Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Swiss cheese, before the holes

I made Swiss cheese 2 days ago.  It's probably one of our favorite cheeses but I put off making it because I thought it was harder to make than some of the other cheeses.  It wasn't.  As you can see there are no holes in it, yet.  It now sits on a shelf in our basement (because it's cooler) where I will turn it daily and wipe with a cheese cloth dampened in salt water.  After a week I'll put in in our warmer and more humid kitchen and keep turning and wiping it.  In 2 to 3 weeks the eyes should start to form and the cheese will swell a bit.  I hope I can post a picture in 3 or 4 weeks of my Swiss cheese with holes in it.  After the holes form I'll store it around 45 degrees for at least 3 months and then we can eat it - hopefully.  I also made mozzarella and ricotta cheeses that day because we we have so much milk that needs to be used.

Today I'm making Panir, an Indian cheese.  The only ingredients in it are milk and lemon juice (or citric acid).  It's hard to imagine it can turn into a lump of cheese with just those 2 ingredients and no rennet.  It can be eaten right away so if I get busy maybe we can have it with dinner.

1 comment:

  1. Mary Pannabecker SteinerApril 7, 2010 at 11:02 AM

    Wonder if I could make it in time for dinner. The swiss cheese is SO cool...can't wait to see it changing.

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