Cheddar question---Caldwell

[qdog1955]

  In Caldwell's book, she has two cheddar recipes-----one is a stirred curd cheddar and one is a traditional English cheddar------the only difference I can see is temperature and slight variation on aging.
  Has anyone tried both to see what differences in the end result?
Qdog

[Sailor Con Queso]

True "cheddaring" means cutting slabs of curd and stacking them on top of each other and rotating the stacks. This forces additional whey out of the slabs and allows more acid to develop. Stirred curd does not do the actual cheddaring.

[scasnerkay]

The terminal pH is a bit lower for the classic cheddar.
When I make caerphilly type cheese, the recipe is sort of a blend between her recipe for stirred curd and the milled curd with crumbly texture. I have not tried following the stirred curd recipe just as it is. There is a definite difference in texture between what I call caerphilly and the classic cheddar. And the classic cheddar is more sharp in flavor to me.

[qdog1955]

Susan,
     Both of her recipes seem to be cheddared pretty much the same way, though milled to different size----it seems the stirred curd is much like a Caerphilly, except it is aged 6 to 12 months----I'm not that big a fan of Caerphilly, I wouldn't want my cheddar to have that slightly bitter taste ( for lack of a better adjective) So which recipe do you think will gives the better cheddar?
   I'll probably try the stirred curd, to see what the end result is-----my curiosity will get the best of me. I already have three of the English cheddars in the cave.
Thanks for the info.
Qdog     

[Sweet Leaves Farm]

I have only made the stirred curd with goat milk, but I have found that aging it 3 months isn't long enough, not enough cheddar flavor. 10 months was too long, added bitterness. But 6 months was just right, for a medium sharp cheddar. I have to add that I use vacuum seal bags placed in a fridge, and don't let it age naturally in a cave. Aging naturally, or binding in cloth would probably let you age it much longer for a very sharp cheddar. The key for me seems to be making sure to hit the pH targets, and cutting the slabs smaller if I see any whey puddling in between flips.

[Andrew Marshallsay]

I haven't used the stirred curd recipe but I opened a cheddar recently made to the cheddared recipe, at 12 months old.
The result was a lovely cheddar with the sharpness you would expect from a cheddar of that age but still creamy. It is one I intend to repeat and, in fact, is close to the top of my to-do list.

[scasnerkay]

I also have made the cheddar end recipe several times. The longest I held out was one year, and it was very good. I have a few in the cave, with a variety of cultures, and am looking forward to comparing them!