Author Topic: Caerphilly #2  (Read 6420 times)

Smurfmacaw

  • Guest
Caerphilly #2
« on: May 19, 2013, 06:50:45 PM »
Decided to make another Caerphilly.  Make is as follows:

3 gal Trader Joe's creamline milk
1/4tsp MA4002
1/2 tsp diluted CaCl
45 drops single strength calf rennet
3T salt

Well I was going to play with the pH targets but of course my ExStick 110 died on me.  I'll give them a piece of my mind tomorrow.

Slowly heated the milk to 89 degrees. 

Added 1/4tsp MA4002 and stirred in after allowing to rehydrate for 5 minutes.

Ripen for 60 minutes.

Add CaCl and stir in well.

Add rennet and stir in well

Floc time of 9:59.  I'm shooting for a multiplier of 3.5 so time to cut is 35 minutes.

Will cut to 1/2 inch cubes using my new homemade curd cutter.

Cut to 1/2 inch cubes.  Curd cutter worked pretty good, may make a modification to make it work better.

Healed curd for ten minutes.

Raised temp to 94 deg over 10 minutes.

Stirred gently for 40 minutes.  Curds shrunk quite a bit but maintained integrity pretty well.

Let it set for 5 minutes then drained whey to level of curd.  Ladled curd into cloth lined strainer.  Put 1/2 gal water on board on top of cloth to press curd slightly.

cut curd mass to 1 inch slices and stacked in vat in water in sink.

turned every 10 minutes for 30 min.  Last cycle may have gotten a little warmer than intended (102 deg).

milled to small pieces (thumbnail sized).  I've read that it will look like boiled chicken breast and it did.  Glad I read that or I would have been worried.  Added 3.5 Tbsp salt.

First press at .5 psi for 10 min under whey.  Knit was starting to look good.

Changed cloth and soaked it in brine and vinegar to prevent sticking.

Next press at 1 psi for 20 min under whey.

Third press at 2 psi for 40 min.

Fourth press at 3 psi for 2 hours.

Fifth press at 5.2 psi for 4 hours.

will press overnight at 8.5 psi

So far it looks really good.  I've got high hopes for this cheese.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2013, 04:41:09 AM by Smurfmacaw »

JeffHamm

  • Guest
Re: Caerphilly #2
« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2013, 06:36:16 AM »
Sounds like a good make, but I'm curious?  What does it look like?!  Photos!  We must have photos! :)

- Jeff

Smurfmacaw

  • Guest
Re: Caerphilly #2 - Photo
« Reply #2 on: May 20, 2013, 03:01:38 PM »
And here's the result of all the hard work.  Knit looks really good with no obvious flaws.  It'll be interesting to see how the inside turns out.  Says a lot about the sturdy press that it can put 380 pounds of pressure (8.5 psi on a 7.5 inch mold) without complaint.  I'll let it air dry at room temp for 24 hours and then into the cheese cave.  I'm going to just brush the rind and let it go au natural.  I'm thinking somewhere between 3 and 5 weeks before I succumb and cut it open.  I guess I'll have to get a vacuum sealer to allow me to cut it into pieces and let them age.  And a cheese to Jeff for providing so much information and recipe's for the Caerphillies.

« Last Edit: May 20, 2013, 07:07:46 PM by Smurfmacaw »

JeffHamm

  • Guest
Re: Caerphilly #2
« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2013, 08:08:18 PM »
Now that does look good, a cheese to your efforts.  I usually let mine dry a few days (out of the mould on a Monday but not into the cave usually until the Thursday), but let your own experience determine this.  Auckland has fairly high ambient humidity, so if you're in a drier climate that may not work so well.  You can put a large bowl overtop (like a mixing bowl) if it will cover the cheese.  That will help create a micro-climate.  Just make sure the outside is good a dry before it goes into the cave. 

- Jeff

Smurfmacaw

  • Guest
Re: Caerphilly #2
« Reply #4 on: May 25, 2013, 01:15:49 AM »
San Diego is pretty much a desert.  If the Rh gets to 50% that is a good day.  This one went into the cave after drying 24 hours....it was dry to the touch.  I'm really looking forward to eating this one.  I've got a cake plate with a glass cover that I use to keep the humidity up until I put it into the cave....since it's all glass, it lets you admire the cheese every time you walk by it.

JeffHamm

  • Guest
Re: Caerphilly #2
« Reply #5 on: May 25, 2013, 06:00:25 AM »
Sounds like you've got it under control!  The humidity has been 75% pretty much all week, so my caerphilly really isn't drying out all that quickly, but after a week of trying, it's in the cave too.  Caerphilly dreaming.

