OlJarhead's Second Cheddar

[OlJarhead]

By the way, Erik, I just scrolled down and saw your cheese and it looks great. Keep at it.


Karen or Kosher, I wish you would take pics of the larding process sometime and post it. I would feel better after watching it done before trying it. I am still vac sealing mine. Made my first cheddar of the season this week. Great to be back in the swing of things.

Thanks for the encouragement   I'm hoping to make more this weekend.

[OlJarhead]

Success!!!!!!!!!!

With just 4 weeks of aging this cheddar is excellent.  The texture typical Cheddar texture and the flavor, while mild, was fantastic!  I had friends over and everyone tried it and compared it and they all felt it was excellent and every bit as good as the store bought ones if not better.

WhooHoo!
Merry Christmas indeed!

[curdsandwhey]

That is a beautiful cheddar wheel.

[OlJarhead]

That is a beautiful cheddar wheel.

Thanks   I hope to make another one tomorrow...might go with slight less color to see how that works out and have been contemplating a way to increase pressing by stacking heavy buckets on top of the mold...only issue is that such a small mold (4 inches in diameter) might not do well that way as balance will be critical.

[smilingcalico]

OlJarhead, that looks perfect.  Great job!  As for your temperature issue, you should of course check to see what the proper temp is for any cheese you make, however, I find that a few degrees off in terms of hard cheeses, is not the end of the world.  In your case of cooler temperature, it can prolong aging, by how much I can't tell you, but not excessively so.  I'd also suggest that on the cooler side is better than on the hot side which would help unwanted molds grow, especially if you do have a good humidity level. 

[OlJarhead]

9 weeks of waiting   Ok we did snack at little around 4 or 5 weeks but now it should 'officially' be a 'mild' cheddar so I decided to crack the cheese open and have a snack


As you can see, nothing has changed visually since December 24th when we opened it up the first time.


Color and texture are excellent.


I need to make more cheese!  I've just been so busy lately but this is inspiring!


First taste and it's definitely a mild cheddar.  Excellent taste and texture -- I could eat the whole darn thing!  But I only had a little


Lunch today consisted of smoked claims in oil, vegetable thins and my little cheddar!  Was awesome and I can't wait for it to age more! 

With luck I'll finish the press soon (it would work now though) and will make a bunch more cheese but at the moment I'm heavily into making lumber for the cabin so I'll let the cheese age some more and plan for the day I can make a few pounds at once

Cheers and thanks!
Erik

[Buck47]

Hey Erik,

I remember following your postings.

Fun to see the end result. Thanks for taking the time to let us know how well your cheese turned out.

Well done. Looks like a fine cheese.

Did you find the taste has changed substantially since your initial testing?

Regards: john

[OlJarhead]

Hey Erik,

I remember following your postings.

Fun to see the end result. Thanks for taking the time to let us know how well your cheese turned out.

Well done. Looks like a fine cheese.

Did you find the taste has changed substantially since your initial testing?

Regards: john

Thanks John,

Hmmm.....perhaps.  Hard to say but I'd almost say it's more mild now strange as that seems.  Perhaps when the cheese is very young it hasn't developed the flavor whereas now it seems to be a nice mild cheddar.  I'd expect that to change over the next few months I imagine.

I hope to make more soon and with the new press as I can see the extra pressing I gave this cheese made a big difference -- it's a hard cheese and not crumbly

[wharris]

Good looking wheel.  Very nice.  Always nice to enjoy something you make yourself.

[OlJarhead]

Good looking wheel.  Very nice.  Always nice to enjoy something you make yourself.

Thanks Wayne -- and amen!  I always enjoy making things, any things.  My latest is lumber for our cabin which is why I haven't had the time to get back to making cheese but I'll get back to it soon.

[MrsKK]

Yep, been missing your cheesy updates, Jar.  I've had some cheeses that tasted more mellow after ageing than they were the first time I tried them, too.  Sometimes the texture changes a lot also.

Hey, share some photos of your cabin, won't you?

[OlJarhead]

Yep, been missing your cheesy updates, Jar.  I've had some cheeses that tasted more mellow after ageing than they were the first time I tried them, too.  Sometimes the texture changes a lot also.

Hey, share some photos of your cabin, won't you?

Is there an off topic place here?  I'll post a pic or three...then you'll see why I'm so slow updating y'all!

[MrsKK]

Just caught up with you on those cabin photos - thanks for sharing!