Lancashire did not knit well

[janij]

Hi,
This is my first time making Lancashire.  MrsKK recommended it.  I will describe the make, but my question is that it did not knit well.  Any one have any ideas what I did wrong?  Or what could have been done to get it to knit better?

Heat 3 1/2 ish gal raw milk to 88 in double boiler.  Add 1/4 t M starter.  Let sit 45 min.
Add 1/2 t rennet diluted in 1/4 c water.  Let sit 50 min.  Did not do a floc test.  But the curd was nice and had a clean break at cutting time.
Cut curds into 3/8 in cubes.  let rest 5 min.
Stir curds for 10 min and cut any large pieces.
Let settle 5 min.  Drained most of the whey.  Waited 5 more min, drained more then got the colander out finally.  Drained and put back in the pot.  Pressed together as best as I could.  Let sit 15 min.
Flip.  It kind of broke but oh well, pressed it together.  Let sit 15 more min.
Cut the curd in half and stack.  Let sit 15 min.
Cut curd into 1 x1/2" curds.  Salted with 2 T Kosher salt and mixed well.
Mold curds.  I put the top and follower on but did not press.  Let sit overnight.
Flipped cheese in press in the am.  Was not really well knit at this time.  Pressed at 25# pressure for about 8 hrs. 
This is what it looked like.  Ideas?

[Spoons]

Milled and salted curds need some HEAVY pressing. More than any other type of cheese. Ambient temperature is also a factor. If it's too cold, you won't get a good knit. Some home cheese makers "press in the pot". Look it up, it's well documented here on these boards. That might help you out.

[JeffHamm]

Hi janij,

Yes, look up pressing in the pot.  Also, it looks like you didn't press until the next day, by that time the curds will have cooled down quite a bit, and they are very hard to get to knit when cool.  Basically, to get a good knit on a cheddar type, you need to keep your curds warm (which is what pressing in the pot is about).  I get a good knit with only 2.5 PSI, and that's about 77 lbs (35kg) on a 6.25" diameter mould (about 16 cm).  So not huge amounts of weight, but a lot more than 25 lbs will be required (for dead weight).  When you say 25# pressure, do you mean 25 PSI?  That shoudl have knit your curds, even if cold, or do you mean 25 lbs on the follower, in which case you got a pretty good knit for cold curds.

- Jeff

[Digitalsmgital]

This is like having kids, never give up on a cheese. It looks ok, next time put some weight on it overnight like maybe 50 pounds, keep it warm somehow.

[Matthewcraig]

sadly i cant take a picture of my press setup but its in a baking tray so the whey can run off into something, and the actual press is slightly raised, in the baking tray i normally put some warm/hot water and cover the whole thing in foil with holes to let the steam out, you obviously don’t want it to warm, and yes for a cheese like that you do have to press very heavily compared to a lot of cheeses.

[janij]

I followed the recipes in the 200 homemade cheese book.  I was wondering about letting it sit overnight and not pressing til the next day.  It didn't seem right.  Okay, I have seen the press in the pot method.  I think next time I will try pressing to right away and at a higher pressure.  I think it would have knitted fine if I had pressed it right away.  Thank you all for your responses.  I will try it again soon and let you know.  But for now this one is going to be set aside to age for awhile.  I am sure even though it doesn't loo great it will still be edible!

[JeffHamm]

One trick you can try if you want to leave the curds overnight is to save the whey and the next day, warm it up to the temperature the cheese was made, add some salt and then put the curds (while in the mould, etc) in the warm whey to warm them up, and then press it.  This should help the knit.

- Jeff

[MrsKK]

I'm so sorry, Janij!  I forgot about that problem with the recipe in 200 Easy...

Here's a link to the thread I started 3 years ago about Lancashire:  http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,6499.0.html

As you can see from the picture, mine looked WAY worse than your's.  The good thing is that the flavor was still excellent, which inspired me to continue with making it.

[elkato]

I saw a video somewhere in u-tube where they dipped their Cheddar wheels in hot water 140 F,   after they  had been in the press for some time. Then the wheels went back in the press and the result was a very smooth rind
I haven't tried it myself but I will next time I do a Cheddar

[JeffHamm]

Hi elkato,

I do that with my Dunlop makes.  After a night in the press, they get a minute in hot water, then back in the press. 

- Jeff

[elkato]

Thank you Jeff, I will do that
best regards
Luis.