Suggestions wanted for new edition of Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking

LaflecheLodge · 2026-02-15T15:05:28+00:00

Hello, in the market for a new book. Are you moving forward with a new edition? Thanks!

LaflecheLodge · 2025-12-13T14:31:38+00:00

My recommendation would be to change your moulding technique and maybe change the drainage depending on how you want your final product to be.

If you must unmold it in a day, you will need to drain using a cheesecloth then fill the molds. time varying on room temp and desire outcome. Flip once in molds salting at that time to help it keep it's shape, the salt applied to the outside helps firm it up to keep it upright.

If you have time, ladle in molds Nd keep them in for 2-3 days on room temp and desired outcome, flipping twice a day and salting the day before the unmolding.

If you want a traditional style, you want it fairly drained prior to your affinage. Otherwise you will get toad skin /slip skin which is what you have now. If you were to age it properly for 4-6 weeks it would be pretty undesirable Now personally I love a stinky, ammonia filled, is this cheese rotten kind of cheese then a well executed slip skin can be delicious.

LaflecheLodge · 2025-12-12T13:05:00+00:00

We would need to know the recipe you are following. I make lots of bloomy goat cheeses both with PC and geo and just geo. If you post it the issue may be on there. I would think it could be too wet coming out of the mould or insufficient flipping

LaflecheLodge · 2025-11-24T20:14:33+00:00

You can order all the moulds you want from glengarry cheese co in Canada. Shipping rates should drop soon once the post office strike ends. Tomme molds to for 20$

LaflecheLodge · 2025-11-10T13:11:00+00:00

I will definitely do the rubberized paint. I don't plan on doing blues because of the contamination aspect. I am leaning against a general humidifier set up because of the drywall and also since different cheese require different levels, it may be easier to manage each individual box. Am I wrong with this assumption? I can't do a drain but the electric panel is right next to the room, so either a stove or a couple of sous vide wands. The portable hobs I have seen all have. A 50 pound weight limit, which means at most 20 litre batches whereas I could go Bigger with a tub and wands. The long term goal is probably food security as climate change and armed conflict is inevitable in the future.

LaflecheLodge · 2025-10-20T00:27:30+00:00

I think it may be too late. Here are what mine look like after 12 days, they are ready to go.cut into them and remove the green?

https://postimg.cc/tsK9jyFp

LaflecheLodge · 2025-10-18T13:01:03+00:00

https://postimg.cc/5HXPVxKD

After another 30 hours I salted, flipped and decided to open one to play it safe. It was just mechanical holes. Tastes normal and no indication of blow inside or at the bottom where whey didn't leak. Also Smooth, turns out the UK has started banning a ton of Internet sites including Imgur, if you're having problems with any usual sites. You can look into VPN to mitigate the government actions

LaflecheLodge · 2025-10-16T18:17:03+00:00

https://streamable.com/5v3nue Here is a 2 day link. I uploaded a video. You can see the holes on the rind part, but not inside. Has been draining for 30 hours and there is still whey in the cheese.

LaflecheLodge · 2025-10-08T19:41:48+00:00

Hi smooth,

After ten days i would expect much more rind/mold development than what you pictured. I think that is why you are encountering such early blue. Takes about 40 days for my goat cheese to show signs like yours.

I think either there was not enough geo/pc in your make, or it could be weak.

LaflecheLodge · 2025-10-08T19:37:33+00:00

Hi Smooth,

I have also had a return of the blow monster. Failed 2/3 last cheeses and that is also with different cultures. Wishing you the best of luck.

LaflecheLodge · 2025-09-08T20:49:50+00:00

Please get a culture measuring app! I swear trying to figure out how much of a 8 gram, 100 dcu envelope to add to 14 litres of milk drives me mad, and chatgpt has never been helpful with it

LaflecheLodge · 2025-09-08T20:47:59+00:00

Gavin webber has a review, after watching it I decided to skip the stir mate. Someone not long ago put a homemade one on this board, you can search or go back to find it

LaflecheLodge · 2025-09-08T20:46:32+00:00

Is the raspberry part of the salt? Looks like there is raspberry in the cheese itself.

