Dunlop 1

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Cheesemaking time has been a little hard to find recently but I finally got around to it the day before yesterday. I was keen to try a Dunlop (not a cheese I have had the chance to taste) using the recipe from Katie Thear's book, as posted by cottagecheese and with reference to Jeff Hamm's posts.

The make notes are:
10 litres Fleurieu milk; 3.3% protein, 3.8% fat  P:F = 0.87:1
1/8 tsp R7 starter
2.5ml rennet in 50ml water
3ml CaCl2 in 60ml water

Warmed the milk to 30o C. 
Add the starter, rehydrated for 2 minutes, stirred and left for 55 min.
Stirred in the CaCl2 and rest for 5 min.
Stir in the rennet for 2 min, covered and left. (I had trouble getting a clean flocculation point. I ended up leaving it for 60 minutes.)

Cut the curd into 15mm cubes and stirred. 
Gradually raised the temperature to 36o C over a period of 20 minutes, stirring gently, then left to settle for a further 20 minutes.

Removed the whey and cut the consolidated curd mass into several, broad slabs.  Pile one on top of the other, then change the order four times over the next 30 minutes. Kept warm during this process.
Milled the curds into small pieces and sprinkled with salt.  (2% of the weight of the curds.)
Put in a cloth-lined mould and pressed as follows, turning each time:
20min @ 0.12 PSI
40min @ 0.22 PSI
90min @ 0.76 PSI
4 ½ hrs @ 1.49 PSI
10 ½ hrs @ 1.49 PSI
4 ½ hrs @ 1.49 PSI

Removed the cheese from the press and dipped it in water at 66 degrees C for 1 minute.  Put it back in a cloth lined mould and pressed for 19 hrs@ 1.49 PSI.
Removed the cheese from the mould, unwrapped it and pressed naked for another 4 ½ hrs @ 0.12 PSI. (This was not enough to completely remove the cloth marks.)

The plan now is to let it dry for a few days before moving to the cheese fridge and, perhaps waxing it (not in that order though)

The one thing that I am puzzled about is the step of dipping the cheese in hot water mid way through the pressing. This is not a step that I have come across before. I assume it is related to knitting the rind but I would be interested if anyone can clarify this.

[Danbo]

Looking very very nice!

[JeffHamm]

That looks very nice!  I quite like Dunlop, at least the ones I've made have been good. Haven't actually tried the real thing.  But, from what I can gather the make is pretty close to the original procedure by Barbra Gilmour of the 1700s; including the scalding in hot water.  I think the purpose may be twofold, first to warm up the outer curds to assist in getting a good knit during the final pressing and second, to wash the surface of any lactic acids and whey, which may help smooth out the flavour.  I've been very pleased with the outcome, and it does age out very nicely.  Give this as least 4 months, and if you can, go for 6-8.  It is very nice over a year as well, but that's asking a bit much for your first one. 

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Thanks Jeff. The information on the scalding makes sense. I wonder why it is not done with other cheeses.
I also appreciate the suggestions on aging but 6-8 months may be pushing it a bit. We will see.

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Well, in spite of the undoubtedly good advice from Jeff, this one only made it just over 3 months before the need for cheese caught up with it. Three quarters have been vacuum packed though, so I will see what happens to those.
I ended up oiling the rind after about one month.
The result was somewhat drier than I had expected. It has a similar texture to the Caerphillies I have made, although the taste is quite different; more cheddar-like. Quite a nice piece of cheese anyway.

[JeffHamm]

Looking good!  It is a bit drier than caerphilly, but that's part of why it ages well.  Too much moisture and a cheese will develop off flavours.  Anyway, it sounds like you've got a good cheese result there, so a cheese for you!

[Stinky]

Congrats! +C

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Thanks for the cheeses Jeff, Stinky. It's nice to know that the outcome was, in fact, what it should be.