Cheddar - Poor Curd Knitting During Pressing

[MarineGrunt]

Hi all. I'm new to cheese making and very new to cheddar. I just made my first two batches a few days ago. I followed the recipe and times to a "T". Everything seemed to go pretty good except the final pressed cheese. I don't feel it turned out all that bad but there are one or two spots where the curds didn't get completely pressed together. For the most part they did though. The first batch I pressed exactly how the reciple said. The second batch I stepped up the last step of the pressing from 50lbs. to 75lbs. It seemed to make a difference but that is the one that has one or two spots where the curds didn't completely press. The first one had more. There's not a huge gap but you can see a gap nonetheless. I'd say it looks more like a small split but you can see the outline of the cut curd so I know it's not a split.

So.....anyone know if it was something I did or do I need to add even more weight next time?

From browsing the forum I can tell I have so much to learn! But boy am I having fun! I'm glad that there's a group of people willing to help others out.


Thanks in advance!

[susanky]

That doesn't sound like much pressing weight for a cheddar.  How big is your mold?
Susan

[MarineGrunt]

I used two, 4" molds each on there own press. I used the Traditional Cheddar recipe out of the book "Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll. It said to press with 10 lbs for 15 minutes, 40 lbs for 12 hours and then 50 lbs for 24 hours.

What do most Cheddars recommend for pressing weights?

Thanks for the reply!

[lwybrant]

I am new as well and pressed mine at 60 pounds and it did ok so far.  I waxed mine and they are at 52 degrees in the frig and i flip them daily.  Good luck

[MrsKK]

Yeah, I'd press heavier than that, as well.  I'd press at 20 for 20 minutes, flip & redress, then 40 lbs for an hour, then 60 lbs for 12 hours.  If it weren't knit completely after that, I would bump it to 80 lbs for another 12 hours.

Welcome to the CheeseForum and thank you for your service to our country!  (From the wife of a retired Marine.)

[susanky]

The first batch I pressed exactly how the reciple said. The second batch I stepped up the last step of the pressing from 50lbs. to 75lbs. Thanks in advance!

If your mold is 4" in diameter it has an area of about 12.5".  Therefore, at 50lbs pressing weight you are getting 4 psi.  At 75lbs that is 6psi.  The professionals can chime in but I think that is a bit low for a cheddar.  Of couse will be affected by other factors too such as temperature etc.
Susan

[MarineGrunt]

Thanks for all the replies! This time around I used the Generic Cheddar Recipe found in the Wiki section. The curds seemed to be much wetter than the Ricki Carroll recipe I used for the others. I did a 4 gallon batch and am using 4, 4 inch molds on two separate pressed. For the final press I have 110 lbs on each press. It seems to be matting together just fine but I'm a little worried about how wet it was.

Will the pressing process take care of this? Should I press a little longer?

I wish I would have stuck to the same recipe. I'm too new to all of this to be switching around.

Thanks again!


MrsKK....It was my pleasure to serve! Tell the hubby Semper Fi!

[susanky]

I'm sorry I don't know the answer to your question.  But I can probably make you feel better about switching recipies.  I started a cheddar today from 200 recipies book.  Got halfway through, then evidently flipped the page again.  Now I was following the directions for a Chihuahua!  Whatever that is.  Oh well, I just carried on.  Not sure what I made but it is in the press. 
Susan

[kookookachoo]

LOL Susan, I have the same book, too.  I had bookmarked the Chaource & Crottin pages, didn't know that it had flipped over.  Luckily, I wasn't making either, just reading them.  Although they don't seem that dissimilar, so I think I would've been ok.  I asked my mom what a Chihuahua cheese is (she lives in Texas & thought maybe she'd heard of it)..she said she's had Chihuahua cheese balls & from her description, it didn't sound bad at all!  My mom is Spanish & she actually brought back some Cabrales & Manchego for me on her last trip to visit her cousins last year.  Our cooking is pretty democratic, though..my family are Basque & Zaragozanos, our love for cheese even more so! 

Let us know how your hybrid cheese turns out!

Steff

[MarineGrunt]

I'm sorry I don't know the answer to your question.  But I can probably make you feel better about switching recipes.  I started a cheddar today from 200 recipes book.  Got halfway through, then evidently flipped the page again.  Now I was following the directions for a Chihuahua!  Whatever that is.  Oh well, I just carried on.  Not sure what I made but it is in the press. 
Susan

Thanks for the reply Susan! I'm so happy I found this forum. It's so nice having everyone offer advice no matter how simple the question. I'd be even more lost than I already am if it weren't for everyone here!


So Susan, you made a Cheddar Dog? I'm sure this new style of cheese will taste great!

