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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Hard Cheddared (Normally Stacked & Milled) => Topic started by: JeffHamm on February 04, 2012, 06:12:52 AM
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Hi Everyone,
Well, my cave is really filling up now. With this make, it will be officially full! Well, officially currently full, as I could remove the wine and that would free up the last shelf where I could either put 4 waxed cheeses or a ripening box for 2. Hmmm, tempting.
Anyway, as I'm out of caerphilly it's time to replace that one. I've got a bit of the washed rind butterkase still to go, but that will probably be gone Monday as we're going to friends and I'll take some cheese along (the washed rind, 13+ month gouda, and probably a piece of pox Wensleydale). We had spagetti today and grated some 8 month old Montasio over it. Very nice.
Here's the make notes for the Caerphilly. I stirred this very gently, as I've been over stirring lately and busting the curds up too much. This make is much more moist as a result. Will see if that impression holds by morning when it comes out of the press.
Caerphilly (Feb 4th, 2012); Sunday, overcast, 22 C
10L Home Brand Standard milk
½ tsp 50% CaCl.
3 ice cubes flora danica
0.6 ml microbial rennet IMCU 750 in egg cup of water
2.5 tlbs salt (and more for salting during pressing)
1) Warm to 32 C, 3 ice cubes mesophillic culture (Flora Dancia) : 12:07 (hit 33.3 C)
2) Wait 30 min (target time 12:37) Time: 12:37
3) add ½ tsp CaCl in egg cup water
4) Time 12:39:50 Temp 31.8 C, add rennet (0.6 ml, in water), stir
5) Floc time 12:52:30 so 12 min 40 sec, 3x floc so wait 38 min 00 sec (40 min by recipe) Target cut time: 1:17:50
6) 1:178:50 Cut into 6mm cubes. v.good curd
7) Rest 10 minutes to heal (start 1:29-1:42)
8) Raise temp to 33 over 10 minutes (reached 33 at 1:59, starting temp was 30.5 ish)
9) Stir for 40 min with curds at 33 C (Start time: 2:00-2:40)
2:40-2:45 : Pitch and drain after 5 minutes (temp is 32.5 C)
10) 3:00 drain in cheese cloth for 5-10 minutes to form curd cake (press lightly if necessary; ie 2 litre milk jug filled with water placed on top of follower on top of cheese cloth “bag” of curds in colander)
11) 3:15 : cut into 1 inch slices, stacked (in the pot; in sink with warm water)
12) Flipped stack every 10 minutes over 30 minutes (so flip at 3:25 and 3:35)
13) Milled into thumbnail size bits (start 3:45)
14) Added 2.5 tbls of salt
15) Pressing in the pot under 10 kg (4:05-4:15). (10 minutes; water in sink is 50.0 0C but just a bit more than touching the bottom; 0.72 PSI)
16) Flip, salt, and re-dress
17) Press in the pot under 15Kg (4:20-4:30) (10 minutes; 1.08 PSI)
18) Flip, salt, and re-dress
19) Press in the pot under 25.0 kg (20 min) (4:38-4:58 1.79 PSI)
20) Flip, salt, and re-dress
21) Press overnight under 35.2 kg. (starting at 5:05pm; 2.53 PSI; Finished 5:25 am)
Out of press weight 1452g. 15.5x6.1 cm = 1150 cm3 = 1.26 g/cm3
And yes, my impression of the curds was correct. This cheese is bigger than many of my more recent makes. It's over 1400g. This is due to increased moisture retention, and it will dry out and eventually stabalise around 1000-1100g. But, it probably won't last long enough to really prove that! :)
- Jeff
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Yeah, Jeff, when the cave fills up...it's time to expand and get another cave! Or open up a storefront! :)
Kudos. How many cheeses and how many styles have you cranked out?
-Boofer-
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Hi Boofer,
From my notes and memory, I think I've made about 40 cheeses (not counting whey riccotta, which I've made about half a dozen times I think). Most are of the cheddar type family, with washed curd close behind. I've tried my hand at mould ripened cheeses a few times, and have had good success with the semilactics. Most of my makes can be found here somewhere, with the good, the bad, and the ugly all well represented. :)
- Jeff
Butterkase x 4 (actually, the 4th one of these makes isn't really a butterkase as I turned it into a washed rind cheese and added LH, but the basic make procedure is the same).
Caerphilly x 6
Camembert x3
Cheddar x1
Cheshire x1
Cottage Cheese x1
Derby x1
Dunlop x3
Gouda x3
SemiLactic (PC) x2
SemiLactic (Blue) x1
Lancashire x3
Manchego x1
Montasio x3
Mozzerella x3
Queso Fresco x1
Romano x1
Wensleydale x2
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Jeff that is a nice list indeed, but I do have one question....where do you keep the beer?
