Author Topic: 4 1/2 month old Cheddar !  (Read 4356 times)

jwalker

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4 1/2 month old Cheddar !
« on: July 13, 2013, 01:09:01 PM »
Well , I haven't been at the cheese making thing too long now , and was getting a little anxious to try something older , my blues and bries have all been very good at about six weeks , but I've been dying to try something older.

So I opened the very first cheese that I ever made , a Farmhouse Cheddar using the recipe from Ricki Carrolls book:

1 Gallon P/H milk
heat milk to 90 degrees
add mm100
ripen 45 minutes
add diluted rennet
let set at 90 for 45 min.
cut into 1/2 inch curds
heat to 100 over 30 minutes stirring gently
set for 5 minutes
pour curds into cheese cloth
hang and drain for 1 hr.
break curds into pieces and add 1 tbsp salt
put in press @ 10 lbs for 10 min.
redress and 20 lbs for 10 min.
redress and 50 lbs overnight
dry at room temp 4 days
Wax and put in cave and WAIT !

I made four of these in a few days , two had problems with mold under the wax , so I dewaxed and re waxed them , one was so bad I eventually trashed it , the other I cut off a piece and it was terrible at 3 months , very crumbly and acidic , I trashed it too.

This one the wax seemed to adhere very well and no real problem with mold , so I thought at 4 1/4 months , it should be fairly edible , as the Farmhouse Cheddars are supposed to mature faster tha the traditional Cheddar , according to Ricki.

The wax came off very easily , the texture was that of probably any good store bought Cheddar I have tried , the aroma was distinctly Cheddar , the curds broke apart like any good aged cheddar and the flavour is second to none , as good and better than most of the store bought aged cheddars we usually buy.

I melted some on a bowl of chili , it melted great , we ate half of the wheel with bread , and again great.

I still have one more wheel of Farmhouse Cheddar that I am going to try to age for at least six months , and i am Making a proper traditional Cheddar today , a Four gallon make.

This cheese is my best yet , it's great , and it's finally good to try something with a little age to it other than the mold ripened cheeses , this gives me a lot more confidence now and I want to get more in the cave for the future.

A definite success !



BobE102330

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Re: 4 1/2 month old Cheddar !
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2013, 01:14:34 PM »
A cheese to your success.

I haven't had much luck with farmhouse cheddar. Usually dry and crumbly. I have a "proper" cheddar coming up on 6 months in a vacuum bag. We will see I a couple more months.

MrsKK

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Re: 4 1/2 month old Cheddar !
« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2013, 01:48:49 PM »
I hate to tell you this, but don't throw away that dry, crumbly, acidic cheese!  Vacuum seal it, throw it in the back of your cave and forget about it for another six months or so.  You will most likely be very surprised and pleased if you do so.  I had one like that before I had a cave or a vacuum sealer.  I thought I might try using it as a parmesan substitute, so I put it in a plastic ziplock bag and threw it in the veggie drawer of my spare fridge, which is set to 38 degrees F.  About a year later, I re-discovered it.  I removed the mold that had formed on it and was very afraid to taste it, but then very happy I had braved it.  It was creamy and full flavored cheddar...so I learned my lesson to not rush cheese.

jwalker

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Re: 4 1/2 month old Cheddar !
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2013, 02:40:02 PM »
Good to know MrsKK , will do that next time. :o

Thanks a lot for the cheese Bob. :)

Scott Wallen

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Re: 4 1/2 month old Cheddar !
« Reply #4 on: July 18, 2013, 07:37:45 PM »
MrsKK, I have a pepper jack that I awakened after 3 1/2 months in the cave, it was not dry, however tasted great but crumbly and stuck to my cheese knife, do you think additional aging would improve the texture for that cheese using your vac and forget method?

MrsKK

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Re: 4 1/2 month old Cheddar !
« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2013, 08:36:10 PM »
It just might.  All I know is what has worked on my own cheeses.  It's worth trying with at least a portion of it.  I personally would vacuum everything you've got left, then test it out in a couple of months.  If it is improving, vacuum the rest and let it age another couple of months...or if it is perfect eat the rest of it as is.

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: 4 1/2 month old Cheddar !
« Reply #6 on: July 19, 2013, 02:55:40 PM »
Lactic bacteria pretty much run out of food (lactose) within 60 days. When the bacteria die they give off enzymes that contribute significantly to the proteolysis (break down of proteins) during long term aging. That's what you are experiencing, and that is why it doesn't pay to cut cheeses too early. You have to give those enzymes time to do their job.

MrsKK

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Re: 4 1/2 month old Cheddar !
« Reply #7 on: July 19, 2013, 09:47:50 PM »
Yeah, what Sailor said!

I'm not a techy person, just go by experience.  But I am sure glad of the people that know all the terminology and the processes and why's and wherefore's.

Scott Wallen

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Re: 4 1/2 month old Cheddar !
« Reply #8 on: July 23, 2013, 03:02:00 PM »
Thank you all, I will try to vac it see what occurs, the waiting is the hardest part!

tnbquilt

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Re: 4 1/2 month old Cheddar !
« Reply #9 on: July 23, 2013, 04:24:19 PM »
The waiting is the hardest part. I will open a cheese and taste it, and let several other people taste it, and we will agree that it's too young. So I put it back in the cave and wait. Then I open and we taste it again, and put it back in the cave again. Most of the time, by the time it gets ready, we've already eaten it. My husband says I taste it until there's no more left to age.

I like the description of what Sailor said, it makes sense to me, even though I didn't understand that before. I knew was if it's not good, and it's not spoiled, put it back in the cave and wait.

I have a lot of cheddar of the cave, but I'm not touching it until it's 9 months old, even though it's killing me. I will eat some cheeses at 4 months and they are good. Swiss, Gruyere, and Jack cheeses are all good at 4 months. I know that they are better at 6 months, but I never have any left.

I need to make some Caerphilly because I understand that it ages quickly. I need to balance out my quick aging cheese and my long aging ones so that I can have cheese while I'm waiting.