Everything seemed to turn out fine with the Cheddar. I made another one this past weekend. I upped the pressing weight a little and it made all the difference! I'm so anxious to give my Cheddars a try. I have 4 different batches aging as I type. The oldest is about 3 weeks old. Does time slow down every time you put a new wheel of cheese in the cave? I swear it seems that there are now 48 hours in a day!

I'm going to take a break from Cheddar until I'm able to taste what I have already made. I picked up 10 gallons of raw milk Sunday and I plan on making some Monterey Jack this time. I can't wait til the garden is ready so I can add homegrown peppers to it. It's going to be awhile though as it's still too cold here in Central IL to plant. I'll have to use store bought for the time being.

Does anyone know of a good Monterey Jack recipe or have any other advice to offer?

Thanks!

[lwybrant]

I am going to dry out my peppers this year, i have some 15 varieties out there so far, some of which is going into a pepperjack of some sort. I plan to dry out and crush some and put in mason jars for hot sauce and future projects.  I would like to make an onion & pepper mixed cheese some time as well. Hooh

[MarineGrunt]

Fifteen varieties! Nice! I've dried out peppers before using a food dehydrator. It worked quite well. Another way to dry them out is by taking a screen out of a window, place the peppers on it and air dry outside in the sun. I've made hot sauce out of cayenne peppers and jalapenos peppers. It tastes good but doesn't have quite the kick I like.

I am planting more varieties of peppers this year because I too plan on making some pepperjack. Are there any certain varieties you'd recommend besides the basic peppers such as cayenne, jalapenos, banana, and habanero? An onion and pepper mix sounds delicious. Be sure to let me know how it turns out. I'd love to give that one a try.

Have you made any pepperjack yet? I'd love for someone to post a good recipe with measurements. I'm so new to cheese making I need all the help I can get!

The weather here has still been cold and very rainy. Hopefully it turns here soon so I can get the garden planted. I wish it would at least dry out so I can plant and then cover in plastic.

[susanky]

So Susan, you made a Cheddar Dog? I'm sure this new style of cheese will taste great!

LOL!  That's funny stuff.  And now this cheese is officially dubbed my 'Cheddar Dog'.  It is in the cheese cave for a few weeks before it gets vacuum sealed.  Will be fun to see how it turns out. 

I bought a pack of seeds that had 5 types of peppers.  Many are coming up (under light indoors) but I won't know what they are.  So maybe I'll dry a few for Monterey Jack.  I like surprises.  Last year I searched out the perfect tomatoe for sun drying.  I tried several methods of drying.  In the end I put them on the dashboard of a car on a sunny day.  That seemed to work best.  Rain, rain and more rain here too in KY.  Can't get the garden plowed!
Susan

[tnbquilt]

I think that time slows down when I put cheese in the cave. I started making cheese in February and I am just now finding out how I am doing. My cave temp got too cold one time, and I don't know how long it was too cold, a week or two, but all of my cheese is taking longer to age.

I've had milk issues, and then pressing issues, and now I am having moisture issues with my pepper jack. That cheese just seems to be really moist. I air dried it and then vacuum sealed it and it oozed into the bag. I had to take it all out of the bags and let it sit in the cave for a week to dry out. I vacuum sealed it again last night. Next time I am going to let the cheese sit in the cave for a week or two before I vacuum seal it

I have a pepper jack that is been in the cave for 2 months, and I taste it every weekend, and it keeps getting better and better. I think it might be ready next weekend.

I have a stirred curd cheddar that is 10 weeks old and it is almost ready.

I also have traditional cheddar in the cave, but wasn't pressed correctly so the curds didn't knit right. That was when I discovered that I wasn't pressing right.

It's a learning experience, I just wish that I could tell if I screwed it up or not a little quicker.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Susan - got pretty wild here in Lexington last night. Quarter size hail, heavy horizontal rain, big winds, funnel clouds, and one confirmed tornado touched down. Had to skip doing the Farmer's Market this morning because of the heavy rain at 6:00 a.m.

ANYWAY..... here's something you can do with a good but imperfect cheese. It's called Cup Cheese by the Amish or Shmear Kase by the Mennonites. It's a spreadable cheese that is a staple of Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine.

3 1/2 cups water
4 cups milk (I use cream)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
5 lbs grated cheese

NOTE - believe it or not, some Pennsylvania Amish even use Velveeta these days to sell to the tourists. Mennonites traditionally used cottage cheese and added a little butter. I am using any of my aged cheeses that are not quite up to retail quality.

Directions:

1 Heat milk and water to boiling.
2 Mix with cheese and soda.
3 Continue to stir, or melt in microwave or oven till completely melted.
4 Beat until smooth.
5 Place in small cups or containers, cool and refrigerate.
6 When ready to use, let it warm up to room temp for a while.

Will make about 12-14 8 oz cups.