...and 4th cheese overall.
I started this today and followed Jeff's recipe for his 11th Caerphilly as closely as I could.
http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,12433.0.html16ltrs Whole Milk
200ml Single Cream
6 Cubes of Buttermilk
1/2 tsp CaCl
1 tsp Calf Rennet (I'm having problems getting a set so I upped the rennet amount)
3 Tbls of salt plus extra for rubbing
I added the CaCl and buttermilk to room temperature milk, stirred well and heated to 30 deg C
Ripened for 30 mins
I added the rennet and here my "learning opportunities" began, I tried the floc method, it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.
Floc time = 40mins x 4 = 2hrs 40mins (having problems with my rennet)
Cut into 2.5cm curds
Raised the temp to 30 deg C and stirred for 1hr maintaining temp.
Rest for 10 mins (this really wasn't long enough as the curds were still free moving and didn't settle well on the bottom)
Removed the whey and packed the curds into a cheesecloth and let it drain for about half an hour then placed into the press.
(My press doesn't take weights so here I have to wing it, tightening the screw regularly)
Lightly pressed for 10 mins
Removed the curds and squeezed through my fingers, adding the salt and squeezing some more.
Curds back into the press and pressed for 20 mins
Removed the curds, flipped and rubbed salt on the flip side
Pressed for 20 mins
Removed curds, flipped and rubbed salt on the flip side
Back into the press for overnight pressing (happy with how they are knitting)
It's been a long day, the extra time for setting issues and having to hang around the press to keep tightening the screw down add a few extra hours to the process but I got there in the end. I'll post some pics tomorrow when I take it out of the press, for now though, it's time to open a cheeky wee red
I've ordered a vaccum sealer which should be here on Monday and I plan aging this cheese in plastic, which is new to me so I'm looking forward to trying it out.
A big thanks to Jeff for his recipe and help