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I don't see blue listed. Maybe it's time to try something totally different? :)
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Hi Zenith1,
If there's no room for beer in the fridge, I must become the beer fridge! :)
And anut,
I've made one semilactic blue which turned out very very nice. I'm thinking of doing a stilton type fairly soon. Just not sure when. I'll need a ripening box it can be in by itself though. But that can be arranged.
- Jeff
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Oh, how quickly I forget things these days! You made the one that was a pretty baby blue. I've been munching and cooking with my Stilton and I think my search for the perfect tasting blue will continue. I don't really like how it tastes. I picked up a wedge of the Gorgonzola that my Sweety likes and am going use it to make a Gorgonzola this thursday.
Sounds to me like you need to eat more cheese! How many cubic feet is your fridge?
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How many cubic feet is your fridge?
Must be a walk-in with all that cheese. :)
Very impressive.
-Boofer-
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The cave is about 2.9 cubic feet by my rough measures. Currently, it is holding
1 Lancahsire
1 Dunlop
1 Cheddar
1 Wensleydale
1 Derby
2.5 Montasio
1.5 gouda
1 Manchego
1 Romano
And a few bottles of wine.
- Jeff
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Sounds like a second cave is in order! After all, think about how you will suffer when you can't make cheese for months at a time! ;)
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I can drink the wine, which will free up a shelf, and that should be able to hold 8 waxed or vac pac'd cheeses. I'm safe from cave overload ... for now! :)
- Jeff
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Hi,
Well, this one has now reached 3 weeks. A friend is comming over for lunch, so this one will be opened for that. The rind stayed very clear, although with the extra moisture retained it doesn't seem to have formed as solid a rind. There's still a damp patch on one face in fact. However, that aside, it seems just fine.
I've also included my daily weighings, which effectively plot the moisture loss. The spike in the daily loss that is shown at day 16 is when I removed it from the cave for 24 hours. By adjusting the lid in a controlled manner, I suspect I could work out settings for different rates of loss (which would also be related to the surface area of the cheese).
Anyway, the final weight was 1122g. I'll get a picture up when I cut it and will post a taste report as well.
- Jeff
P.S. I just realised the plots didn't show today's measurements, which would make it 20 days out of the press (21 since make day).
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Neat! I'm far to lazy to make my own graphs, but I sure enjoy seeing yours!
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Hi,
Well, this was very moist when cutting into it, and the rind is very thin. This is as expected and I think in part due to my much less vigorous stirring during this make. That meant the curds did not expell as much whey, resulting in the heavier final cheese and the other aspects mentioned. However, the flavour is very good, but I quite like caerphilly. Anyway, I must be learning something because my initial impressions was that the make was much moister than usual and that has been upheld all the way through. So, either I'm learning, or I'm just really good at picking up the painfully obvious.
- Jeff
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That depends on just when you realized it was likely too moist... Prior to draining--you're learning. If you had to jump up and down on the follower to get all the curds to fit, it should have been painfully obvious! ;)
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Hmmm, what about "It weighed more than usual"? :)
- Jeff
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Sorry, that's definitely in the painfully obvious category... ;) Unless... your milk now has higher total solids... winter milk? There's an escape for you! ;)
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Summer here I'm afraid! Sigh. LOL.
Actually, I had noticed the curds were quite a bit larger than usual after the stirring phase. I had been much more careful in my stirring this make, so I thought it might have retained more mositure (less curd fractures, etc) as a result. Everything has continued to support that conclusion as well. The end result is very good, though it may be a bit saltier than some of the others. That's fine though, as it should be a salty cheese.
- Jeff
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Now that's really when you know you're learning. When you know what went wrong and how to fix it next time. I made a lot of cheeses before I started to get to that point, and much of the time I'm still clueless! :) I don't mind my cheeses being overweight if they are only aging a short while. It's the grating cheeses and long term agers that concern me. I would have though my cheeses would be underweight give how often I brutalize the curd! I think I'm hopelessly bad at cutting. My curds always end up all different sizes and some are always fractured by the end of the make. Thank goodness we have this forum. It's wonderful to be able to ask for help as needed. This hobby has a big learning curve! :)
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Jeff....what do you mean, in Step 9: "9) Stir for 40 min with curds at 33 C (Start time: 2:00-2:40)
2:40-2:45 : Pitch and drain after 5 minutes (temp is 32.5 C)" by "pitch and drain after 5 minutes"?
Preparing for my first Caerphilly make...using your recipe :D
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Pitch means give the curds a good stir to get them to collect in the centre, and then sink to the bottom to form a curd cake. Often, this just doesn't work, and you pour off the whey and place a follower on top and press with a bottle of water.
