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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Hard Cheddared (Normally Stacked & Milled) => Topic started by: Smurfmacaw on May 19, 2013, 06:50:45 PM
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Decided to make another Caerphilly. Make is as follows:
3 gal Trader Joe's creamline milk
1/4tsp MA4002
1/2 tsp diluted CaCl
45 drops single strength calf rennet
3T salt
Well I was going to play with the pH targets but of course my ExStick 110 died on me. I'll give them a piece of my mind tomorrow.
Slowly heated the milk to 89 degrees.
Added 1/4tsp MA4002 and stirred in after allowing to rehydrate for 5 minutes.
Ripen for 60 minutes.
Add CaCl and stir in well.
Add rennet and stir in well
Floc time of 9:59. I'm shooting for a multiplier of 3.5 so time to cut is 35 minutes.
Will cut to 1/2 inch cubes using my new homemade curd cutter.
Cut to 1/2 inch cubes. Curd cutter worked pretty good, may make a modification to make it work better.
Healed curd for ten minutes.
Raised temp to 94 deg over 10 minutes.
Stirred gently for 40 minutes. Curds shrunk quite a bit but maintained integrity pretty well.
Let it set for 5 minutes then drained whey to level of curd. Ladled curd into cloth lined strainer. Put 1/2 gal water on board on top of cloth to press curd slightly.
cut curd mass to 1 inch slices and stacked in vat in water in sink.
turned every 10 minutes for 30 min. Last cycle may have gotten a little warmer than intended (102 deg).
milled to small pieces (thumbnail sized). I've read that it will look like boiled chicken breast and it did. Glad I read that or I would have been worried. Added 3.5 Tbsp salt.
First press at .5 psi for 10 min under whey. Knit was starting to look good.
Changed cloth and soaked it in brine and vinegar to prevent sticking.
Next press at 1 psi for 20 min under whey.
Third press at 2 psi for 40 min.
Fourth press at 3 psi for 2 hours.
Fifth press at 5.2 psi for 4 hours.
will press overnight at 8.5 psi
So far it looks really good. I've got high hopes for this cheese.
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Sounds like a good make, but I'm curious? What does it look like?! Photos! We must have photos! :)
- Jeff
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And here's the result of all the hard work. Knit looks really good with no obvious flaws. It'll be interesting to see how the inside turns out. Says a lot about the sturdy press that it can put 380 pounds of pressure (8.5 psi on a 7.5 inch mold) without complaint. I'll let it air dry at room temp for 24 hours and then into the cheese cave. I'm going to just brush the rind and let it go au natural. I'm thinking somewhere between 3 and 5 weeks before I succumb and cut it open. I guess I'll have to get a vacuum sealer to allow me to cut it into pieces and let them age. And a cheese to Jeff for providing so much information and recipe's for the Caerphillies.
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Now that does look good, a cheese to your efforts. I usually let mine dry a few days (out of the mould on a Monday but not into the cave usually until the Thursday), but let your own experience determine this. Auckland has fairly high ambient humidity, so if you're in a drier climate that may not work so well. You can put a large bowl overtop (like a mixing bowl) if it will cover the cheese. That will help create a micro-climate. Just make sure the outside is good a dry before it goes into the cave.
- Jeff
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San Diego is pretty much a desert. If the Rh gets to 50% that is a good day. This one went into the cave after drying 24 hours....it was dry to the touch. I'm really looking forward to eating this one. I've got a cake plate with a glass cover that I use to keep the humidity up until I put it into the cave....since it's all glass, it lets you admire the cheese every time you walk by it.
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Sounds like you've got it under control! The humidity has been 75% pretty much all week, so my caerphilly really isn't drying out all that quickly, but after a week of trying, it's in the cave too. Caerphilly dreaming.
- Jeff
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Well it looks like the rind is starting to do something finally. White powdery mold starting to take over with one or two very small spots of greenish blue that I brushed away. I forgot to mention that I added four drops of anatto. Wife and I were discussing a recipe for beef that called for achiote when it clicked that achiote is the same plant as anatto. During our discussion I added four drops (prior to renneting) just to see what would happen. I guess this won't be a traditional caerphilly since it's apparently going to be more yellow than white. I didn't expect four drops to have this profound of an effect.
cheers
Mike
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That is coming along nicely. Should be very good. Well done. Not sure about caerphilly, but some cheeses had to have colour added to indicate they were not made locally. So, yours could be a come from away caerphilly?
