Pulling an aged wheel out of the cooler |
Dated 11/14/2013 |
The cheese has been waxed to keep it from drying out. Have you ever purchased a package of Kraft cheese at the grocery store and left it opened but unsealed in the refrigerator? If you've done that, you know that the outer edges of the opened cheese will dry out and get hard and inedible. That's why during the aging process, we wax it to keep that from happening.
Peeling off the wax |
We'll save the wax and melt it to reuse the next time we make cheese. Peeling the wax off is very simple and it comes off easily.
Now because of this next picture I almost titled this post "Tricia cut the cheese," but almost 24 years of marriage has taught me that that would not have been a wise decision and I would pay dearly for that momentary lapse in judgment. So I resisted that temptation. Tricia did, however, carve a slice of cheese out of the aged wheel to taste. It was good. Not great, but very good. We're going to keep trying this and learning about it and getting better at it. That's what it's all about.
Taking a slice out to try |
One thing that we've learned is that while this cheese might not be the best cheese in the world for snacking on, it is fantastic for cooking with. It is great in omelets, pasta, tacos. casseroles and other such dishes and we use it quite frequently for those type situations. In fact, we haven't purchased cheese in quite a while. I consider that a big plus.
Slice of homemade basic cheese from Our Maker's Acres |
So we unwrapped the entire wheel and we have already put a big dent in it. I'll show you one of the ways we used it in another post either tomorrow or the next day.
Basic cheese |
While we certainly can't claim to be experts in the craft of artisan cheese makers, we're learning new things and finding new, exciting uses for the products that we make right here on our little homestead farm.
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