What Will You Do During the Plague Year?

[JoeKitchen]

By master I meant comfortable enough with the process that you get close to what you want.

A few months to get the process down.  I tend to jump right into things. 

I would guess it takes a lifetime to master this though, especially with harder cheeses.  They just take so long to age before you can truly access what you did.  Makes it kind of hard to self critique accurately, and I am guessing is very important to have a great teacher. 

I will say that the first time I made Rochefort though, it was quite interesting.  Any blue cheese gets completely covered in the blue mold, and the wheel becomes hairy fuzzy grayish blue.  It also starts to ooze very sharp smelling liquid at around 3 months, and becomes quite soft and moist.  (Like I said, it is controlling rot.)  My wife let me try that first and gave it a full day to make sure I did not get sick before she had some. 

[Alan Klein]

Can I eat that much cheese only?  I would guess not, but cheese will stay good for pretty long so long as you have the right storage space.  The optimal storage for cheese is 52F and 84% RH, for most cheeses, and 98% RH for any mold ripened cheeses BTW.  Now how long is really dependent on the cheese and how it is processed.

Very dense cheeses, like Parm and Gruyere, will stay good for like 10 years.  Semi-hard cheeses will stay good for up to 4 years.  Plus, you can split the wheel and age half of it with the proper conditioning.  You will loose part of that half wheel due to a new rind developing, but it will still be good to age. 

Now mold ripened cheeses like Blue and Brie only last for 3 to 9 months.  Adding a mold to the cheese and processing it to be soft greatly accelerates oxygen flow and rot, so those cheeses will liquify pretty quickly.  Think of a pungent Camembert that oozes out at room temp; it is very close to being completely rotted.  By the time it reached your home, it probably had only two or three more weeks before it turns to just liquid.  Brie turns pretty fast.  My blues we will cut into around 10 weeks and then portion them, wrapped them in plastic (slowing aging a bit by reducing oxygen flow) and slowly eating them over a few months.  They will continually get sharper and sharper. 

Very soft cheeses will turn within a week after they are made. 

So it depends on the cheese. 

I had a feeling I was going to regret asking.

[Alan Klein]

A few months to get the process down.  I tend to jump right into things. 

I would guess it takes a lifetime to master this though, especially with harder cheeses.  They just take so long to age before you can truly access what you did.  Makes it kind of hard to self critique accurately, and I am guessing is very important to have a great teacher. 

I will say that the first time I made Rochefort though, it was quite interesting.  Any blue cheese gets completely covered in the blue mold, and the wheel becomes hairy fuzzy grayish blue.  It also starts to ooze very sharp smelling liquid at around 3 months, and becomes quite soft and moist.  (Like I said, it is controlling rot.)  My wife let me try that first and gave it a full day to make sure I did not get sick before she had some. 

She should have given you two days. 

[JoeKitchen]

She should have given you two days. 

Here's an English Stilton I started two weeks ago that is just starting to turn blue.  Stilton and Rochefort are essentially the same cheese, only Rochefort is aged at 98% RH (the ideal humidity for Penicillium Roqueforti growth) with Stilton being aged at 84% RH.  At 98% RH that mold will just go out of control and will never really die.  Great for blue mold development, but not so great for flavor to develop from the bacteria culture. 

At 84% the growth is slowly allowing for longer aging and more flavor development from the bacteria instead.  In a month the entire wheel will be blue, at two months hairy and wrinkly, at 4 month the mold on the outside will start to die, and at 6 months the wheel will have turned yellow and start to produce a natural rind.  You can then age it for another 6 months after that. 

Rochefort will be too far along to even smell without passing out at around 7 months just due to the better conditions for the mold.  So a lot depends on the aging conditions. 

[LesPalenik]

Those cheese wheels look delicious, Joe. And how are your cholesterol levels?

[JoeKitchen]

Those cheese wheels look delicious, Joe. And how are your cholesterol levels?

Well, in a recent life insurance physical, my blood test came back excellent. 

Like I said in another thread, I am an Anglo-Saxon-Irish-German; all the ethnicities that have been consuming dairy for centuries. 

[Alan Klein]

Here's an English Stilton I started two weeks ago that is just starting to turn blue.  Stilton and Rochefort are essentially the same cheese, only Rochefort is aged at 98% RH (the ideal humidity for Penicillium Roqueforti growth) with Stilton being aged at 84% RH.  At 98% RH that mold will just go out of control and will never really die.  Great for blue mold development, but not so great for flavor to develop from the bacteria culture. 

At 84% the growth is slowly allowing for longer aging and more flavor development from the bacteria instead.  In a month the entire wheel will be blue, at two months hairy and wrinkly, at 4 month the mold on the outside will start to die, and at 6 months the wheel will have turned yellow and start to produce a natural rind.  You can then age it for another 6 months after that. 

Rochefort will be too far along to even smell without passing out at around 7 months just due to the better conditions for the mold.  So a lot depends on the aging conditions. 

