Author Topic: Cheddar - Poor Curd Knitting During Pressing  (Read 3664 times)

susanky

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Re: Cheddar - Poor Curd Knitting During Pressing
« Reply #15 on: April 23, 2011, 04:25:40 PM »
Sailor,
Sounds like your weather was ever wilder than ours.  I hear we are nearing or have surpassed a rainfall record for the month.  But thankfully no hail or tornadoes!

Mmmmm.  Sounds yummy.  Like Cheez Whiz, but better I'm sure.  I will give it a fighting chance and let it age for awhile first.  In fact, I haven't tried any of my aging cheeses yet.  They are 4-5 month old.  But getting some more going.  Soon I hope to make some Pyrenees and Ginger Stilton ala Sailor.  Any tips?
Susan

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: Cheddar - Poor Curd Knitting During Pressing
« Reply #16 on: April 24, 2011, 12:25:54 AM »
Stilton needs high humidity and good air flow from the beginning to jump start the blue mold. A ripening box definitely helps. But I do way too many blues to use individual ripening boxes, so here's my setup. A large restaurant tray and a piece of eggcrate to fit. I place two blue wheels on fine mesh plastic mats on the eggcrate, and then put a large kitchen garbage bag over the entire tray. I add just 1/2 cup of water to the tray, close it up loosely and leave it alone for several days. I always get terrific blue blooms this way.

Pyrenees is one of my favorites, but needs time to develop properly. There is a HUGE difference between a 3 month and a 6 month old Pyrenees. The cheese that you had at the class was 14 months old and is still getting better. The key ingredient is patience.

susanky

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Re: Cheddar - Poor Curd Knitting During Pressing
« Reply #17 on: April 24, 2011, 01:20:42 AM »
Both of those cheeses were AMAZING!  14 months eh?  OK well I'm patient.  I'm ready to get one started.  Thanks for those great tips!  That setup for the stiltons was at room temperature?  Or then did you put the whole thing in a cheese cave?

Am I correct that the Pyrenees recipe comes from Tim Smith's book?  How about the Stilton.  I think several of my books have a recipe for that.  Which is your favorite?
Susan

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: Cheddar - Poor Curd Knitting During Pressing
« Reply #18 on: April 24, 2011, 03:09:59 AM »
Make 2 Pyrenees. Open one at 4 months. Hide the other one from yourself. Yes I use Tim Smith's recipe but I use a 3.5 floc multiplier for a little more moisture.

The Stilton is a compilation from "200 Easy..." and Ricki Carrol's book, but it's really a modification of my own style. I hoop my Stilton really wet, so it drains like crazy for about 3 days. I keep them in the mold on my draining table at room temp and turn a couple of times a day until they drain. Then I move them (still in the molds) to stainless ripening trays with eggcrate and coarse draining mat. I put the trays into individual plastic garbage bags, add a little water to the trays and close loosely. I use plastic plant tags to keep the bags from actually touching the cheeses and cutting off oxygen. I keep the cheeses at room temp until the blue really kicks in. Even though blue mold technically likes cooler temps, I find that I get a MUCH faster and stronger bloom at room temp. Once the bloom kicks in, I remove them from the mold and move into the blue cave. It's really important to get them out of the molds after the bloom really starts or you can smother the mold and it will never reach it's full potential. I pierce 2 weeks later and age for 75-90 days. Then I vac bag to stop the blue.

A lot of people would probably disagree with my room temperature implementation, but I've never had any problem with bitterness. You've tasted my Ginger Stilton, so you be the judge. It is by far my best selling cheese.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2011, 03:21:38 AM by Sailor Con Queso »

MarineGrunt

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Re: Cheddar - Poor Curd Knitting During Pressing
« Reply #19 on: April 24, 2011, 03:33:16 AM »
Susan, I can't wait to hear the description of how your "Cheddar Dog" tastes!

I'll have to give the dashboard a try when it's time to dry out peppers.

Tnbquilt, I too didn't press my first Cheddar correctly and the curds didn't knit. It's about 3 weeks old now and will probably give it a try in another week. After my last Cheddar I think I've finally figured out how to press correctly.


So, two Kentuckians here? My wife's parents moved down to Eddyville about 15 years ago. My sister-in-law moved also in order to attend UK. She met her future husband there and now lives in Campton. She did work in Lexington with an insurance company that insured race horses. She now teaches in Pine Ridge. My brother-in-law's family own the Kubaota dealership that is right off the Mountain Parkway a few miles before Campton. My wife, kiddos and I were just there a little over 3 weeks ago visiting. Sailor, if I would've known that you lived in Lexington I would have hit you up for a cheese lesson!  ;D


No rain here today but there's a chance of rain tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully it passes so I can get out and till the garden. I threw some plastic down earlier this week in order to try and heat up the ground a bit and keep it dry. I've been working so much lately that tomorrow is about the only day I'll get a chance. That is after I get all filled up on ham over at my Mom's house.

lwybrant

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Re: Cheddar - Poor Curd Knitting During Pressing
« Reply #20 on: May 03, 2011, 01:32:34 AM »
The peppers i dryed out using a dehydrater, then i ran  them through a blender and it ran me out of the house.  Never blend peppers into flakes in the house or even breathe!!!  Regardless, i plan to use red chile flakes, habernero flakes, red bell pepper flakes and dried onion flakes.  It seems mixing them with the curds and salt may be the best bet just prior to pressing.

I had a small spot in two places on my first chedder so i cut the wax and found a faint mold spot. I cut it off and taste the next shaving and was suprised to find that the texture was dry (probably the rind) was super smooth and fine grained not blocky and curdy like a longhorn.  It tasted as if was about to turn sharp just a bit neutral.

MarineGrunt

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Re: Cheddar - Poor Curd Knitting During Pressing
« Reply #21 on: May 03, 2011, 04:37:15 AM »
I tasted my very first aged cheese, which is a cheddar, and so far so good. I'm really pleased with the flavor. There are a few small cracks in it from not pressing with enough weight but there's no mold or anything. It does need to age longer but it does taste like cheddar. I figured it would be way off! I'm pretty excited about it!

I have two small wheels and would like to try and smoke one. Am I okay to smoke it now since it has been 30 days? It only weights about a pound so would 20 minutes of smoking be ideal?