- Jeff

Smurfmacaw

  • Guest
Re: Caerphilly #2 Update
« Reply #6 on: May 28, 2013, 05:10:50 PM »
Well it looks like the rind is starting to do something finally.  White powdery mold starting to take over with one or two very small spots of greenish blue that I brushed away.  I forgot to mention that I added four drops of anatto.  Wife and I were discussing a recipe for beef that called for achiote when it clicked that achiote is the same plant as anatto.  During our discussion I added four drops (prior to renneting) just to see what would happen.  I guess this won't be a traditional caerphilly since it's apparently going to be more yellow than white.  I didn't expect four drops to have this profound of an effect.

cheers

Mike


JeffHamm

  • Guest
Re: Caerphilly #2
« Reply #7 on: May 28, 2013, 09:03:16 PM »
That is coming along nicely.  Should be very good.  Well done.  Not sure about caerphilly, but some cheeses had to have colour added to indicate they were not made locally.  So, yours could be a come from away caerphilly?

- Jeff

Smurfmacaw

  • Guest
Re: Caerphilly #2
« Reply #8 on: May 31, 2013, 12:50:12 AM »
Wow, hoping I don't end up with mimolette here. Four drops and this cheese gets oranger every day.  I'm using my freshly washed hands to brush the molds down. Is that's real problem?

Smurfmacaw

  • Guest
Re: Caerphilly #2
« Reply #9 on: May 31, 2013, 12:55:08 AM »
Wondering if I should add a little domesticated something to this though.  Maybe a little spritz of store Bought GC?  Not sure if my domestic strain brings much to the table.  PLA?  Stop sweating it?

JeffHamm

  • Guest
Re: Caerphilly #2
« Reply #10 on: May 31, 2013, 07:12:15 PM »
I would just let your wild geo's do their thing.  You'll cut into this in a week or so anyway, although you can age it out to 10 weeks or so.  It's not really a long aging cheese, but if you do want to try aging one out then cut your floc mutliplier to 3, and stir a bit longer.  You could even raise the temperature over the course of the stirring to 33 or 34 C to help expell more whey.  Then, during aging, after a week or so, wash the "upper face" with a saturated brine every other day, so when you flip it the next day you're washing a new face and the dry one is down.  Wash the sides every other day as well (so, face and sides one day, and just a face the next).  Do that for a week or two, and this should help keep the moulds at bay. 

- Jeff

Offline Boofer

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Lakewood, Washington
  • Posts: 5,015
  • Cheeses: 344
  • Contemplating cheese
Re: Caerphilly #2
« Reply #11 on: May 31, 2013, 07:26:25 PM »
Love the look of your rind on this cheese! Nice!

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

Smurfmacaw

  • Guest
Re: Caerphilly #2 Update
« Reply #12 on: June 11, 2013, 03:16:01 AM »
The rind is starting to develop nicely.  Some blue mixed in with some white powdery stuff.  Feels nice.  Still have high hopes for this cheese.


Offline Tiarella

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Chester, MA, US
  • Posts: 1,748
  • Cheeses: 81
  • Default personal text
    • Farm Blog
Re: Caerphilly #2
« Reply #13 on: June 11, 2013, 10:44:35 AM »
Are you going for a natural rind?  it is hard to tell but it almost looks like your sides got too dry.  But again, I can't really tell.  I like to let my natural rinds get quite moldy in between treatments and I don't use any brine, just a stiff ( and clean) brush.  I like both the stiff bamboo bristle veggie scrubbing brushes I found at the coop and the surgeon nail brushes I bought a cheap dozen of from Lee Valley's online store.  I really loved how the wild blues (probably yeasts) on one cheese would smell like fruit after I brushed it.....but only after. 

What type of humidity do you have?  If you want your sides moister to help establish molds you could probably loosely wrap some plastic wrap around it's middle after moistening it.  or, if you've room, have it in a mini-cave.

Smurfmacaw

  • Guest
Re: Caerphilly #2
« Reply #14 on: June 13, 2013, 05:47:26 PM »
I'm aging cheese in a repurposed dorm fridge.  I'm having issues with the RH varying between 74 and 89 %.  Not sure if it's just because I open the door daily for cheese tending duties or what but I agree the rind got a little dryer than I would have liked.  On the bright side, I'm planning on having a taste of it this weekend since it'll be a month old and hopefully ready.  This is a learning cheese for me since it matures quickly and I like Caerphilly.  I think the lesson learned is to keep it in a higher RH environment until it gets a cool rind like you get.

I'll post pictures and tasting notes when I open it.