A try at cheddaring

[Digitalsmgital]

I have done a lot of reading on this site and elsewhere on the art of making cheddar, only one way to find out if I am an apt pupil!

3 US gallons P&H whole milk

1/2 pint pasteurized cream

1/2 t calcium chloride in distilled water

1/2 t Meso II

3.5 floc multiplier

86 F pitch temp

102 F cook temp

1/2 " curd cut

stacked 1/2 slabs for one hour

milled 1/2 " cubes with 2% salt by weight

pressed in warm whey first hour flipped once at 15 lb.s deadweight

kept warm with heating pad pressed 3 hours at 25 lb.s

still with pad pressed overnight (about 10 hours) at 50 lb.s

I modeled this make using several sources, thanks to LB, Caldwell, skasnerkay and others guidance.

Problems;
The milled curds were very hard and can still be seen in the finished wheel. The cheese cloth was sticking to the wheel like I have never experienced before. I wanted to use Linuxboy's spritz of calcium chloride, vinegar and water solution on the cloth to keep it from sticking, but did not know the formula. 2.5 grams of salt seemed like too much! (I put a bit less) The final wheel weighed 1.25 kilos or about 2.75 lb.s so I may have too little salt. It took almost all day!

Positives;
It took almost all day! Fun day for a cheese geek!

[Spoons]

Nice cheese, Dave!

When a cheese sticks to a cheese cloth, it's usually because it acidifies quickly during the pressing time. That's why some people add a vinegar based spray, it helps harden the rind so the pressing curds don't go thru the cheese cloth. A cheddar shouldn't have that problem for that reason, because it already acidified while cheddaring. So a spray would not have helped (at least, I don't think so). Maybe your ambient temperature while pressing was too warm?

Also, don't worry about the apparent curd shapes while your cheddar is drying, I recently made my first cheddar and was worried about it too. Check out the thread on what others had to say about it.

http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,12258.0.html

Now for the worst part... waiting. lol. How do you plan to age it?

[Geodyne]

I'll agree with what Spoons said. It looks like a good knit for a cheddar to me. You'll find that inconsistency in moisture levels will even out over the next week or so.

It does make for a fun day, doesn't it?

[Digitalsmgital]

Thanks, people!

It was a warm day in CA, mid 70s and sunny.

I plan to go the full six months, maybe eight if I can stomach it. Or rather, if I don't stomach it. 

[Digitalsmgital]

I am thinking about a natural rind, or maybe a bandage. I don't have paint and I don't want to wax it like I did my goudas.

[Digitalsmgital]

update on this cheese; I did buy a cheese paint several months ago, this cheese was a natural rind for three months, painted  for three months, and now it is still painted but bagged too. not sure of the wisdom of that strategy but the paint was doing so well I didn't see the need to take it off before bagging. it would seem I can go a whole year before I cut into this one? we'll see!

[jwalker]

update on this cheese; I did buy a cheese paint several months ago, this cheese was a natural rind for three months, painted  for three months, and now it is still painted but bagged too. not sure of the wisdom of that strategy but the paint was doing so well I didn't see the need to take it off before bagging. it would seem I can go a whole year before I cut into this one? we'll see!

Well , you're half way there now , Cheddar just gets better with age , if you can stand it , wait for the full year , you'll be glad you did.

Of course you could always eat half now and bag the other half for a year , that way you'll know if you did everything right , I've got lots of half wheels in my cave , just from doing that.

A cheese to your patience.

[Digitalsmgital]

@jwalker that is probably a good idea, but on the other hand, not sure I could stop eating after just half!

I finished one Caerphilly, have another one of raw goat milk about ready to try. Maybe when that one is gone I could cut the cheddar in half!

Thanks for the cheese j!

[Digitalsmgital]

I cut into this wheel today in anticipation of a houseful of guests coming to town for my son's wedding. Ten and a half months is a lonnnnng wait for a cheesenewb to find out if he got lucky and nailed it or wasted the milk. (not the time, never that)

[Digitalsmgital]

So the cheese cut nicely, pliable yet sturdy. But I was right about the salt, it needed more, as the taste is good but on the bland side.

It also is a bit chewy, not the texture one might hope for in a cheddar. I  think maybe that is from the cream wax into a sealed bag treatment. I do not regret the ten months of babying this wheel in the cave though, I learned much in the process.

[JeffHamm]

A cheese to you for toughing it out for the distance.  It's a nice looking cheese.  My bet is, that by this time next week this will be a stellar cheese.  I've found that it often takes a few days after cutting for a pressed cheese to really come into it's own.  I think the air getting at the inner paste switches the bacteria into a different mode and this really boosts some life into things. 

- Jeff

[John@PC]

All dittos from Jeff (including a ditto cheese ).  Just remember: when it comes to making cheese salt is your friend.

[Digitalsmgital]

Thanks for the encouraging words Jeff, I do hope you're right! And ditto for you John! Thanks for the cheesecakes boys! Tomorrow I open my young ( eleven month) Gouda. I have had some success with the washed curd but never such an old specimen. We shall see what we shall see!