Farmstead cheese; is it a cheddar? Caerphilly?

[AnnDee]

This is my first farmstead cheese, 8 weeks old made with raw jersey milk. I got the recipe from New England Cheesemaking website and followed the recipe almost to a T. The problem only occured during pressing, a pot full (about 4-5 liters) of water accidentally washed it. Drowned it. Twice!
I didn't have too much expectation when I opened it yesterday but then when I tasted it...it was good! Really good. It sliced well, melt well, good amount of saltiness, a hint of sweetness too. It has the taste of expensive cheddar at the store. Maybe a little better.

My question is, is this a cheddar type cheese?
It didn't have cheddaring process on the make.

[SOSEATTLE]

My understanding is that farmstead cheese was a traditional way of using and preserving extra milk on the farm back in the day. Since it is not cheddared, then technically it is not cheddar. It may be similar to caerphilly depending on the make. I would think of it simply as farmstead cheese, which is a type of its own.


Susan

[AnnDee]

Thank you Susan for the explaination, I don't think we have farmstead cheese at the stores here so this is definitely new to me. If I knew it taste so good, I would have made it sooner.
The only down side is I only made a 2 lbs wheel and 1/4 of that is already gone.

[SOSEATTLE]

Good excuse to make more  .

Susan

[awakephd]

First off: a cheese for you for a beautiful result!

In the recipe, was there any phase during which the curds were stirred, or otherwise left to ripen after draining but before salting and pressing? There are a number of cheeses (such as the Caerphilly you mentioned, or a Cantal, or even the so-called "stirred-curd cheddar") that are not true cheddars -- they haven't gone through the classic stacking and turning phase known as cheddaring -- but nonetheless are in somewhat of the same flavor family. If you taste one of these on its own, you might say, "cheddar!" ... but then if you taste it next to a real, true cheddar (as in, a really good artisanal cheddar, not the block you can buy in bulk at the grocery store ), you'll see that there is quite a difference. Of course, not having tasted your farmhouse cheese, I don't know how different it might be from a real, true cheddar, but I'm guessing it is more like some of the others I've mentioned.

The unintentional "washing" that you describe -- if it was at the pressing stage when it got drowned, I would think the washing would have minimal effect. I'd say you need to make the cheese again, following the same procedure EXCEPT no drowning, and see if you get the same result. If not, make it one more time, this time WITH the drowning, and see what happens. Who knows, you may have invented a whole new category of cheese!

In any case, it sounds (and looks) like you have a winner ... just wish I could taste it!

[Kern]

Nice job, AnnDee.  AC4U!    I like your enthusiasm and efforts.

[AnnDee]

Andy/Dr. Awake, thank you for the cheese. In the recipe, there was a periode of stirring. I stirred it for 45 minutes nonstop then another 1.5 hrs occasional stirring in which every 15 minutes or so the curd was left under the whey for a little while.
I also just made caerphilly last week, I think I like making caerphilly. Fast, not too long stirring periode. I think I will call my caerphillies 'fast and furious'.

I don't think I have true cheddar very often, can you believe it? Only when I go to a fancy smancy restaurant and order a cheese platter. They just don't have too many true/good cheddar in the stores. They have the processed ones, which taste nothing like the cheddar I had on the restaurant cheese platter. Honestly, my children now just don't eat those anymore, they have been corrupted by their mother for sure. Because of that I don't buy cheddar very often, only from memory I thought this farmstead taste a little like cheddar which I like a lot.
I can't wait to make a cheddar, then perhaps I will be able to differentiate the taste and also to actually find out the taste of a 'real' cheddar.

I will definitely make more of this cheese, I will try not to drown it next time now that I have a proper cheese press (there's nothing like waking up in the middle of the night from the sound of pots and pans that has fallen down from your cheese hoop).  I have 1/2 that I vacuum sealed and put back in the wine fridge aka cheese cave. 

Thank you Kern for the cheese and support.

[awakephd]

Hmm ... stirring the curds while still in the whey is a bit different from what I was thinking, but that much time stirring would certainly have allowed the curds to acidify (which is part of what happens in the cheddaring process). Yes, definitely make a true cheddar ... but be prepared to wait 6 months before trying it. Of course, while you're waiting, you can make a number of Caerphillies and camemberts and such to keep from going into cheese withdrawal!