Author Topic: Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar  (Read 4926 times)

wattlebloke

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Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar
« on: January 05, 2016, 10:51:44 PM »
Hi, I'm a novice at the wonderful art of cheesemaking, but scored well from Santa this year in books and equipment, so decided to try my hand at at a Farmhouse Cheddar. I knew that using supermarket (homogenised) milk would be tricky, but went ahead anyway, and have produced a nice looking wheel. My concern is that my ad hoc deviations, in an attempt to firm up the curds in the pot, and later to bond them under pressure, will have done things that affect the final product in ways I can't predict. So I'm hoping that someone can advise me on how best to 'rescue' the cheese (whatever sort it is) by aging it appropriately. Thanks in anticipation :)

0:00   8 litres pasteurised/homogenised milk (Superbarn brand); added 4ml CaCl; heated in double boiler to 32 C.
0:30 added ‘dash’ of MO 030; stirred 1 min
1:25   added 2 Mad Millie rennet tablets in 60 ml pure water
2:10 tested for clean break. Very soft curd. Continued testing for 30 minutes
2:40 cut curd (12mm). pH 5.8
2:45   cooked curd to 40 deg C, over 30 minutes, stirring, at which point they started to firm up. pH 5.5. Let sit 5 mins.
3:20   Drained; suspended in cloth in warm place for 30 minutes.
3:50   Weight 1385g. Milled and salted (20g salt). 160mm mould. Press for 10 mins at 2kg; 30 mins at 8kg; 12 hrs at 15kg. Finished weight 990g.

Stinky

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Re: Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2016, 01:31:53 AM »
Should be fine

Are you diluting rennet? In non-chlorinated water? Have you heard of flocculation?

wattlebloke

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Re: Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2016, 05:14:00 AM »
Thanks for the vote of confidence Stinky. Vegetarian rennet tablets were dissolved in room temp (22 C) boiled rainwater. Have to say they didn't dissolve cleanly, leaving a fair bit of sediment which I swilled out of the glass with some of the milk.
So, just age from here as per a farmhouse cheddar recipe?
Oh, and yes, I have heard of flocculation. Next time I'll try remember to work with it.
« Last Edit: January 06, 2016, 09:40:33 AM by wattlebloke »

Offline OzzieCheese

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Re: Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2016, 05:28:46 AM »
Hi and welcome to the forum..
I think the cheese should be fine, though, just offering a bit of insight here  for the future having travelled this road before.  Age this one out for as long as you think you can minimum of 12 weeks if you can.  There are couple of thing happening here that you could try next time. 
1. you have already identified is the milk.
2. the 4mls of Calcium Chloride could have been a bit excessive.  While adding it can help curd firmness and improve coagulation time - too much has the opposite effect.  This I think is evident in the amount of time it took to get a clean break..
3. 2 rennet tablets, not sure what the strength of the MM tablets are but normally 1/2 a tablet should have done it, though with the 4mls of Calcium Chloride above it might have needed it.  I use the prepared liquid stuff and only 1/8th teaspoon for 10 litres.
The rennet tablets can impart a bitter taste to the cheese so the longer you age the less this will be but that is out 6 month and beyond.

Aging it, there are a few ways here.
Wax - probably the least expensive but a bit messy. doesn't really need a humidity controlled environment but mature at 10 - 12 degrees C
Vac Bag - easy but good bagging unit can be expensive. As above with the maturing
Cloth bandaging - my preference for a Cheddar, but that's just because just my preference. It will need a humidity controlled environment.
Natural Rind  - can be a little troublesome keeping mold and stuff off the rind also, it will need a humidity controlled environment.

Here is a link to how I do a Cheddar. 

http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,14889.0.html

-- Mal
Usually if one person asks a question then 10 are waiting for the answer - Please ask !

Kern

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Re: Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2016, 05:30:25 AM »
I'd age it as if were a cheddar and see what you get.  At two pounds it is not large so you want to either vacuum bag it or wax it after it dries for a week at around 55F (12-13C) for a week at around 85% relative humidity.  You'll have a rindless cheese but at least you won't lose 25% of the weight to rind formation.  There is lots of stuff on the Forum pertaining to waxing and vacuum bagging.  Just do a search.

wattlebloke

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Re: Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar
« Reply #5 on: January 06, 2016, 08:41:56 PM »
Thank you both, OzzieCheese and Kern. I checked the recipes and yes, of course, 1/2 a teaspoon (2.5ml) of CaCl is the suggested dosage...I was going on the instructions on the bottle, of 0.5ml per litre. Hmmm. The rennet tablets have a dosage rate printed of 1 tablet for 4 litres. Must be a weak product, or a printing error! I might get in touch with Mad Millie and ask about both these things.( an hour of reading later and I realise that the MM rennet has a printed strength of >60 IMCU, which is way weaker than standard)
All things considered I'll wax the cheese when its dry, and leave it at 10-12 degrees as long as I can. In the meantime, I guess I'll have to make another for earlier consumption, just to take the pressure off! I'll refer to your chart Mal, and learn to use floculation time. Thanks again, Edwin
« Last Edit: January 06, 2016, 10:36:28 PM by wattlebloke »

