A couple more experimental cheddars using Ricki Carroll's "Farmhouse Cheddar" recipe.
Raw cow's milk from Vinnie (Holstein Jersey cross) from down the road.
Please note I have a really long tradition of ugly looking cheeses, and these are no exception. You guys make embarrassingly nice looking cheeses!
On the left we have Green peppercorn and Hickory smoke. The peppercorns (canned) were a bit low on flavour when I checked them, and the mix would need a bit more punch to give enough impact, hence the smoke from adding liquid hickory smoke to the milk.
On the right is Wasabi flavour, simply adding a 40g tube of commercial wasabi paste to the milk. Half a tube didn't have enough impact, so I mixed the whole tube in and that has given me a really good flavour. The commercial product I used is more horseradish than wasabi, but if this works, I will go full wasabi (powder or fresh) in the future.
The wasabi cheese is a bit smaller, perhaps the tube of wasabi slowed or stunted curd formation a little?
I let the curds get a bit warm while they were hanging and had a bit of a panic, but I think I saved them, they knit fine in the hoops.
Tried out a new press and they turned out a bit wonky, but that's kind of traditional.