Flavours for cheddar

[Hornetgal]

Have made a few cheddars now and am wondering if it would work if I added ground red,black,white peppercorns to flavour it? All help gratefully received!

[Kern]

I haven't done this yet but saw a video on You Tube where Gavin, the Australian cheese maker did it this way:  (the Greening of Gavin)

Boil a couple of teaspoons of pepper corns in a half cup of water.  Cool and add water to milk before rennet.  Mix well. Make cheese and add boiled peppercorns to cheese crumbs before pressing.  I think he did it with a Caerphilly.   

[Guiseppe]

Kern - almost right but no cigar.

The guy you mention is Gavin Webber and the cheese he added peppercorns to was farmhouse cheddar, not Caerphilly.  The recipe is in his book which is available as an electronic download 'Keep Calm and Make Cheese' from his website www.greeningofgavin.com 

He recommends using either green or pink peppercorns but not black.  I have actually made this recipe using red peppercorns and can recommend it.  The method is as Kern states.

In his book he actually takes it one stage further and added some PR to the mix to make what he calls 'farmhouse pepper blue'.  I have not tried this but the author rates it very highly.