Good luck with your make. I've got a caerphilly that is ready to cut now. Was going to cut into it last weekend, but I had some other cheeses to finish off, so this weekend looks good for it (or is that good for me?) :)
- Jeff
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haha yeah...and I also gave an attempt at a smooth rind by pressing with some heat so we shall see how that turns out...
Seems like a lot of salt...you apply salt to the curds before pressing and then salt at each turn/flip while pressing?
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Hi,
Yah, caerphilly has a fair amount of salt. It was said the Welsh miners would eat it to replace the lost salt from sweating while they worked. You can cut back on the salt during the flips if you want; much will get washed off anyway as the whey is pressed out. It might help a bit with mold prevention.
- Jeff
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No problem...when I first read through the recipe I noted the salt to the curds but for some reason didnt notice the salting during pressing or I would have asked earlier to make sure I was doing the right thing lol As I executed the recipe I ran into it and was like...oops? maybe? maybe not...haha
I skipped one salting during flipping just cause I wasnt sure, but no great shakes that :)
Thanks for the guidance! I am looking forward to trying this out .... I nibbled on some that squeezed out of the press and tastes rightly nice for a fresh cheese!
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Hi Jeff,
Have you tried salting the curds yet? What was the outcome? I did on my last Caerphilly as I was going out of town unexpectantly and didn't have time to brine it. I salted the curds and left it on the press until I got back. I cut into it at five weeks and it's very different from the last Caerphilly I made. Still mild, so I put it back in the cave. I have no idea what to expect from this, very exciting!
anut :)
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Hi anut,
I always salt the curds for my caerphilly. I've only brined it once, and that was my first make (where I both salted the curds and then stuck it in the brine as well! It was ... quite salty). It's always turned out with the fresh tang that I associate with caerphilly, although I also tend to cut into it by 3 or 4 weeks. I know it is suppose to mellow with age, but I'm surprised it didn't have the fresh taste at 5 weeks. I'll be cutting into my most recent one soon, so hopefully it will be much like the others as it's a favorite of mine.
- Jeff
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Guess I should have read your make notes slooower. I didn't notice that you had been salting your curds all along. :-[ I certainly hope it's not going to get milder! I loved the sharp tang it had last time.
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Hi anut,
I think if it's mild already then you probably want to age it out to see if it develops some sharpness, like an aged cheddar. That's different from the fresh cheese tang that it has when quite young. I've never aged a caerphilly more than 3 months and it hadn't become sharp by then, but that's still pretty young for a cheddar type. Maybe take it out to 6 months or so? It's a pretty quick make and age, so you could easily have another one or two out of the press and eaten by the time this one makes it to half a year!
- Jeff
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Jeff, Would you be willing to share how you decide what to vacuum seal and what you age without? I've ordered a vacuum sealer since my cave is full and I figure I can fit more cheese in if I can stack some vacuum packed rounds. And, is the result the same between vacuum sealing and waxing? And, what do you (and I hope others share their ways also) brush/wipe off mold with? (both implement and solution). Thanks in advance.....I've been on a Caerphilly kick also, other than a mistake which produced a Dudephilly (Dutifully instead of Carefully)
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Jeff...what are the appropriate aging conditions? Temp and RH...and how many days should I let it "dry out" before putting it in the cave?
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Hi Tiarella,
If I'm aging something for a year or more, I'll tend to wax it. My vaccuum sealer isn't that great, and I generally don't get the seal that most seem to. So, for me, I tend to just age in ripening boxes if the cheese is going to be consumed within a couple months, and if there is room. If my boxes get full, I'll vac seal some so they can be kept outside the box without drying out. If I get a good seal, I can decide to age it out longer, if not, I may have to redo it again if moisture/mold becomes a problem.
To deal with mold, I generally just brush them with a nail brush that I bought for this purpose, but let the rind develop as it will. I just want to keep the wild blue at bay, and this seems to work. If I'm trying to keep the rind clean, I'll brush it back, and use a brine solution. Generally, though, I just let the mold grow and cut the rind off (wild rinds are not my thing, but they do add nice flavours to the inners).
There are others who are much more adept at their affinage. Boofer's threads are filled with his notes and observations and a real treasure trove of information from his experiences and from the input of others. I highly recommend you read those, even for cheeses you might not be making, as it will give you the information that you can adapt to your situations.
- Jeff
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Hi bbracken677,
I usually air dry caerphilly 4 or 5 days before caving it. Then, just keep it around 11 C, in a ripening box (so, 85% should be good). It will probably develop wild geo over the course of 3 weeks, which is normal. Brush it back if it gets out of control, but you don't need to keep it new penny clean.
- Jeff
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Thanks! Will do :)