Cabre al Vino Cheese
AKA: soaking cheese in wine
I’m actually going to do a spin on this and do a cheese soaked in beer. WHAT? A cheese soaked in wine or beer? Apparently this is not a new thing. Cabre al Vino Cheese is a goat’s milk based rind washed cheese that is based on a cheese from Spain and uses red wine as the bath to wash the rind. Oh those Spaniards know how to mix dairy and alcohol perfectly!
here is the low down for 1lb of cheese:
– 1 gallon fresh Goat’s Milk.
– Mesophilic Starter Culture.
– Optional: 1/4 teaspoon Calcium Chloride if using pasteurized milk.
– 1/2 tsp Rennet diluted in 1/4 cup of un-chlorinated water.
– Red Wine to bath cheese, varies per container.
– 1 Tablespoon cheese salt
1. Warm the milk to ~ 90 F/32 C, then stir in the starter culture, cover and let ripen for 10 minutes.
2. dilute calcium chlorde in cool water and stir in for 1 min (if needed)
3. stir in diluted rennet for 1 min, cover and let sit for 2 hours or till clean break, maintaining 90 F.
4. Once clean break is achieved, cut the curd, stir and let rest for 5 minutes.
5. draw off 1/2 of whey and replace with 175 F water. stir carefully to ensure curds at bottom don’t matt. Bring curd to 100F and let sit for 1 hour.
6. Strain off the whey in cheesecloth lined colander.
7. Add salt and mill the curds into 1/4 in pieces.
8. Place the curds into cheesecloth lined mold and press at 20 lb for 20 minutes.
9. Carefully remove cheese from cloth, turn cheese and press with same weight but for 12 hours.
10. Repeat for second 12 hours.
11. Remove cheese from press and cloth and place in red wine bath for 24 hours.
12. Remove cheese from bath and allow to air dry for 6 hours or until dry to touch, bath again for second 24 hours.
13. Ripen cheese at 50 F and 80-85% humidity for 3 months. Turn cheese daily for first 2 weeks, wipe cheese brine solution as required.
I also tried a gouda soaked in wine as well as a gouda soaked in beer. This is very similar to the cabre al vino but will be waxed. I will keep you updated on the end result! and post the recipe if it turns out.