Author Topic: .. or Cheddar me a Castle...  (Read 6042 times)

hoeklijn

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.. or Cheddar me a Castle...
« on: April 13, 2013, 05:31:14 PM »
Inspired by Boofer and tbnquilt I decided to make my first Cheddar and directly go for the beer soaked variety.
My wife brought me a dark brown Belgian beer, 11%, with the name Kasteel, which means... "Castle".
Used mostly the recipe from "200 Easy homemade cheese recipes", with my Alpha culture ( 2/3 Lactococcus Cremoris and Lactococcus Lactis, 1/3 Lactococcus Diacetilactis and Leuconostoc Cremoris). This recipe talks about cutting the curd to French fries instead of the small cubes that Boofer used, but since I like French fries...
To be able to press with enough weight I modified my press with double pulleys. In this setup 1 kg would give a pressure of 28 kg.
But when I had 3,5 kilo on the hook, the hinge began to bent.
I hope during the night the curd will knit enough with the pressure I can realize now...

Offline Schnecken Slayer

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Re: .. or Cheddar me a Castle...
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2013, 10:02:05 PM »
Yum, a bucket of french fries...

That hinge looks like it is was fairly substantial. Nothing that a trip to the hardware shop won't fix.

(Personally, I would have mounted the hinge on the end of the beams and not the top.)
-Bill
One day I will add something here...

hoeklijn

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Re: .. or Cheddar me a Castle...
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2013, 10:03:15 AM »
Hi Bill, the only thing is that the hardware store was already closed, but we'll fix this next week. Still thinking about your suggestion about how to place the new hinge...
Nevertheless this hardware problem, the cheese came out fine this morning. A little more wrinkled than I probably would have had with more pressure, but acceptable. And a nice smell from the beer...

Offline Schnecken Slayer

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Re: .. or Cheddar me a Castle...
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2013, 10:55:00 AM »
That looks good Herman.

I have not soaked a cheese in anything other than brine. Was the beer warm when you soaked it?

Anyway it looks good. Now for the long wait...
-Bill
One day I will add something here...

WovenMeadows

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Re: .. or Cheddar me a Castle...
« Reply #4 on: April 14, 2013, 10:57:11 AM »
I would hot wax (or bandage) right away to seal up all the gaps (which is what I did for my first few cheddars which did not seal well). Otherwise you'll probably find either mold infiltrating the little crevices, or the milled curd falling apart from itself. But looks good!

BobE102330

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Re: .. or Cheddar me a Castle...
« Reply #5 on: April 14, 2013, 11:37:52 AM »
To expand a bit on Bill's hinge placement suggestion, I agree that the hinge should go on the vertical side of the post. Be sure that the screws are well seated, you may want to through bolt the hinge. I would also mount the hinge on top of the arm. Cut the end at a 30 degree angle or so to allow more motion. This will load the hinge so it is not trying to lift off the wood.

I look forward to hearing how this cheese turns out.

hoeklijn

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Re: .. or Cheddar me a Castle...
« Reply #6 on: April 14, 2013, 01:08:41 PM »
Was the beer warm when you soaked it?
The beer had been on room temperature for a whole day....

hoeklijn

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Re: .. or Cheddar me a Castle...
« Reply #7 on: April 14, 2013, 01:10:11 PM »
I would hot wax (or bandage) right away to seal up all the gaps (which is what I did for my first few cheddars which did not seal well).
I normally coat all my pressed cheeses and will do so with this one as well....

Offline Boofer

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Re: .. or Cheddar me a Castle...
« Reply #8 on: April 14, 2013, 03:10:35 PM »
Oh Herman, that beer looks really tasty! Good effort with that Cheddar. How long will you age it?

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

Tomer1

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Re: .. or Cheddar me a Castle...
« Reply #9 on: April 14, 2013, 09:20:26 PM »
You should
A)press under warm whey.
B)Seal the rind in a hot water bath (50c).

Offline smolt1

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Re: .. or Cheddar me a Castle...
« Reply #10 on: April 14, 2013, 10:28:39 PM »
Here is a way to keep the pivot point in the same position and not bend the hinge and pull the screws. You can use a regular hinge and bend it in a vise.

hoeklijn

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Re: .. or Cheddar me a Castle...
« Reply #11 on: April 15, 2013, 06:36:04 AM »
Here is a way to keep the pivot point in the same position and not bend the hinge and pull the screws. You can use a regular hinge and bend it in a vise.

Thanks Smolt1, that's the way I will solve it probably. When it's fixed, I'll post pictures.

@Tomer1: Pressing under whey is hardly an option here, the Tomme mould I'm using is fitting almost exactly on my press, so it's impossible to have the mould in a container with whey...

@Boofer: Yes, the beer IS tasty. And dangerous because of it's amount of alcohol. Not something to drink when you're thirsty on a warm day... I'am aiming for Christmas with this one.

bbracken677

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Re: .. or Cheddar me a Castle...
« Reply #12 on: April 15, 2013, 12:50:24 PM »
You should
A)press under warm whey.
B)Seal the rind in a hot water bath (50c).

The problem with pressing under whey with a cheddar is you would need to reach an appropriate saline level to not leach salt from the cheese...and in this case you also have the beer in the cheese.

hoeklijn

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Re: .. or Cheddar me a Castle...
« Reply #13 on: April 15, 2013, 02:45:11 PM »
[quote author=bbracken677 link=topic=11292.msg87092#msg87092 date=1366030224
The problem with pressing under whey with a cheddar is you would need to reach an appropriate saline level to not leach salt from the cheese...and in this case you also have the beer in the cheese.
[/quote]

Well, because of the size of the mould I didn't even think about that, but I guess you're right. This will work for a cheese that still needs to be brined...

hoeklijn

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Re: .. or Cheddar me a Castle...
« Reply #14 on: May 05, 2013, 12:31:20 PM »
Update on the hinge: Bought a new one and attached it almost like Smolt1 adviced it. I'm pretty sure it much more robust now.
See the pictures: