Previous articles have talked about vacuum sealing as a form of cheese preservation, but even with this more contemporary method of vacuum sealing cheese, there is still a need to find the best mini fridge for cheese cave that delivers perfect results.
As more and more home cheese makers move from making fresh cheese to making aged cheese, one problem keeps popping up; finding the perfect cheese cave to age your cheese in. Read more
When it comes to aging and preserving your home made cheese, there are a number of techniques that can be used. From traditional waxing, to waxing with bees wax, bandaging and vacuum sealing cheese. The method you choose will purely be out of preference. Read more
If you’re making hard cheeses like Cheddar or Gouda, chances are you either already waxing them, or have been looking into how to do so.
Cheese wax is a pliable, paraffin based wax that is usually coloured red, yellow or black. You can also get green and blue wax.
On a side note, ever wondered why there are different colours? Read more
Once upon a time there was only cling film, and sandwich bags.
Then someone found a way to take the concept of those two items and invented a product which didn’t just cover your food in plastic, but it actually sucked out all the air first, creating a air-tight, vacuum sealed wrapper.
Welcome to the Vacuum Sealer!
If you feel so inclined to play with some older, traditional methods of preserving cheese, ‘bandaging’ is an interesting and fun technique to try out.
It is also a more natural method that will appeal to those not wanting to preserve their cheese with colored waxes.
Bandaging involves wrapping your cheese in cheese cloth bandage and then sealing it with a fat based product like lard. And while it is still a slightly messy preserving technique much like waxing, it looks pretty neat when it’s done.
It also produces a better flavored cheese due to the molds that form around the bandage and contribute to the aging of the cheese. Bandaging also allows your cheese to breathe as compared to wax or vacuum sealing.
Aging, preserving and storing cheese can present a few challenges for home cheese makers, between battling with rinds, molds, brines, wraps and waxes and trying to control humidity and temperatures.
There are many tried and true methods and just as many personal recommendations for how to nurture and protect your cheese and it can all get a bit confusing about what works and what doesn’t, and for those wanting to be true to the art of cheese making, what’s wrong and what’s right. Read more
Storing your Feta in Brine is the most common way to preserve this cheese, but what do you if your Feta ends up too salty to enjoy?
Everyone enjoys different levels of salt and Feta is a cheese that has a saltier taste associated with it due to the aging method and the usual preservation method.
In fact if you ever get the chance to eat a traditional Feta from Greece or Cyprus, it’s likely the cheese will be much more salty than any other Feta you’ve eaten.
But, after the hard work you put into your Feta, it can be disappointing when you end up with a batch of cheese that is inedible because of too much salt. Read more
Most cheese recipes require salt to be added, rubbed or soaked in at some stage in the cheese making process.
Salt is an important part of cheese making and has multiple purposes including assisting in drawing out whey, preserving the cheese and protection against undesirable moulds.