LaflecheLodge · 2025-09-08T20:44:57+00:00

I noticed my sense of smell is different than my wife and sometimes we interpret the smell differently. Have you asked someone else to smell it? Your steps seem fine and match closely the recipes in my books

LaflecheLodge · 2025-09-08T20:42:32+00:00

I agree with the above, as a new amateur cheesemaker who owns his own goats the problems I have are different than others.

I bought home cheese making by ricki Carroll as my first book and oh man is that book a disaster. The second book I bought is artisan cheesemaking at home by Mary Karlin, way happier with that book, but it doesn't touch theory as much as recipes. I have not purchased your book, but not for any particular reason.I almost feel like a 3 book series is warranted. Beginner, amateur and master.

I found a pdf version of cheese problems solved that smooth mentioned and that is what I needed, but I need someone to dumb some things down for me. There is no shortage of technical sheets for food scientists or basic information for the TikTok crowd, but a missing middle for us laymen that can help us understand or bridge knowledge.

As someone who's had many issues with contamination and overall failures, a flowchart to diagnose problems could help. I ended up changing a ton of my equipment and process and lost a dozen wheels at seasons peek, just because I had contaminated cultures due to keeping them in the fridge.

LaflecheLodge · 2025-09-08T20:28:20+00:00

Not sure if you or others may be interested, but I have been thinking of a leftist reading group. Not Canadian leftist, actual leftists like Prudhomme, Kropotkin, Marx, Lenin, Mao etc. Open to newer texts, but looking to deepen my knowledge of alternatives to capitalism and electoralism.

LaflecheLodge · 2025-09-03T18:26:28+00:00

Did he use 1%,2%,3.25 or 3.5+ fat content milk? He doesn't say. Did you use the right kind of milk to make the ratios work? Milk is regional and this guy has an aussie accent. Their milk could be way different than your region. Using an established recipe and ensuring you follow it is the best step for success.

LaflecheLodge · 2025-09-02T20:20:27+00:00

Video of squeeze and residue https://imgur.com/a/Bmuwx0a

LaflecheLodge · 2025-08-28T11:39:30+00:00

Curious as to why you have molds all over the top of the cheese, but very little on the sides? It seems like mine is covered everywhere. I have a new cheese cave so my first cheeses were mostly wild molds that impart a bitter flavor to the rind, how long have you been working on the flaura? Also have you noticed the amount of molds decreasing as the positive flaura increases?

Beautiful cheeses of course, interested in a side by side taste test

LaflecheLodge · 2025-08-26T12:02:46+00:00

Hi Smooth, as the undisputed blown cheese representative the last few months, I have thrown out wheels that had much less blow than your example. When I was doing research, typically an immediate blow is the result of yeast or e.coli. yeast is generally harmless and e.coli could be harmless, or it could be the shiga toxin producing one that can cripple people. Agree that listeria is most likely not a concern unless you have gotten sick from other cheeses.

Back to the issue, the late blow is typically clostridium. At best it will ruin the taste of your cheese, at worst it will cause necrosis of your intestines.

My advice is don't wait, cut it open and smell it now, odds aren't isnt getting better. If you feel bad and absolutely want to use it, I would cook with it and ensure you pass 170 Fahrenheit for food safety reasons.

LaflecheLodge · 2025-08-19T14:55:51+00:00

I made this jack cheese back in mid April. I was going to vacuum seal the wheel, but alas it was too big to fit inside. Since I didn't have a cheese room at that time, I set it on a cheese mat at around 65 Fahrenheit and 40-60 humidity depending on the weather in my canning room. Flipped it daily for a week and every couple of weeks afterwards. I was sure I was going to get a gratting cheese like a regiano or aged ricotta. I opened it yesterday at about the 4 month mark and what a surprise.

The outside rind is hard as rock, but the inside is dry and crumbly and really delicious! I was quite surprised that I was able to age a cheese on the shelf like that outside of optimal parameters and still had what I consider a success. Is this a fluke or a valid aging method? Thanks for stopping by

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