Milk into rum! I salute you sir. A fine transition indeed.
But seriously, you've got caerphilly down nicely. That's a 3 week cheese. You can make that any time, and it is a good tasty treat, you can't get in the store, that is ideal for helping other cheeses age. Cheddaring isn't tricky. It's just laying the slab of curds down, keeping them warm, and waiting. Not a skill, just a step. Stirring is a skill, because you can break up the curds, or not stirr enough, etc, cheddaring is just waiting. But stirring is in most makes, so you always get to practice that.
And yes, try a few different lancashire makes. The Mrs. KK one (again, see my make notes, of cheeses I've actually made, not of the recipes I've put in my recipe "box") is good in 2 to 3 months. There are two wensleydale makes, one by "Gavin" and one that I found on the web. Both are good, and produce a nice young cheddar type in 2 to 3 months as well. Butterkase is a nice washed curd (not washed rind - i.e. Gouda not Limburger) and is very nice in 6 ot 8 weeks. (note, these do improve if you leave them to age out, but they are good in a couple months). The Dunlop is good in 2 months too, though it does age nicely. The Cheshire I've only had when well aged, when it was so nice that that it would be a sin to age it less.
The montasio is fantastic as a grating cheese. Parm and Romano, from what I've heard are both excellent when homemade (honest, you'll never buy parm again once you make any of these lipase grating cheeses, they put anything you get in the store to shame) - my romano is now over 3 years old, but I've got my montasio to finish off before cracking that one.
Gouda is one that a lot of people start with too, though I prefer aged gouda (over a year) and find young gouda too bland. But, done properly, it is a nice cheese so worth learning how to get it to turn out well.
Cam and Brie can be tricky. You need to get the moisture levels just right, after which they can be divine. Otherwise, they turn to puddles of cheese, which is messy, though tasty (pour over hot potatoes, or broccoli, etc). Get one to ripen to the core, without going runny, just soft and slumpy, and you'll find no reason to put it back in the cave.
The stinky cheeses are quite nice too. They have their own character, and can fight back, but they do work well over potatoes, or on crackers. I'm hoping this munster has worked as well as the feel of it suggests. Will find out tomorrow or the next day. Fingers crossed.
Finally, swiss cheeses require some Prop. Shermi (sp?), which is an additional culture that other cheeses don't use. I've nver been a big swiss cheese fan, but I did make one Beaufort, and I will be making it agian. I'm wondering why I haven't actually? Homemade swiss cheeses are a much better cheese than the mass produced ones. So, if you like swiss cheese, you'll love what you can make yourself, and if you don't, well, give one a go because you'll probably change your mind. They are very good.
Anyway, there are lots of experts in various styles of cheese on the board. You'll learn a lot from them just by reading through the threads ; I know I have.
- Jeff