Update on 6-gallon Cantal - 1 year old

[awakephd]

Just over a year ago I made a 6-gallon Cantal. Details and pictures are here: http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,14700.msg112188.html#msg112188

It has been bagged and aging in the "cave" for the past year, and I decided it was time to pull it out and try it. As the last picture below shows, it is very, very crumbly - a combination of needing even more pressing time / pressure, and the nature of the make, I suppose. But the taste is quite good -- definitely a cheddary type of taste, and yet definitely not a cheddar - not as sharp as a 1-year old, or even just 6-month old cheddar would have. A certain depth of taste -- almost on the edge of a pleasant bitterness?? Not sure how to describe it. I wish I had a "real" Cantal to compare it to!

[AnnDee]

A cheese for your cheese Andy!
I remember you said you used 900 lbs to press your Cantal, is it this one?
I still have my cantal out in the open - au naturel, I wonder if it will make a difference at all.

[awakephd]

Yes, this is the one. 900 lbs on an 8-inch mold works out to 18 psi -- seems like that would be enough to close up anything. But the nature of the Cantal make, where it is pressed, then milled, then pressed again, makes this a "hard" cheese to knit. It may be that more time at 900 lbs would have helped - I left it 12 hours at that weight, but recipes call for pressing Cantal for up to 48 hrs. (!!)

[Boofer]

Looks good Andy. Have a cheese.

I wonder if a little time outside the vacuum bag would dissipate the perceived "bitterness"? Seems like I developed a not unpleasant bitterness in a bagged Jarlsberg way back when. The flavor was strange as I recall. I finally pitched it after not too long. That was fortunately a one-off cheese make.

Here's a Cantal for your palate adjustment. 

-Boofer-

[awakephd]

Thanks for the cheese, Boofer (and Ann - I neglected to say thanks in my previous post!).

Bitterness is not the right word, but I can't think what is. It is just a sort of deep note that comes at the end of the taste; an added complexity. It is not a bad taste, just a slightly different nuance than my true cheddars.

All that said, I don't think I am anywhere near a "nutty" taste, as indicated in the link. If I ever find a source of raw milk, I need to try again with that; I suspect that would make quite a difference. Also, it appears that the cheese in the link is left with a natural rind rather than bagged.

Bottom line is that this is probably nowhere near a true Cantal ... but it is quite good, and I am enjoying the first quarter of it!