Your experience with cheeses got me thinking about coronavirus.  While molds are bacteria, not viruses, it's interesting that it's both temperature and humidity that affect the process.
Warmer air can carry more water vapor.  The higher the temperature the higher the amount of water vapor in the air.  Yet the relative humidity stays the same.  That's why they call it relative humidity.

For example, there's ten times the amount of water vapor in the air at 50C degrees than at 10C degrees. Yet the RH relative humidity is the same 50%

So maybe viruses are more affected by humidity or water vapor that changes its viability during certain seasons.  Maybe the way to treat sick people is to place them in enclosures where the humidity and temperature can be controlled to kill off the virus or at least present conditions that slow down its effectiveness and spread within the patient.  Breathing higher or lower humidified air at higher or lower temperatures ought to be researched to see if patients improve.  I think I'll send another email to NIH.  Anyone want to pass along ideas before I do, please post here.

[LesPalenik]

Well, in a recent life insurance physical, my blood test came back excellent. 

Like I said in another thread, I am an Anglo-Saxon-Irish-German; all the ethnicities that have been consuming dairy for centuries.

The dairy tolerance and cholesterol levels are two very different things, but the blood test result is the best indicator of the latter. Good for you.
The homemade cheese might be healthier than the factory-produced kinds.

[Rob C]

Well, in a recent life insurance physical, my blood test came back excellent. 

Like I said in another thread, I am an Anglo-Saxon-Irish-German; all the ethnicities that have been consuming dairy for centuries.

Personally speaking, I own up to Scottish and Italian bloods. Forget the implied but imaginary safety connections: I always consumed olive oil cooking, lots of butter and cream, cheese and the rest of it without a hiccup. Then when I hit my pension I also hit my first heart attack. The second was a year or two later. The villain? Cholesterol. I bear two stents and daily pills as witness.

Start evasive action before you get the illness. Isolation is more effective than insulation.

;-)

[Craig Lamson]

Got out in the garage for a few hours yesterday and today and started the bimmer hobby car project.  I am replacing some cooling lines and hoses, and a complete ccv system which resides under the intake manifold.  Nothing is broken or leaking but its old plastic and rubber which just turned 19 so its time to fix it.  I've been collecting parts for a few weeks so tis time to get dirty.

Tear down is complete except for draining coolant and removing the hoses and pipes.  Then its a good steam clean and time to reassemble. I woud never want to work as a mechanic for a living (my dad and father in law were both career auto mechanics so I have the background) but I still get a lot of satisfaction from doing it for leisure.  Its much more fun when its not needed to keep the daily driver on the road.  And I'm cheap so I do what I can myself

I'll be back at it again for a bit tomorrow.

[Chris Kern]

Got out in the garage for a few hours yesterday and today and started the bimmer hobby car project.=

That has got to be one of the neatest, and cleanest, garages I've ever seen. I think everyone needs a consuming project in order to keep sane these days.

[Craig Lamson]

That has got to be one of the neatest, and cleanest, garages I've ever seen. I think everyone needs a consuming project in order to keep sane these days.

Thanks, I like being in it.  I don’t shoot many photos for fun anymore so I rub on the car instead.

[Rob C]

Thanks, I like being in it. I don’t shoot many photos for fun anymore so I rub on the car instead.

You see? Yet another example of where we think alike! And all this time you thought me some extremely radical leftie dressed in red overalls!

;-)

[rabanito]

What is kiefer?  (Sorry to hear about your wife's condition.)

I think it's a mistype for Kefir

[LesPalenik]

I think it's a mistype for Kefir

I thought Kiefer was a full bodied red wine from Kief Joshua vineyard.

[Robert Roaldi]

I thought Kiefer was a full bodied red wine from Kief Joshua vineyard.

I thought he was an actor.

[LesPalenik]

I thought he was an actor.

No self-respecting actor would drink a Kiefer. Not even a Sutherland.

[Rob C]

No self-respecting actor would drink a Kiefer. Not even a Sutherland.

Don't bank on it: nobody really knows what they get up to up there behind closed Scottish doors.

Rob

[Alan Klein]

Craig that garage floor looks like one of my neighbors.  How do you like it? what does it cost roughly?

[Rob C]

Got out in the garage for a few hours yesterday and today and started the bimmer hobby car project.  I am replacing some cooling lines and hoses, and a complete ccv system which resides under the intake manifold.  Nothing is broken or leaking but its old plastic and rubber which just turned 19 so its time to fix it.  I've been collecting parts for a few weeks so tis time to get dirty.

Tear down is complete except for draining coolant and removing the hoses and pipes.  Then its a good steam clean and time to reassemble. I woud never want to work as a mechanic for a living (my dad and father in law were both career auto mechanics so I have the background) but I still get a lot of satisfaction from doing it for leisure.  Its much more fun when its not needed to keep the daily driver on the road.  And I'm cheap so I do what I can myself

I'll be back at it again for a bit tomorrow.

Bottom pic: is it a leaf or one of those old English paper gaskets?

Nice car! Always wanted a 3 Series Coupe before a Mercedes equivalent. Ended up with neither. Oh well, the Fiesta also has four wheels on the road.

:-)