little as possible.
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Feb 15, 2014 02:52
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goodness posted:Stopping at the cheese/meat store sometime soon, found an article for a good budget cheese plate. It listed these as the 4 cheeses, Yes. Four awesome cheeses.
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Feb 22, 2014 20:45
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Tender Child Loins posted:Has anyone had any experience eating Grayson? It's the latest addition to the rotating cheese plate at my workplace, and we have customers straight up refusing to eat it because it smells so bad. I like stinky things, so I'm having a hard time relating to that feeling. Interesting. As far as I know, Meadow Creek shuts down production of Grayson for three or four months beginning in November when the grass starts to go away in Virginia and is subsequently not usually available February through May-ish. I'm guessing the cheese that you guys have been buying is very, very old and probably overripe.
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Apr 28, 2014 02:34
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Either that or it's the first batch of the season, in which case I need to call down there and get some on our counters!
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Apr 28, 2014 02:36
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Tender Child Loins posted:Hmmm, interesting. We get our cheeses directly from an established cheese shop in town, and I feel like they would have said something if that were the case. Thanks for the tip, though. I'd be surprised if the shop were trying to pull one over on us, but I'll look into it. Just spoke with Helen down at the farm. They're just beginning to milk their cows this week so it's going to be another ~2 months until we see a new batch this season. I'd get that cheese off of your cheese plate.
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Apr 28, 2014 14:10
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Cold or room temperature. I prefer it cold, with nice, real balsamic vinegar and olive oil drizzled over it. With or without a big pile of arugula.
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May 28, 2014 01:03
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Sonic H posted:Hopefully someone can suggest a few things - I'm looking for a strong, soft cheese (for a risotto) but I cannot stand things like blue cheeses or Bries/Camenberts/Goats cheeses etc. Try Epoisses maybe? Honestly, this is a very strange question. You want a soft cheese, but you hate soft cheeses. What about them can you not stand? The texture, the flavor? If strength doesn't bother you, is stinky okay? Why do you need a soft cheese for a risotto? They're traditionally made with a very hard cheese that's grated in at the end.
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Jul 5, 2014 14:52
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those look like dinner rolls
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Aug 8, 2014 16:00
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what kind of cheese is it
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Aug 8, 2014 16:00
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You shouldn't really stir at all right after the rennet goes in. Be gentle! Let the curd set for about five to ten minutes before cutting it. Only then do you stir it, slowly, for about 2 minutes while bringing the heat back up to like 105-110. I prefer to end it there, drain the curds off and store them in the fridge for later pulling.
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Aug 10, 2014 13:05
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feed it to your pigs
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Aug 13, 2014 23:28
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We slipped some Roquefort in somehow but are now forced to jack up the price. Oh, and Andy Hatch let us know last week that there would be no Rush Creek Reserve this year due to the recent ambiguity of raw milk regulations. Sad days indeed.
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Aug 26, 2014 23:50
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I haven't been able to import Tomme de Savoie for almost 3 months.
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Aug 27, 2014 17:50
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dumptruckzzz posted:Well we got in a half-wheel of Cognac Bellavitano for the holidays, so far I've managed to sell .10 lbs so not a bad start. 79.99/lb, and I'm worried people are going to steal pieces Cool pictures! The cheese that is aging on the racks is actually Sole Gran Queso.
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Dec 22, 2014 22:09
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ColdPie posted:
Looks great! Intense cream line...what's your "cave" setup like?
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Apr 17, 2015 02:21
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ColdPie posted:I posted about it further up the page. Oh, I see it. I think I'm going to try this. We keep our bloomy cave around 47F and 92-98% humidity. Did you work somewhere within that? I'm worried about properly regulating the moisture when I scale this down into a wine fridge.
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Apr 18, 2015 14:50
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Eeyo posted:I got a little thing of jarlsberg that I've been eating through. It's got some kind of paper on the outside that's clearly not edible. My question is, how far deep does the "rind" go? It's clearly soft/edible in the center but as you get towards the rind, there's maybe a cm or so of harder stuff. Is that part of the rind or just a more dried part? Rind is always edible, without exception. Even wax rinds are technically foodsafe. Often, the paper or imprint on the rind just ends up just kind of fusing with the mold as it develops into a rind. Eat as much or as little of it as you are comfortable with.
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May 14, 2015 03:09
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Casu Marzu posted:
Was it actually good though? I'm extremely wary of cheeses aged past five years because they generally end up tasting like barf.
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Aug 27, 2015 21:38
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Casu Marzu posted:I know this is like 5 months ago but dang dude. You're really missing out. Cheddar starts to get super awesome after like 7-8 years. By 15-20 absolutely mindblowing. It's not that I haven't tried long-aged Cheddars. It's just that i often find them to be overpriced and overwhelmingly bilious.
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Jan 10, 2016 20:57
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You sure can. It would do better in a slightly warmer environment (~52F), but your fridge will still be effective.
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Jan 11, 2016 23:39
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Speaking of aged cheddar: 40 year Tillamook just showed up at my office.  I'll be honest, I was expecting it to be much worse than it actually was. It comes on strong and sweet, with malt and light butterscotch flavors that quickly fall away to a metallic, slightly spicy and butyric finish that sits heavily on the back of your palate. Overall, not horrible. I'm not sure I'd pay money for it, but I'm glad I was able to try it.
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Jan 12, 2016 16:57
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Gibbo posted:Look at this bitch. I bet you take your steak well done. I'm no bitch, and I don't care for Limburger. I've tried well over a thousand different cheeses and I find Limburger to be a pedestrian, gimmicky mess that's often severely overripe and inedibly ammoniated. Even young, it's not very good. quote:If you warm it up it loses a good deal of potency and becomes pretty mild. This is wrong
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Aug 22, 2016 16:49
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Shrapnig posted:Oh hey the cheese thread got resurrected. It's going to be really sweet, so prepare yourself for that. Aged gouda goes really well with salty - I love shaving it into pasta, actually. Another great combo is dark chocolate. I like to say that it tastes like an "adult butterfinger". Great to pair with Gose as well.
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Aug 22, 2016 16:52
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Don't rewax it, and there's no need to vacuum seal it. Just wrap it in plastic wrap or use a ziplock with the air squeezed out. The cheese has such low moisture that it'll never go bad (and I do mean never), so your goal is to keep what little moisture is left in the cheese from escaping.
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Aug 25, 2016 14:16
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 00:43 |
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holttho posted:I've been doing a lot of cheesemaking lately; and one of my favorite recipies is a mangled mix of a Colummier and a Triple Creme. I am far too lazy to do the standard 'stir for 50+ minutes' that a real creamy-oozy St. Andre-esque requires, but it's plenty good for me and the giving of gifts. They are wonderfully spreadable and nice and fatty to boot. Dope post! Think you could PM me your recipe? I'm getting ready to play around with some makes in my newly refinished basement
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May 3, 2017 22:49
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