Monday, December 22, 2008

Alpine


I have finally made my first Alpine style cheese. Made out of 10 gallon of milk, it is the largest wheel I have made so far. It is a little more than 10 inch in diameter and around 3 inch tall.
I used milk from my regular jersey farmer, who is now feeding the cows on dry hay only. Some of the cows are dried off and are awaiting refreshing come January. He will then start to feed silage to the cows to boost milk production and the time to make Gouda and Alpines will be over. The milk will then have gas forming bacteria such as Clostridia tyrobutyricum in it and the cheese will develop off-tastes and might even blow up.
I hope I will have time to collect some more milk to make some more Alpine style cheeses before silage feeding starts. With the holidays coming up soon, I might just have the chance.


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