Cheddar - first attempts

[Lloyd]

First time posting here, hopefully this is the right thread.

Being an impatient type, I've gone straight to trying to make hard cheese after only a couple of soft ones.

My first attempt at a farmhouse cheddar, pressing without a press, turned out surprisingly well (perhaps was more like a leicester than a cheddar, but got a thumbs up from my work colleagues and no one died), and inspired me to construct a press and have a couple more goes.  The second one I messed up cooking the curds, too quick and too hot, and that is still maturing.  The one I made this week all seemed to go well, and is currently air drying.

However, each cheese has been very soft when it has come out of the press, and over time each one has changed from a cylinder to a barrel. Is this the way a farmhouse cheddar should be, or am I not applying enough pressure?  I believe I'm applying about 8 to 9 psi, for around 17 hours.

Thanks

Lloyd

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Hi Lloyd. Welcome to the forum.

I am inclined to think that pressure would not be a problem. With the two Cheddars I've made, I haven't gone over 1.5 PSI. If the pressure was too low you would notice that the surface curds did not knit properly and tend to crack apart.
It is not unusual for hard cheeses to go a little barrel shaped as the edges dry out the most.
As for the softness, it's hard to say as that is very subjective but they should firm up as they dry.
If it goes distinctly spherical and quite spongy, you may have a case of late blowing. You won't know for sure about that until you open it.

[awakephd]

Lloyd,

Welcome to the forum! This is a great place to learn and to share.

On your cheddars, I think we need more information about the recipe you are following. Very soft may suggest that the curds have retained a good bit of moisture; cut size, heating, and stirring -- NOT pressing -- are the main factors in how much moisture is expelled from the curd. Pressing does remove some whey, of course, but at this point the key is to get the curds to knit together while still allowing any excess whey to be expelled. That means that one cannot simply bang on the weight from the start; you have to work your way up to the final pressure, giving time for excess whey to make its way out before the rind seals it in.

As Raw Prawn says, higher psi is used only as needed to get a good knit. That said, I've needed a good bit more than 1.5 psi to get a good knit on my cheddar makes - I find that my cheddars do need a lot more final pressure than a cheese that isn't milled and salted before pressing, and conversely it always amazes me how little psi an alpine style cheese needs. For comparison, with a cheddar I generally start with, say, 20 lbs applied to my 7" mold (~.5 psi), and work my way up to 300 lbs applied (~7.8 psi), but for a swiss/asiago/parmesan/etc., I start with 4-8 lbs (~.1 - .2 psi) and end up with 20-40 (~.5 - 1 psi) at the very most.

I also agree with Raw Prawn that any cheese tends to "barrel" to some degree as the rind dries, but I certainly get less of that with cheddars than with something with higher moisture, like a gouda. Of course, one factor is how much you let it dry -- are these natural rinds, or do you wax or bag them at any point?

[Lloyd]

Thanks both for your responses.

The images below show the 2nd one, with the severe barrel shape, and the 3rd one, just out of the press.  (How do I get inmages in line?)

I'm using the Farmhouse Cheddar recipe from the Ricki Carroll book.  So the curds are heated to 38C over 30mins, but not cooked for any length of time.  I built the pressure up in three stages - 10mins at what about 1 psi, 10 mins at about 2, and then the remainder at 8psi.  I've air dried for a couple of days, and now have bandaged with lard (seems a strange thing to do).  I guess one of the other factors that may be causing excessive barrelling is my choice of mould, which results in a cheese that is taller than it is wide.

I guess I just need to be patient now and leave it for a few weeks to see if the curds have knitted together.  As I said, the first one, although I couldn't describe it as a cheddar, was much better than I expected.  If these come out better, I'll be happy.

Lloyd

[awakephd]

Yes, that does look rather slumped! I agree that the taller-than-wide shape is probably a factor.

For getting the images turned the right way, see this thread: http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,15452.msg118238.html#msg118238.

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Yes, that does look rather slumped! I agree that the taller-than-wide shape is probably a factor.

I would agree with Andy. In fact, it looks like it has slumped while it was the other way up.
You can see the drying around the edge that I was talking about in this photo.
The good news is that it doesn't look like it is blown. If it was, the curve on the side would be symmetrical and it would be domed on the top and bottom surfaces as well.
Hang in there. All may turn out well in the end.

[Lloyd]

Don't worry, I'm being patient with these, although slightly concerned that I can see the odd spot of mould developing beneath the bandage, and possibly some yellow spots. Starting to smell good though.   I'll be back in a couple of weeks with some results.

Lloyd

[Lloyd]

Well just cracked the first one open tonight.  Removed the bandage and only one small spot of mould in a dimple.   This is my 2nd farmhouse cheddar, but the first with my new press.  I messed up the cooking of the curds (trying to multitask), and heated them too high and too fast, so was prepared for a poor result.   
Well the outcome is more like a a Caerphilly than a cheddar, but not bad at all.  A few small internal holes, presumably when the curd failed to knit.  Only four weeks old, so not expecting any strong flavour, but still v nice.  As the wife said, put it on a cheese board and no one would be able to tell it was home made.  I call that success.

[awakephd]

Well done! Allow me to give you your first cheese (thumbs up).

[Frodage3]

Hi Lloyd,
Great going! My first cheeses were attempts to be Gouda but tasted like Caerphilly. I suspect I had left the initial fermentation for too long and the low pH makes the cheese crumbly. I've been told that a pH meter can help. Were you using any method of monitoring the pH?