Mike Preece at Port Isaac in Devon, the place where the fictional ‘Doc Martin, Port Wenn’ is filmed.
Mike Preece from Wales contacted us recently to share his cheese experiment. We love hearing from our customers when they “go rogue” with our recipes (or should we say, “go Roguefort?”). Here’s an example of the agony and ecstasy involved in the process of trying something different. (If you have experienced this yourself, we would be thrilled to hear from you also –jeri@cheesemaking.com.)
How It Started:
Mike wrote: I have a recipe for you if you wish. It worked for me – Cheddar(ish) with Camembert outside. Honest.
We asked for some background:
My name is Mike, am 69, live in Cardiff, South Wales, UK and have been a follower of your cheese making, for the last three years.
I have a wife, Claire, two daughters and four granddaughters between four and nineteen years old.
When I retired four years ago I decided I now had time for a hobby and, as Christmas was due and one of my daughters wanted a hint for a present for me, I suggested a cheese making kit, and to my younger daughter, I mentioned a sausage maker.
I started with the easiest recipes, Mozzarella amongst them and progressed through to more complex and yes, stronger and ‘smellier’ cheeses to a not bad (if I say so) Stilton (type) cheese.
‘Cheese shed’ is just a name for my escape from the house where I can disappear to when the need arises. One end has garden tools like lawn mower and general spades and shovels. The roof I recently lined with cotton sheets stapled securely and also hung down the walls to hide the wooden parts. Looks clean enough to eat your dinner off. Shelves can support cheese plastic aging containers particularly at this time of year-long with molds, spares of all types.
What did you do with our extremely detailed and highly specific recipe?
The change is that I added the tiniest amount of penicillium Camemberti (spelt nearly right)* with the mesophilic to see what might happen. It had been wrapped in my freezer since early April, 2016! I wasn’t even sure that, because of it’s age, it would have any effect whatever.
I also used a weird way of processing. After resting at 100F, I drained the pot by evacuating the whey with a ladle down to curd level, and then leaned the pot to drain down, finally using my fine metal sieve to save any curds that might move. Then, I salted and packed the curds into white 120mm (5 “) pipes, each 150mm (6”) long. (These molds are just lengths of commercial plumber’s plastic pipes.)
No muslin, but the pipes were supported in the plastic part of a vegetable steamer with another on top so that the cheese can be turned in one movement. (The supporting parts of a Chinese type steamer have holes in them that the pressed cheeses can drain through.)
Plastic tray for vegetable steamer with 2 molds (pipes) in it.
To press, a plastic disc (118mm or 3/4″) was on top of the pipe with a weight on top and the other steamer bit on that until fully pressed. (The plastic discs are just flat plastic cut to fit so that the cheese can be compressed with a carefully balanced weight on top.) So, then it was just steamer – pipe – steamer. This enabled easy inversion or turning, before the cheeses were taken out of the molds after two days or so.
If you are not aware of an ‘electric vegetable steamer,’ Amazon has a selection to look at. (click here)
The Ecstasy (11/30)
This cheese making journey that I’m on never was the most predictable ever, with all its surprises, however the outcome so far has been amazing, especially now that I have been asked to publish my recipe and mode of operation (we asked!).
Surprise, surprise! After just seven days I ended up with two 25 ounce (700 grams) SNOWBALLS.
Today marks only the sixteenth day and I am thrilled to say that it’s progressing wonderfully.
I wrapped them at eight days, and turned them every day and had a peek at the same time. The cheeses are softening as you would expect. (I am never sure whether I removed enough moisture before deciding to press the cheese or it it might it have been too moist.)
The Agony (12/10)
Early in the day –
Today is the twenty fourth day of my Christmas cheese’s life and it is well into softening from its snowy coat outside through to its deeper regions, but not yet through to a ripened interior.
After all this excitement, I desperately hope that the taste is as good as we all hope.
Later in the day –
I have to admit to the cardinal sin of having cut and sampled before I should have. Did all the pressure get to me or what?
The 24th day started with a regular venting and turning as usual. Then the email, then the inquiries (from us), then my nerve went.
Should I, will I, did I?
Yes, at 24 days I put one of my cheeses on my self-fashioned cheese cutter and it was done.
Mike’s homemade cheese cutter
The evidence is shown and clear:
On the taste side it is Camembert (ish) Brie (ish) but young obviously. Not a hint of the intended Cheddar(ish).
Please, the guilt is all mine. I have replaced the top slice, re-wrapped the whole thing and will forget it until the 24th of December.
If you still need to know, I will follow up with a report.
The Relief (12/23)
I made the decision to do the final cut of the second special cheese today, near to six weeks old.
You obviously cannot get the full experience on the other side of the planet, but I must admit, it smells the part!
It’s 120mm (5″) across and the centre 40mm (2″) or so is dryish where the Camembert effect is not yet through, but the outer 40mm (2″) ring surrounding it is soft and smooth and pungent – just as you would expect.
This has come as a welcome surprise after the tension of the wait and more especially because I have announced it to world!
The taste is fabulous and my family, friends and I will enjoy it over the holiday period.
* Camemberti is the name of the species. For the culture, (click here)
