Cheddar Problems & Merry Christmas From The Adirondacks, USA!

[ADKchef]

Okay, so I know it's not Christmas, but I woke up this morning to find snow on the ground, and it hasn't quit yet.  Looking at the pine trees in my front yard makes me wish I hadn't taken my lights down. . . .

I've been lurking for awhile.  While I don't have my own dairy animals, the goal is to raise a few goats for milk and fiber; with any luck, I'll be ready for them next summer.  And being as I'm also a hobby winemaker with nothing to ferment this time of the year, I decided to start making cheese so I know what I'm doing when I do have dairy goats.
I've made acid coagulated cheeses in the past (my diploma says I'm a chef, but my work-life begs to differ).  I love cheddar so I decided to take a stab at that.  On average, when starting something new, I like to fail about three times before I actively ask for help.
Attempt number one:  I used a recipe from a book that gave a variation for making hard cheese and cheddar without rennet.  It failed.
Attempt number two:  I used the same recipe but used rennet.  I over acidulated my milk and it curdled before the rennet was even added.  I contribute this to problems with the recipe, my miss understanding of the recipe, and a little stupidity; whether mine or the author's, I'm not sure.  I was able to turn it into a ricotta-like product; it made a nice lasagna.
Attempt number three:  I used the cheddar recipe posted in the recipe section of this site.  The cheese is in the press right now, but I don't think it's working.  I'm up to 40 lbs of pressure and it's given up very little whey--and yet, the curd is very wet.

Well, that's my story.  I'm not giving up yet.
Thanks for reading!

[MarkShelton]

How much milk did you use in batch #3? If you used 1 gal and you're pressing in a 4" mold, it should be enough pressure, but if you used enough milk to fill a 6" or 8" mold, 40# isn't nearly enough, and may be why no whey is coming out.

I tend to make 5 gal batches in a 5.75" mold with ~100# of pressure. With this much, I only tend to get 1/2 - 3/4 cup whey out of the cheese during pressing. It won't really be "DRY" dry after pressing. Evaporation after pressing removes some of the moisture also (though the bulk is from pressing) whether it be from air-drying before waxing, or through the bandage if you lard and wrap with cloth.

Hope this helps.
Welcome to the forum!

[ADKchef]

I used 1 gallon of milk; the mold is 5.5" in circumference and the weight of the cheese after pressing is about 19 ounces.  When I posted yesterday I was up to 40 pounds, but per the recipe, I added another 10 for the night.  It went 24 hours with 50 pounds.

I got to thinking after I posted last night that I really have no idea what a fresh wheel of cheddar looks like before aging.  I know that what I buy in the store is rather hard and rigid, but it did occur to me that there would be a lot of water loss through the aging process.  So far, I think it's working out.  At least it smells good!

Thanks for the advice and the welcome.  Looks like I found me another hobby . . . just what I needed!

[MarkShelton]

It's a fine hobby, if I may say so!

A cheddar should be pretty firm after it comes out of the press, and it will still be moist, but should not feel wet, nor should any whey seep out when it comes out of the press. You might have liked a little more pressure, but I'm guessing that your cheese came out kinda thin - maybe 1.5 to 2 inches tall. If that was the case, I might be worried that it will dry out too much, and while I like a dry flaky cheddar, I'd probably want to wax it so that it doesn't turn into a rock while it's aging.

How long do you plan on aging? I know it's hard to wait, especially on the first one (it gets easier as you start making more and more.)

[ADKchef]

it's about 1.25 inches thick.  it's definitely not wet, but maybe a little dryer than store-bought cream cheese.  i wasn't sure about whether or not to wax it, gut given the thickness, i figured i'd do something so as not to have a block of rind!  i'd like to try a larger batch (maybe 2 gallons), but i read somewhere that more surface area when forming the curd was better.  i don't have anything other than a 1 gallon dutch-oven and a 3 gallon stock pot.
my intention was to let it age for a good 4-6 month.  it probably won't last that long, but winemaking tends to give a person some patience.  most of the recipes i've read say to let it air dry for 3-5 days before waxing.  as i don't have any cheese wax i was considering beeswax (which I have, but haven't read good things about that road) or to just vacuum bag this one.  any thoughts on that?
thanks!

[Alex]

This is a very small piece of cheese to be aged for so long. Beeswax will crack, it's not plyable. I f you have the vac pack system, use it. I also have a stock pot of about 3 gallons and most of my cheese are made from 10 liters of milk. The yield is 1-1.4 kg (2-3.5 lb) wheel, depending on type of cheese.  I know, this is also not a "huge" wheel, but better than one made from 1 gallon.