- Jeff
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Wow, hoping I don't end up with mimolette here. Four drops and this cheese gets oranger every day. I'm using my freshly washed hands to brush the molds down. Is that's real problem?
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Wondering if I should add a little domesticated something to this though. Maybe a little spritz of store Bought GC? Not sure if my domestic strain brings much to the table. PLA? Stop sweating it?
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I would just let your wild geo's do their thing. You'll cut into this in a week or so anyway, although you can age it out to 10 weeks or so. It's not really a long aging cheese, but if you do want to try aging one out then cut your floc mutliplier to 3, and stir a bit longer. You could even raise the temperature over the course of the stirring to 33 or 34 C to help expell more whey. Then, during aging, after a week or so, wash the "upper face" with a saturated brine every other day, so when you flip it the next day you're washing a new face and the dry one is down. Wash the sides every other day as well (so, face and sides one day, and just a face the next). Do that for a week or two, and this should help keep the moulds at bay.
- Jeff
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Love the look of your rind on this cheese! Nice!
-Boofer-
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The rind is starting to develop nicely. Some blue mixed in with some white powdery stuff. Feels nice. Still have high hopes for this cheese.
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Are you going for a natural rind? it is hard to tell but it almost looks like your sides got too dry. But again, I can't really tell. I like to let my natural rinds get quite moldy in between treatments and I don't use any brine, just a stiff ( and clean) brush. I like both the stiff bamboo bristle veggie scrubbing brushes I found at the coop and the surgeon nail brushes I bought a cheap dozen of from Lee Valley's online store. I really loved how the wild blues (probably yeasts) on one cheese would smell like fruit after I brushed it.....but only after.
What type of humidity do you have? If you want your sides moister to help establish molds you could probably loosely wrap some plastic wrap around it's middle after moistening it. or, if you've room, have it in a mini-cave.
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I'm aging cheese in a repurposed dorm fridge. I'm having issues with the RH varying between 74 and 89 %. Not sure if it's just because I open the door daily for cheese tending duties or what but I agree the rind got a little dryer than I would have liked. On the bright side, I'm planning on having a taste of it this weekend since it'll be a month old and hopefully ready. This is a learning cheese for me since it matures quickly and I like Caerphilly. I think the lesson learned is to keep it in a higher RH environment until it gets a cool rind like you get.
I'll post pictures and tasting notes when I open it.
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I had some time this morning before work so I decided to have a tasty lunch and see what this cheese is really like at 27 days old. The paste is fairly dense and semi soft yet has a hint of crumble. It'll bend a fair amount but then separates in a jagged tear. The annato coloring is obvious but at least it's not nuclear orange like a mimolette. ::) There are a number of small mechanical openings that are very similar to other caerphilly's I've seen. The rind is well developed. The darker part of the rind is about 1/4 inch or less and then rapidly fades into the paste. I was afraid the rind would be too thick on the edges but that fear was unfounded. The rind is perfectly edible but has a very slight bitterness to it (I assume from the assorted flora that occurs naturally in the environment here.) Future experiments may include finding a cheese with a rind I really like and cultivating that for future cheeses.
Aroma is sweet milk with a cheddary undertone. I get a little herbaceous in there but I think my milk let me down. I have some Landaff that I brought in to work to compare and contrast and it definitly has the edge in aroma, almost like you can smell what the cows had for lunch that day. The Landaff is definitly more brittle than my caerphilly, almost like it wasn't pressed with as much pressure.
I put a small piece that broke off in the microwave to see how it melts and that turned out great. It melts really well and makes nice strings of gooey goodness. The small amount of hot melted cheese tasted really good. Mild cheddary notes with some salt to back it up. This is going to be a great melting cheese....look out welsh rarebit.
I ate a small wedge on the way out the door so it was at cave temp (~53F). The expected tang was there with a slight saltiness. There was a pleasant sharpness, much more than I expected but am happy to have it....about what you would expect from a commercial medium cheddar. I was surprised that the cheese didn't taste saltier given the amount of salt in it (1 tablespoon per gallon). More on the taste after it warms to room temperature and I eat it for lunch.
