First Cheddar results

[Zinger]

I just cut into my first cheddar, which was also my second attempt at cheese making (my first being a farmhouse cheddar) and it has been a success. Actually, I had cut into this cheddar, as well as my farmhouse, after 2 months of aging and it was fine but obviously needed to age further. So I re-waxed it and put it back into the cave. Tonight we are having a neighborhood get-together and I decided that it was time to see if It was ready for consumption. It has been a week shy of 5 months and I am very pleased with the results, so I will bring it out for it's long awaited unveiling.

The farmhouse cheddar is another story. So far I have tested two of my farmhouse batches and they are both bitter. They will not be shared with friends, but my wife has some thoughts for their use in cooking where the bitterness could be a plus. So they will not go to waste, but I am not sure if I will spend time on the farmhouse recipe again.

At any rate, as a newbie finally getting to reap the results of last winter's foray into cheesemaking, I am happy.

[DeejayDebi]

Congrats on your cheddar Zinger! It is always nice when your cheese comes out right.

As far as the bitter farmhouse cheddar. I have read that this will often go away with more aging. It is thought that this could be the result of to much rennet.

[wharris]

Zinger, are the farmhouse cheddars dry, hard, and crumbly as well as bitter?

[Zinger]

No the cheddars are not dry or hard, just bitter.

[linuxboy]

What's the % salt content? Also, what was pH at salting and after pressing?

[FRANCOIS]

Bitter cheese is usually (not always) caused by hydrophobic peptides.  Possible causes:
-not aged long enough, peptides have not been degraded
-residual rennet caused from too high of a pH at hoop up.  calf rennet can help with this as microbial is usually more bitter when retained.
-incorrect starter or incorrect ripening temp, producing acid too fast can promote bitter peptide formation
-pasteurized at too high of a delta T can cause bitter peptide formation
-contaminated milk (usually pseudomonas) will form bitter peptides
-milk with high plasmine will cause bitter peptides (i.e. mastitic animals)

[wharris]

My cheddar gets bitter, hard, and crumbly when I let the pH drop unimpeded.
(Is that listed in your list?)

[FRANCOIS]

rapid acidifcation is yes, with cheddar it can be an issue because you are using a high acid starter.