large cheese

ingredients

raw cows milk            12 l
thermophilic culture      1 pinch
brevibacterium linens     1 pinch
rennet                    1 tsp
salt                     35 g

a process

prepare the curd

• add thermophilic culture and brevibacterium linens to the milk. stir thouroughly.
• heat the milk to 35° C. stirring often.
• wait 30 minutes.
• add rennet to milk. stir thouroughly.
• leave undisturbed for 1 hour.
• cut the resulting curd into 1 inch pieces.
• heat curd and whey to 40° C.
• wait 1 hour.

draining and pressing

• collect the curd in a cheese cloth. hang somewhere.
• wait for 4 hours.
• place the curd in a cylindrical form. the form interior should be roughly 18 cm (h) x 16 cm (w). or similar volume. place a 1kg weight on top.
• press the cheese for the next 12 hours or so. flip the cheese once every 1 to 2 hours. or, as you are able.

salt and aging

• at this point the cheese can be put in a 'cheese cave'. an environment about 12° C and greater than 80% humidity.
• before placing it in the cave, rub some of the salt on the top and sides.
• the cheese should be flipped once daily, for the entire duration of it's maturation.
• continue rubbing the cheese with salt each morning when the cheese is being flipped, until the 35g of salt is exhausted.
• it's important the salt is applied evenly on the surface of the cheese.
• let mature for at least 6 weeks.