My Third Caerphilly

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

Well, as I have a few cheeses about to "come online" fairly soon, I figured this was a good time to make a Caerphilly with the intention of aging it a few months rather than eating it as a patience generator.  I've really enjoyed caerphilly when it's been quite young (cut at 3 weeks), but I'm curious to see how it will turn out after it's had a bit more time to hang out with the other cheeses.  I've got a Sage Wensleydale to finish off, so that will keep me in cheese for a bit.  And, by the time this one reaches 3 weeks, when I would normally cut it, I'll have a Butterkase just 1 week from 2 months, which is when I plan to cut it.  So, I'll be able to hold out.  Then, by the time that one is eaten, I'll have a Dunlop approaching ready, so that might enable me to stretch this one at least 2 months, but I'll shoot for 3 I think. 

Anyway, below are the curds just before cutting, and also a picture of the stacked curds.  I had a floc time of 12 min, and cut after 3x 36 since rennet added) and got a nice clear whey and a great curd.  I'm very pleased.

- Jeff
Will  know tomorrow what the final weight is.

[mtncheesemaker]

Looks good so far!

[Boofer]

Ah, the spinning bowl signature!

Good looking work.

Boy, you're really doing a wide variety of cheeses. Any that really have your heart at this point?

-Boofer-

[JeffHamm]

Thanks Pam and Boofer.

I have been making quite a range.  I know it's probably wise to concentrate on one cheese and figure it out, but I can't bring myself to do that.   I've got a few that are aging for quite awhile (a manchego that still has a few months to go just to reach the 4 month minimum that Sailor recommends; and a Romano that has even more time to wait, but smells and looks absolutely wonderful!).  Caerphilly is the one I've made the most often (third time this time) and I go over my make notes each time to see what improvements could be made.  The Dunlop is made in a similar way, stacked and milled, etc, as is the Wensleydale, so though some of the specifics differ many of the techniques are the same.  I'm still working on basic technique, so until those are fine tuned the subtleties are beyond me.

I have been following a lot of the threads on natural rind developement and find what you and others are doing there facinating. 

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

And, here it is out of the press.  It weighed in at 1464g, which is par for the course for my makes (the other two at 1.5 and 1.3 kg).  The knit is good, and my cheesecloth impressions are much reduced.  It's now out to air dry for a few days before going into the cave. 

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

Just an update.  This one is still uncut, and at 9 weeks it is 1110g.  I've had to brush blue mold off it fairly regularly, but I think the rind is protecting the innards quite well.  I've got a Lancaster at around 8 weeks, that I'll probably cut into by next weekend as I'm just about out of of the wheels I've cut into.  Still have a bit of the Butterkase left (I've been savouring it) and just finished my recent young gouda (of which I gave about 1/3 away as well). 

I've noticed I have a nice collection of aging cheeses though.  A gouda that I made on Dec 30th, 2010, a manchego made on Feb 5th, a romano made March 6th (which is o natural and still as clean as a whistle! the other two are waxed).  These are all set for long aging, the gouda I'll cut into once my son is born (late August; we call it baby gouda), while the manchego I'll wait until my parents come to visit a few months after that, and the romano I'm going to take out for a year I think. 

Anyway, I'm very interested in how this caerphilly turns out as the other two that I've made I've eaten very young (3-4 weeks).  It's good then, but the flavour is supposed to change a fair bit as it gets older so I figured I would give this one a go.  Will take it out to at least 3 months, then we'll see.  fun stuff.

- Jeff
P.S. the white dusting turns blue the next day (i.e. today).  So I brush it off.  The black spots I can sort of "weaken", but haven't been able to remove them completely yet.  I think they are relatively shallow into the rind so as I continue to brush with the nail brush they will, hopefully, be reduced.

[Boofer]

Perhaps a touch of vinegar & salt would help.

-Boofer-

[JeffHamm]

Hi Boofer,

I've put so much vinegar and salt on this over the past few months that I should just call it fish and have it with chips!    I think the box it's in is just a bit humid and nothing seems to keep the mold at bay.  At least the black spots aren't increasing, it's just the blue mold that I can't seem to shake.  You know, it will be when I venture into the land of Stilton's that this problem will suddenly cease I'm sure.  Sigh.

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

Ok, this one is 100 days today.  It's down to 1058 grams.  The rind is not too thick, the inner paste looks pretty good.  The mechanical holes are not too large.  Letting it warm up before tasting.  Looks like it keeps well without too much difficulty.  This one has blue mold that reoccurs every week, and vinegar and brine has not prevented its return.  Probably mean the cave is a bit on the humid side.

