I had planned to cut the Gruyere from the Lucky Layla Farms milk after 60 days of aging but I really needed to know how the texture of my work was progressing.   It has only been about 30 days since I made it.  Yesterday afternoon as I was about to prepare a cheese, fruit and crackers snack I thought about the Gruyere and decided that for scientific purposes I needed the information.  I took a couple of pictures with my iPhone before and after cutting.

Before:

After:

Tasting notes:

• The texture is smooth but pleasantly firm.   Many of my prior cheeses were too crumbly. This one may still have had a little too much rennet, but it is getting really close to the right amount.
• The aroma is not as intense as a good aged Gruyere, but there is a nice nuttiness.  None of the rich mushroom scent of the aged Gruyere is present though.
• This cheese does melt slightly when warmed where my prior attempts remained more solid.
• There are a few small holes in the cheese that seem to indicate that I should press the cheese harder.  Aside from the small holes, the milled cheese curds did knit together well.  There are no signs of seams where the milled curds came together.

This is certainly my best cheese effort so far.  The CheeseWife™ has declared it her favorite and several of my coworkers have also acclaimed as it their favorite.  One coworker wants to make a Mac and Cheese dish with it, so I will bring some for that.  I also plan to give some to my mechanic because my car needs a bit of work.   I think we will send some over to the CheeseWife™‘s editor as a belated birthday gift.

I’m thinking I need to make French Onion Soup tonight with this on top.

I will not take all credit on this cheese.  The milk I used was incredible.  Lavon Farms (AKA Lucky Layla Farm) can be really proud of their milk.