On the weekend I came across some cheap milk (short shelf date) at the supermarket. With the new bain marie sitting there awaiting some use I decided to bite. I decided to do a little experimentation. It was probably a crazy idea and some are probably grossed out, but I thought I'd like to try the classic Australian combination of Vegemite and Cheddar cheese. Below is a rough recipe of what I did for my Vegemite infused Cheddar. It was loosely based on the NEC Cheddar recipe.
Ingredients:
12L Farmer's Own Unhomogenised Full Cream Milk
300ml Gippsland Dairy Pure Double Cream
3/16 tsp Choozit MA16
1/8 tsp Choozit TA61
Annatto
5ml 30% Calcium Chloride
2.4ml Chymax Plus 200IMCU/ml Vegetable Rennet
Vegemite Soup
150g Vegemite
4L Water
I started by heating the milk to 30°C over 2 hours in a GN 1/1 x 150mm pan.
While this was happening I made the Vegemite soup. I mixed the Vegemite in a saucepan with 4L of water and brought to the boil for 15 minutes. It was then left to cool.
Once at 30°C the cultures were added, let to settle and then mixed through.
Wait for 45 minutes to ripen at temperature.
Annatto and Calcium Chloride were diluted in water and added to the milk. Stir to mix through.
Added Rennet
Floc multiplier 3.5. Floc time was 17 minutes and curds were cut at 60 minutes.
Curds cut in 1cm cubes and let to rest for 5 minutes.
Curds were heated to 39°C over 30 minutes (this was the target, but in reality it was closer to an hour) while stirring occasionally.
At temperature the curds were held at 39°C while stirring.
Afterwards it was held at temperature, but the curds were left to settle on the bottom.
The curds were removed to cheesecloth in a sieve to form a solid mass over 30 minutes.
During that time I removed original pan and replaced it with two GN 1/2 x 150mm deep pans. I put the vegemite soup in one pan, and the cheddaring would happen in the other.
The slab of curds were cut into four pieces and stacked in two piles in the pan (still sitting at 39°C).
The curds were flipped every 15 minutes over 2 hours.
I then cut the curds into 12mm cubes and placed them in the vegemite soup.
The curds were left to infuse over 1 1/2hrs. I mixed them occasionally during this time.
The curds were moved to a cheesecloth lined 2kg hard cheese mould and pressed for the following weights and times.
7.5kg for 30 minutes
12.5kg for 1hr
25kg for 10hrs
25kg for 14hrs (the last hour was without the cheesecloth)
Afterwards it was air dried for a day in the cave and then vacuum bagged.
Below are some photos of the make and the end result. The smell is unmistakably Vegemite. I'm not sure how long I'll age it. I guess I will give it a try at 3 months and see how it tastes. I have no idea whether there is too much Vegemite in it or not. As Vegemite is very salty I never added any to the curds during the milling. I hope this was a correct decision.
Shane