- Jeff

[darius]

Looks good, Jeff. Anxiously awaiting the taste test!

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

It is looking good Jeff,

My questions are, how long did you wait after you stack the curds? And did you get a good stretch when you melt the cheese.

I also liked the spinning bowl signature. 

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

Well, we've had a taste now.  It much more crumbly than when it's young, which caerphilly is supposed to be.  It's rounded out the flavour, but isn't a different cheese ; so it's recognizably the same as the young version.  That's good, because I quite like it at 3 weeks!  I'm not sure if it's the rind, or the rennet, but I think I might be getting a bit of a bitterness though.  I use a vegetarian rennet, and I've seen conflicting reports on bitterness and aging; that this can either become more bitter as the cheese ages, or that as it ages the bitterness will go away!  Without the bitterness, though, it is a much improved cheese and worth the wait, although as I say, it's also a good one when young (in my view anyway). 

I've not tried to melt it, so not sure about how it will react to heat.  Will also post my complete make notes on this one, which I see I've forgotten to do.  That will contain all the details of the process.

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

Below are my make notes for this wheel.  I put some on a cracker and then in the microwave, and no melting (just bubbles). 

- Jeff

Sat, Apr 16, 2011; Low Pressure, Temp 21 C, raining. 
Caerphilly
10L Home Brand Standard milk
¼ tsp 30% CaCl.
4 ice cubes flora danica
0.6 ml rennet in egg cup of water.

1)   Warm to 32 C, add ¼ tsp CaCl, 4 ice cubes mesophillic culture (Flora Dancia) : 12:43 (hit 32.8)
2)   Wait 30 min (target time 1:13) Time: 1:14:30   
3)   Time 1:14:30 Temp 31.8 C, add rennet (0.6 ml, in water), stir (target floc of 12-15 min; 0.6 = 14 last time)
4)   Floc time 1:26:30 so 12 min, 3x floc so wait until : 1:50:30  (36 min; 40 by recipe!) Target cut time: 1:50:30
5)   1:50:30  Cut into 6mm cubes.  v.good curd
6)   Rest 5 minutes to heal (start 1:55:45-2:00:45)
7)   Raise temp to 33 over 10 minute  (2:10 reached 33 about 2:05, starting temp was 32.5 ish)
8)   2:10: stirring for 40 min with curds at 33 C (34.0 C; it reached 34 in the bath, so moved to counter)
9)   2:50 : Pitch and drain after 5 minutes (temp is 33.2 C)
10)   3:05   drain in cheese cloth for 5 minutes
11)   3:15 : cut into 1 inch slices, stacked (in the pot; in sink with warm water)
12)   Flipped stack twice over 10 minutes
13)   Milled into thumbnail size bits
14)   Added 2.5 tbls of salt
15)   Pressing in the pot under 5 kg (3:45-3:55). (10 minutes; water in sink is 43.6 C)
16)   Flip, salt, and re-dress  (no salt this flip as the curds were not well knit)
17)   Press in the pot under 5Kg (4:00-4:10) (10 minutes)
18)   Flip, salt, and re-dress
19)   Press in the pot under 10.0 kg (20 min) (4:15-4:35)
20)   Flip, salt, and re-dress
21)   Press overnight under 20 kg. (starting at 4:42pm using even more weight as curds not knitting, though should be fine by morning)
Weight out of pot 1.464 kg;   Good knit, with a couple minor spots that didn’t seal.  Will fix with smoothing.

Air dry for 3-5 days until dry.

Saturday, May 28, 2011: brushed back and brown wild mold spots with nail brush and dry salted.
Saturday, June 18, 2011: weight 1110g
Monday, July 25th, 2011: 100 days, weight 1058g.  Texture, dry and crumbly (no overly dry though, good texture).  Taste, good, but a bit bitter after-taste?  Rennet?

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

Ok, I'm about a quarter through this cheese now.  The bitterness I noticed in the first few pieces seems much less pronounced now.  This is a very nice result.  I'm wondering though, by cutting it, could that be that opening it to the air that the exposure is dealing with whatever it was that was causing a bitterness (which was only really noticable on the finish)?  If so, does anyone have some ideas what it might have been?  Part of me thinks it might have been the vinegar, because I was really trying to end the blue mold attacks this cheese was undergoing. 

Anyway, whatever it was, it now seems to have moved on and the flavour is very good.  Yah!

- Jeff

[Illiterate]

Thanks for posting the recipe. I made a 1 gal version from it over the weekend, but I doubt that I'll be able to wait 100 Days.
The make went very well and it looks good so far.

Thanks again.

Sam