Offline Andrew Marshallsay

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Re: Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2016, 09:36:50 AM »
Welcome on board, Edwin.
Just a couple of thoughts to add to the excellent advice from Mal and Kern.
   - Gianaclis Caldwell, in her book "Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking" (a very highly respected book), gives a MAXIMUM dosage for Calcium Chloride of 0.3 ml per litre of milk so 2.5 ml sounds about right for 8 litres. (We may be using the same Calcium Chloride as mine also states a dosage of 0.5 ml per litre of milk.)
   - Be aware that there is a wide range of strengths of rennet. I personally like to know the strength in IMCU of the rennet I'm using which means that you can allow for variations.
   - Also be aware that cheesemaking can be addictive.
Good luck with your cheddar. It looks good so far.
- Andrew

Stinky

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Re: Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar
« Reply #7 on: January 07, 2016, 03:34:12 PM »
Thank you both, OzzieCheese and Kern. I checked the recipes and yes, of course, 1/2 a teaspoon (2.5ml) of CaCl is the suggested dosage...I was going on the instructions on the bottle, of 0.5ml per litre. Hmmm. The rennet tablets have a dosage rate printed of 1 tablet for 4 litres. Must be a weak product, or a printing error! I might get in touch with Mad Millie and ask about both these things.( an hour of reading later and I realise that the MM rennet has a printed strength of >60 IMCU, which is way weaker than standard)
All things considered I'll wax the cheese when its dry, and leave it at 10-12 degrees as long as I can. In the meantime, I guess I'll have to make another for earlier consumption, just to take the pressure off! I'll refer to your chart Mal, and learn to use floculation time. Thanks again, Edwin

Wait wait hold up. Ideally you never want to wax a cheese until at least 21 days to past, because the bacteria that ripen it need air exchange, and they work in that first three weeks. So waxing early will make for an inferior end product, and you're more likely to have the cheese end up weeping.

wattlebloke

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Re: Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar
« Reply #8 on: January 10, 2016, 10:14:59 PM »
Thank you both Stinky and Raw Prawn for your input.
Raw Prawn, I did check with the vendor of my 30% CaCl2, who insists that their printed dosage (.5ml/l) works with their recipes. Theirs is clearly a minority opinion, and I think I'll stick to a dosage of 2.5ml/l. I'll make up my own 30% solution, to be certain, and use the other for my Feta brine...
yes, I'll be very aware of IMCUs. By the way, are you using liquid or tablets? and have you found a source of animal rennet in Australia? I read that veg rennet can lead to bitterness...
And re addictions, well, I'm hooked. :)   My wife is just pleased its not sports cars, or any of the other classic mid-life-crisis distractions!!

Regarding waxing Stinky, well, I read your comment after I had waxed (5 days of drying). Maybe I just put this one down to experience, and if it weeps, well, I'll try not to!

Cheers, Edwin

Stinky

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Re: Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar
« Reply #9 on: January 11, 2016, 12:06:59 AM »
If you see any sort of liquid coming out, always strip and rewax.

The main thing is that if it does weep liquid that can become sour and make the cheese unnice.

Offline awakephd

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Re: Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2016, 03:07:45 PM »
Stinky, let me follow up on the 21 days -- can you point me to a reference on that? This is an area where I have seen conflicting information -- some of the books explicitly talk about waxing a cheese after a week or even less, and somewhere or another I've read something about the bacteria dying off in the first few days, with flavor development then coming from the enzymes. But I've also seen references to the importance of gas exchange, and your advice "just seems right" to me.

(Of course, with bloomies and blues, the molds need oxygen, but that's another matter.)
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Offline Andrew Marshallsay

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Re: Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar
« Reply #11 on: January 19, 2016, 11:17:11 AM »
By the way, are you using liquid or tablets? and have you found a source of animal rennet in Australia? I read that veg rennet can lead to bitterness...

I started using tablets, which were alright once I got the dosage worked out. I soon switched to liquid which makes the dose easier to control. This is the one I use: http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/products/Traditional-Rennet-%252d-140-IMCU%7B47%7Dml-50ml.html
Please note that the strength is a little unusual at 140 ICMU, which does not correspond to the standard strengths referred to in most recipes. I'm actually thinking of changing to the microbial rennet as I understand that the bitterness is not an issue with this.
- Andrew

wattlebloke

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Re: Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar
« Reply #12 on: January 19, 2016, 09:03:29 PM »
Thanks for that Andrew, I'll chase some up. The question of dosage/strength/'standards' is tricky. Most cheese recipe books don't seem to state what strength they are basing their recipes on. I've read elsewhere on this forum that 'standard' rennet strength varies between US/EU, with Aus and NZ seeming to do what they like. Individuals:)
At least the Mad Millie tabs are labeled >60 IMCU; the Green Living ones - Fromase 50 - are way stronger, but not labeled with their IMCU.  I used 1/4 tab for 8 litres for my last cheese and it flocculated at less than 5 minutes...

Offline Andrew Marshallsay

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Re: Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar
« Reply #13 on: January 20, 2016, 07:10:47 AM »
I used 1/4 tab for 8 litres for my last cheese and it flocculated at less than 5 minutes...
Wow! That is surprising given that the recommended rate is one tablet for 4 litres of milk.

You are right about the variation in "standard" rennet strength. One approach, which has worked fairly well for me, is to mostly stick to the manufacturers recommended dose except for those cheeses where I know that there is reason to vary the rate. There aren't too many of those and you will probably work that out from the recipe.
- Andrew

Offline cheddarbob

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Re: Advice on aging not-quite-cheddar
« Reply #14 on: June 02, 2016, 10:11:00 AM »
I always use 1/4 tab for 6 litres, and it comes out perfect!

http://www.wowfreestuff.co.uk/free-toy-from-anchor-cheddar/