Overall, I am extremely pleased with this cheese. To the point I'm going to let some of my coworkers who are into cool cheeses try it and get their impression.
More to follow.
Now that it warmed up to room temp.....
Aroma is sweet milk with a little tang in the background. Very mild and pleasant. The rind has a somewhat more musty component to it. I'm kind of neutral about the rind. Perhaps in the next iteration I might try a little PLA or something similar....maybe just use some rind off an artisian cheese I like and make a spray.
Texturally the cheese is a little more brittle at room temp though still more flexible and plastic than the Landaff. I think next time I might cut the curd to about 3/8 to bring the moisture down just slightly although I think the Landaff is more likely aged much longer than 27 days.
The taste is mild and slightly salty though not overpoweringly so at all. There is a definite tang to it as well as some sharpness....not sure how to really describe the difference but to me the "sharpness" is more on the side of the toungue and the tang right up front on the tongue. But then again I could just be overthinking it.
The rind definitly has a noticable bitterness to it. I'm pretty sure it's due to the mold on it. The edge rind that didn't have a lot of mold is much more pleasant than the bottom rind that had a fair amount. There's sort of a mustiness to if that I can't decide if I like or not but it is a flavor I've tasted in cheeses before. It's probably like hops, start mild and before I know it I'll be considering the cheese paste to be a life support system for the gnarly rinds. 8)
Comparing it to the Landaff: First flavor this one has is the tang, then the sharp cheddary and then a nice cover your tongue mild cheese that finishes with a very mild bitter on the back of the tongue if there was rind in the bite. The Landaff on the other hand has a pronounced salt blast as the first impression rapidly followed by the sharpness and tang. It's more brittle and doesn't have as long of a finish. The Landaff rind is thinner and more tender than mine and vaguely similar in taste. I like the Landaff a little better mostly because of the texture (I like hard cheeses) but over all I am not at all disappointed in my effort.
For the next go around I think that I may try to reduce the moisture a little bit to make the texture a little more crumbly and work on a better rind. I also think I need to work on keeping the humidity up in the cave.
Sorry if I blathered on too long but I wanted to get my thoughts down and work on making an even better cheese the next time.
Mike
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Really nice! :D
A cheese for your superlative efforts, Mike. It is very rewarding when something you worked on like this comes out so well. Your coworkers will undoubtedly enjoy it too.
Excellent detailed write-up.
-Boofer-
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Indeed, a cheese to you! That sounds spot on for caerphilly. I usually brush the rind, to keep the moulds from over doing it. You can, if you prefer, wash it with a high to saturated brine every other day, starting after a week. (or do the "wash 1 face and sides day one, next day just wash the other face, and repeat, putting the non-washed face down). That will keep the rind clear, and helps prevent bitterness from the wild geo (at least that what I think it is).
Well done though, this sounds like a great success.
- Jeff
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I've been shocked how well received this cheese has been. All my coworkers love it to the point I can't eat what I bring for lunch because they hear the I brought it and want to try it. Daughter (very pick eater) said I ought to quit my day job. Now I have to make more, 3 pounds went in a week! My real problem is I only have about 1 day per week to make cheese and there are so many types I want to at least try.
Attached is the Caerphilly roast beef au jus we had last night. Braised tri-tip, the juice (aka jus for the francophiles among us) and a roll. It comes out extremely tender and is a family favorite with a veg and some sort of roasted potato (in this case tater tots but I have to cater to the philistines in the family). My birds (five, count 'em five, parrots think it's the bomb. The cockatoo will assault you for a piece.
I actually did make Welsh Rarebit but wasn't fast enough to get a piccie before it disappeared.....big hit with the family for breakfast/brunch.
Overall, this is one of those cheeses that will make someone keep making the stuff.
cheers
Mike
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In the early 1900s Caerphilly was challanging cheddar as the most popular cheese in the UK. It was in such demand that dairy farmers as far away as New Zealand were being encouraged to make caerphilly to export to the UK because enough of it couldn't be made locally. It was rationing during the war (WWII I think) that put all the milk into making a national standard cheddar that saw it fall away in popularity. The farmer's really liked it as a product because it went to market so quickly (sent in two weeks).
- Jeff