Author Topic: My first attempt at Cheddar  (Read 1356 times)

berrys66

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My first attempt at Cheddar
« on: January 31, 2011, 02:50:15 PM »
My first attempt at cheddar is a "stirred curd" cheddar. It is only a small cheese made from 4.5l of supermarket pasteurized/homogenized milk. Half a tsp of CaCl2 was added to help make a firmer curd. I've attached some pictures of the cheese at various stages of the pressing process using Sailor's "press in the pot" method. It was pressed "in the pot" first for 30 minutes at 10Kg, flipped and pressed "in the pot" for a further 30 minutes at 15Kg, then finally for 24 hours at 22Kg.

I am a bit concerned about the pH readings I took. The initial pH was 6.6, and had dropped to 6.5 at the point when I added the rennet. However, the pH had only dropped to 6.26 at the point when I drained the whey after scalding the curds. At this point I believe I should have been aiming at 6.1-6.2. The final pH of the whey expelled during curd cooking when the curds went into the mould was 6.02. Again I believe I should have been aiming at 5.9. Are these differences small enough to be ignored, or is it likely to have an adverse effect on the outcome of the final cheese? (or perhaps I am wrong about the pH targets?)

The cheese is now air drying at room temperature. Since it's a small cheese (519g/1lb 2oz)  it has a large surface area to volume ratio and so will probably dry much faster than a larger cheese. What sort of drying time should I be looking at? It has already lost approximately 2% of it's original weight in the last 30 hours.




zenith1

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Re: My first attempt at Cheddar
« Reply #1 on: February 01, 2011, 03:32:07 AM »
A wheel that size I would probably air dry two, maybe three days, but go by the texture of the surface. It should not be damp when you move it to your aging area.

berrys66

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Re: My first attempt at Cheddar
« Reply #2 on: February 02, 2011, 11:17:04 AM »
It's been drying now for just over 3 days and has lost around 21g in weight and the rind is now nicely forming and dry to the touch. I am now in an awkward position and need some advice. I have ordered a small wine cooler to act as a cheese cave, but it is not likely to arrive until next week. Should I:

1) Continue air drying and hope for the best until the wine cooler arrives
2) Put it in the fridge
3) Wax it
4) None of the above

Any suggestions/advice greatly appreciated.

berrys66

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Re: My first attempt at Cheddar
« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2011, 09:03:11 AM »
Found some very small mold spots this morning. Wiped them off with some kitchen paper soaked in spirit vinegar and then rubbad a little salt onto the surface of the cheese and placed in the fridge with a view to waxing it tonight. Any suggestions on what I should do prior to waxing, if anything?

Jaspar

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Re: My first attempt at Cheddar
« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2011, 11:51:49 AM »
  After drying I cool mine in the refrigerator for a day or so, yours is in there already.
Warm your wax before taking it out, this way its cool going into the wax, you will get quicker cooling and thicker coating of wax. Also I get a small slip of paper and label it with type, date, and earliest maturing date. place this on your waxed cheese and brush a little wax over to seal

Tomer1

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Re: My first attempt at Cheddar
« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2011, 12:31:17 PM »
You can put it in your normal fridge in a semi open ripening box to maintain some humidity so it wont crack.
The cold temp will just stop whey exclusion and slow down (snail slow!)  the aging-ripening process which can be picked up right back when you move it to a warmer fridge.