Help!! Port-soaked Cheddar is cracking!

[GoudaGirl13]

Hi!!

I made my Port-Soaked cheddar - did a second press of 24 hours (50 lbs) because one side wasn't as smooth as I'd liked. It came out looking nice so I started to dry for a couple days. Everything seemed fine til today....went to check it out and see if it was ready for waxing and found cracks between the soaked curds!!

Any advice on what to do? I have seen that some people have rubbed butter or coconut oil on a crack, but I'm wondering if this is TOO cracked? It's holding together alright - just the surface is cracked. What about pressing it again for a short while?

The first image is of the cheese after it came out of the final press and the second image is of the resulting cracks in the surface.

I look forward to hearing ideas of how I should proceed. Presently, the cheese is sitting inside a closed container so as not to dry out and crack more. Thanks in advance!!

[Al Lewis]

Check with Danbo.  I think he had the exact same problem.

[Stinky]

That, and maybe wax it before it gets worse?

[GoudaGirl13]

Thanks! Is there any way to "tag" Danbo? Maybe I will just message him....

I think I WILL wax this tonight... Thanks for the advice!

[Al Lewis]

Just click on his name in any thread and message him.

[pastpawn]

If you have a way to vacuum bag it, that will keep it together really well.  I use a Foodsaver with 11" bags,  not sure if they'd be big enough though.

I had a cheese with a big chunk that fell off.  I wrapped it with a rubber band and that actually worked!  - it healed again. 

BTW, that cheese looks really good.  Pre-crack, that is.

[GoudaGirl13]

Well, ultimately, I squeezed it into a container overnight - this applied pressure to all sides well. I covered it and didn't allow it to dry out anymore and kept it cool (60F) overnight. Happily, this morning most of the cracks were not nearly as apparent as before. They were "healed" enough to wax.

I don't have a vacuum packer. I wax all my cheeses. The wax will seep into a crack and seal it. This happened to my first Parmesan and 1.5 years later, it is AMAZING and solid! The wax does a beautiful job! I coat 4-5 times. I have all confidence that this will be fine!!

And thanks to everyone for their help!

Jo

[Danbo]

GoudaGirl13:

Reading your post, I just realized... That may have been the difference between my Port- and Madeira cheese: The temperature while drying. The Port cheese was drying in my cave at 13C and the Madeira cheese at around 20C. Maybe that's why my Port cheese didn't have any problems, while the Madeira cheese cracked... Why didn't I think of that?

I also used to wax my cheeses when I did 8 liter batches. Now the cheeses are often to big for my pot with wax. I like vacuum packing because I can see, what's going on, but waxing is durable and a whole lot nicer. I have got to find an old larger pot and start waxing some cheese again.

:-) Danbo

[Scott Wallen]

I had two cheddar's in a row do this, I they were not soaked in anything, i vac bagged em and put em in the cave, all is well so far.

[Danbo]

GoudaGirl13: I'm making one more Port Cheddar today. I was just wondering... Did you make it as a stirred curd cheddar? According to "200 easy Homemade Cheese recipes" the port-thing works best with a traditional Cheddar recipe and not the stirred curd one. Maybe that's why you had some cracks...

[WovenMeadows]

I had this problem with a port-soaked cheddar too, and IIRC posted on here about it, and then again, others said they had the same problem. It was suggested the port affects the pH, maybe other factors, such that the curds simply won't (chemically) want to adhere to one another. So waxing/bagging is necessary. Even after aging, when I ate mine, you could still pull individual curds out from the wheel or slice.

[Danbo]

Hi WowenMeadows,

The Port Soaked Cheddar that I'm making (right now) will be a little different than the first one...

I'm boiling the port for 10 minutes to get rid of the alcohol (I know... get rid of alcohol...  ). My theory is that the alcohol has a negative influence on the bacteria in the cheese.

It will be reduced to half the amount and I hope that the thicker more concentrated "port" will make the marbling effect even more intense. We'll see... :-)

:-) Danbo

[Kern]

Danbo, I think you are on to something with your alcohol theory.  Port is an alcohol fortified wine that runs about 20% by volume alcohol (~40 proof).  This is certainly high enough to have an effect on cheese critters.  The boiling point of ethyl alcohol is about 78C or 173F.  Heat the port to about 80C, hold it there and when the boiling stops you'll have alcohol free Port.  (Condense the vapors for some nice 190 proof alcohol).

[Danbo]

Why didn't I think of condensing...... Well I felt a little dizzy while I cooked it. ;-)

I chose to cook it real good. Then I'm sure that the risk of bacteria is minimal (I guess that the alcohol did the job anyway. I reduced it to half the amount to make it more intense, but I don't think that it made a big difference.

The cheese knitted fine and it is now drying. I don't expect cracks, but I'll let you know if the appear.

It looks OK. :-)

:-) Danbo

[GoudaGirl13]

Wow! All very interesting! I'd wondered about the alcohol being a detriment to the process....I hope this one turns out, Danbo. mine was a traditional cheddar - haven't tried stirred curd yet. I think it was Ricki Carrolls website recipe that I followed along with my own notes from a cheddar I loved. I want to age this port cheddar as long as I can take it! Maybe up to a year (I have alot of patience! Eating some 1.2 year old gouda tonight! It's always better when it's aged so I can wait for this special one (Port cheddar). I haven't made a second since there are others I know I'd prefer to spend the time on. But I'm still curious as to how it will turn out.

I waxed mine, as shown above, so I hope that suffices.

If I do ever make another, I think the condensation idea is a geat idea!