I can't believe I haven't made a cheese since last Sept! I hadn't realised how busy things have been until I looked at my notes. Anyway, made a caerphilly today and, despite my long hiatus, things seem to have gone fairly well. Cheese is in the press at the moment, so will finish off the notes and details, and add a photo tomorrow when it comes out of the press. Fingers crossed all is well.
This Caerphilly protocol is one I found in an old New Zealand newspaper (from early 1900s). There was enough detail for me to put together this make procedure, and I'm quite pleased with the cheese it produces. However, there are at least 3 other protocols used on the forum, and all produce excellent results, so find one you like and go for it. If you're new to cheese making, caerphilly is one of the few hard pressed cheeses that really is good in about 3 or 4 weeks. I find it a very useful cheese to have in the cave while aging others for extended periods of time. It sort of runs diversion for them.
- Jeff
Traditional Caerphilly (Modified for Home Cheese maker) Feb 15, 2015.
9 Litres Homebrand Standard (3.3g fat/100ml 3.1 protein)
2 Litres Homebrand Light Blue (1.5 fat/100ml 3.7 protein) (total = 0.93:1 f:p ratio)
4 ice cubes meso (MW3)
¼ tsp CalCl (50%)
7.0 ml Renco Rennet (65 IMCU)
2.5 tbls salt + extra for rind rubbing during flipping.
1) Add starter and CaCl2 and warm milk to 30 C and remove from heat and wrap in towels (30.5 C)
2) Ripen 30 minutes (time 7:36 – 8:15; temp 30.5 - 30.4)
3) Add rennet (time 8:17:00 – Floc Time : 8:30:00 = 14m 00sec 4x mult = 56m 00sec Cut time = 9:13:00)
4) Cut into 2.5 cm cubes (9:13 – 9:19)
5) Stir and slowly raise temp back to 30 C (start temp 30.1 - ??.? C; time 9:19 – ?:??)
6) Maintain temp and stir 1 hour (9:19 – 10:19; until curd is slightly firm; note, longer stirring at this stage can reduce the time to drain later; temp at end : 31.5 C)
7) Let settle for 10 minutes (9:19 – 10:29)
8) Remove whey (10:29 – 10:49)
9) Put curd in cloth in pot and drain. Twist 5 times (count the 1st one at the start) over an hour to tighten it (every 12 minutes), but not too tight – whatever that means. Prop up one side of the pot and put curds on the high side (so the whey drains away from the curds). Remove whey when you tighten the cloth. (??:?? – ??:?? – ??:?? – ??:?? – ??:??)
or (as done this time) wrap in cloth bag, place a board/follower on top with a 2 litre jug of water as a weight. Flip every 20 minutes (at 11:20 and 11:40)
10) Mill to small bits (squeezed between the fingers like a potato masher; 11:50)
11) Add salt (2.5 tbls)
12) Place in cloth bound moulds, press in with hands
13) place under light pressure (~1 PSI; 12.5 kg on 5.625” mould = 1.1 PSI) 10 minutes (12:00 - 12:10)
14) Flip, rub with salt, redress and press ~1.5 PSI (15 kg on 5.625” mould 1.3) 20 minutes (12:12 - 12:30 – I’m using the bullet mould this time, so no flipping. Just redo cloth, and resit the cheese after salting the out side on some flips – not this one, too open.)
15) Flip, rub with salt, redress and press ~1.8 psi (20 kg on 5.625” mould) 20 minutes (12:35 - 1:00)
16) Flip, rub with salt, redress and press ~2.21 psi (25 kg on 5.625” mould) (1:00 - 7:00)
17) Upped the weight to 30 KG (2.66PSI) (7:00 - 6:30 am);
18) Out of the press it was 1576g, and (14.5 x 9.25) - 206 = 1527 cm3 for 1.19g/cm3. Knit was excellent. (-206 due to shape of the mould)
Made ricotta (raised to 91.8 C, add ¼ cup cider vinegar 11:45, waited 30 minutes or so, scooped and drained. Got 396 g, added 4g, 1-2% salt by weight)
Air dry 3-5 days and move to cave and age 3 weeks, flipping twice daily (80-85% humidity, 10-12 C).
Wednesday, Feb 18, 2015: Still air drying. Salted the outside with 2 tsp of salt as the cheese is weeping lots of whey. Want to prevent mould growth while the rind is firming up.
Cut Tuesday, Mar 10, 2015: 13.5 x 6.85, 1156g = 1.18g/cm3. Paste is good and solid, no mechanical holes or gass bubbles. Has a nice smooth, moist, and creamy mouth feel, but solid. Very good “tang”, with no hints of bitterness or any off flavours at all. Perhaps the best caerphilly yet (or it’s just been so long and I’ve really been missing some of this! )
