Hi, i'm looking for a cheesemaking expertise
I started making fresh cheese not a long ago, and all of them turned good
But lately I'm trying to beat the Cheddar, and it's not really working
I failed my first try because of not enough weight + not small enough curd cubes + high humidity during drying (at the end the cheese got mold all over and inside without drying)
My second try went better, although the curd was a bit spongy and hard to press
(15cm cheese) I did 8kg 12h, 18kg 24h, and around 100kg for 12h more
During this time I noticed that the cheese cloth started smelling weird, like alcohol/yeast, kinda buttery and woody
Now I'm done drying, and i'm tasting the cheese, and it's really not pleasant to eat, it's bitter and sourl, tastes just like spoiled milk
Should I continue and age it, or discard, or something?
Thank you
As a general rule, I would discard any product where an unpleseant and/or bitter aroma is not exlicitly expected. Our senses of tase and smell are very good at distinguishing "good", that is energy dense and clean, food from " bad", that is mostly rotten or contaminated, food. I have little experience with cheese making but if any doughs or yoghurts I make start to smell or taste bitter or otherwise off, it is usually because the microfauna got out of hamd and malign bacteria started overproducing.