I wanted to to a 2 lb. cheese and (of course) Caerphilly is one of if not our favorite quickly-aged cheese. I was going to try Jeff's "11th Caerphill" (Jeff had his "y" key go out on him in case you ask y there wasn't a y in Caerphilly
) but didn't have some of the ingreds. and just too hard to go from metric to decimal. Instead I used Mary Karlin's recipe that I have had great success with, and was testing a new mold so better to limit the variables when testing.
Recipe and notes:
2 gal. whole Hickory Hill cows milk (low-temp pasteurized, non-homogenized)
1/4 t MA4001
1/4 t Aroma B
1/2 t CaCl diluted in 1/4 cup cool non-chlorinated water
1/2 t single strength rennet
Med. heavy brine
Pre-warmed milk in sink and steam-sterilized equipment
Warmed milk to 90F in 2/3 size steam table pan on elect. griddle
Added DVI starters
Allow to ripen 60 min @ 90F
Added CaCl and then rennet diluted in 1/4 cup cool water
Clean break at 45 min.
Cut curd 1/2"
Let curds rest / heal 5 min
Stirred for 20 min. while increasing temperature to 95F
Let curds rest and settle 45 min. @ 95F
Poured off most of whey
Transferred curds to 6" dia. cylinder mold prototype*
Pressed @ 8 lbs for 20 min.
Pressed @ 10 lbs for 2 hr. flipping every 30 min.
Maintain pressure overnight
Removed mesh screens; pressed "naked" @ 20 lbs for 2 hr.
Placed in med-heavy brine @ 55F for 8 hr.
Removed from brine, dried surface and placed in cave @ 55F and 85% RH
Planning to do a natural rind as her recipe calls for.
*Working on a cloth-less clear cylindrical mold using thin draining screens. This was first 6" prototype and it looks promising; still trying some different variations.
