Farmstead Cheese: Chalky, crumbly, and flavorless?

[gstone]

I made this cheese (the larger one on the bottom in the pic below) according to the Farmstead Cheese recipe at cheesemaking.com, as a four-gallon batch, from ordinary whole milk.  Since this was my first time sizing up from 1 and 2 gallon batches, I was extra cautious to follow the directions.  The only departure I made was to do a natural rind instead of waxing or wrapping. 

Yesterday was the 4-week mark, and I decided to try it out young.  If it was a hit, I could invest more time and money in making larger cheeses and aging some longer.

It looked great when I cut it in half. It looked a little moist across the surface of the cut, like a semi-soft cheese; it smelled mild but cheesy.  But when I took a bite I was shocked to find it very dry and chalky on the palate, with very little flavor at first, but giving way to a somewhat sharp-cheddar aftertaste.  For a moment I questioned whether I had salted it or not, but I know I did. 

Any ideas why this might be? Too much rennet, CaCl2, or culture?  Not enough?  Would this age out, maybe? Should I have waxed it after all?  I expect the yellow cheese behind it to be even worse, because it's the same recipe (except for color) and I know I stirred the curds a little dry on that one.

[Gregore]

Chalky and crumbly usually means too low of acid curve before salting . Can you give a pic of inside ? It helps to see the texture .

[AnnDee]

Very lovely looking cheeses, blue green orange and 'normal' looking yellow rind. How do you treat your rind? Do you use special yeast?

[awakephd]

Could be other problems including the pH, but in my experience, cheddar just doesn't taste good until it has aged for 6 months or so. Since you've already cut it open, it may be hard to put it back together to continue aging, but you could vacuum-bag it and let it age out.

[gstone]

I did just that.  I only took a small sliver, so it fit back together pretty well.  It's not technically a cheddar, though, since there's no cheddaring involved. It's as close as I've seen to "just a plain-old cheese".

Very lovely looking cheeses, blue green orange and 'normal' looking yellow rind. How do you treat your rind? Do you use special yeast?

Thank you.  All of the rind cultures are whatever was floating around wild in my cheese room, helped along by a variety of rinds I've saved from imported Tomme de Savoire, Comte, and so on, and cultivated their molds back into activity.  I was really stoked to get such a lively B. linens culture going, although my Fourme d'Ambert wouldn't have been my first choice of place for it. Still, that cheese turned out beautifully. 

Chalky and crumbly usually means too low of acid curve before salting . Can you give a pic of inside? It helps to see the texture.

That could be.  I haven't actually been monitoring pH.  Here are some pics of the inside and rind.

[gstone]

More:

[awakephd]

Oops - I read "Farmstead Cheese" and translated it into "Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese" -- I blame auto-correct. In my bifocals. I'm sure that must be the problem ...
 

[gstone]

Happens to me all the time. 

[Gregore]

The cheese looks very yummy.  I would guess by the pic that the cheese was a little on the low ph side , but not too far .  Aging a little longer will certainly help , and just as others have suggested you have a young cheese there .

And the rind has quite a thick dry section , I would suggest raising  the humidity just a little  in your cave .

Over all the rinds look fabulous .

[gstone]

Thanks, Gregore.  I've vacuum-packed it to wait a bit more.   Hopefully this will turn out to have been a valuable lesson in patience.

Thanks everyone for your input and tips!