It's time I said thank you

[Katoo]

Started reading here in January when I started making cheese.  So far, it's been gratifying and successful.  My focus has been on cheddar types and stilton types.  Yeah, I tend to jump into the deep end.  A few pics.

[Katoo]

Pics
1.  Caerphilly made yesterday, just out of the mold.
2.  Two stilton types, one week old, out for morning air.
3.  A red Leicester, waxed and aging.
4.  My cheese cave.  The container has opened wrapped cheeses that we are currently eating.  Some are vacuum bagged and still aging.

My friends are impressed and also think I am crazy.

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Lovely looking cheeses. The smooth surface on the caerphilly looks good and the mould on the stilton is very promising.
I'm wondering if your friends' doubts about your sanity will make them reluctant to try your produce. (I suspect not.)
Please keep us updated about how they turn out.

[JeffHamm]

That's a very nice collection of cheeses!  Well done.  Let me give you your first cheese for those, and welcome to the board.  Keep us updated with tasting notes, etc.  Also, it is useful to post your make notes so others can learn from you too.

- Jeff

[Katoo]

The Caerphilly recipe is yours, by the way.  The stilton-type I got from the Caldwell book.  We have already sampled my first Caerphilly, the one pictured is my third.  The stilton-type shown above is the second make, the first, I suspect was amazing beginner's luck, it was really tasty.  The Caerphilly had a mild, tangy, nutty quality and nice texture.

We live in Florida, my husband is British.  He thinks I'm the best wife ever.

[Digitalsmgital]

Nicely done Katoo!

My freinds think it's nutty too, but then I cut open a cheese that they have never tasted or maybe not even heard of before and the accolades begin!

AC4U!

[JeffHamm]

That's a great looking cheese plate!  I like caerphilly for it's quick turn around.  I've posted 4 different protocols on how to make it (one is from Greening of Gavin's web-site and he got it from Tim Smith's book I think, one is Peter Dixon's, one is from 200 easy home made cheese recipies, and the 4th, and one I use now, is sort of "my own" but I got it from an early 1900s newspaper article and adapted it for making at home!  That one I call "traditional Caerphilly", because, well, it's from the early 1900s so that makes it traditional doesn't it?    I'm curious which one you've followed?  (They all produce a similar cheese in my experience, but I'm sure one could taste the differences side by side - but then, I think one could taste the differences between two cheeses following the same make protocol when sampled side by side).  Anyway, your description sounds bang on, so well done.  A good blue to start with is a great success, so you should be pleased.  And that Red Leicester looks great. 

If you're looking for some more British cheddar types, there's a Dunlop (a Scottish Cheddar) protocol that I've posted as well which I really like.  Also, fied posted a make for Cheshire, which I've followed and it is very good too.  There are some Double Gloucester protocols posted that Boofer has made (and I think Deejay Debbie as well), and both of them reported good results.  There are some Derby makes around too.  Oh, and Wensleydale too.  You could pretty much have a different UK cheddar type cheese for each month. 

- Jeff

[Katoo]

I used the greening of Gavin one.  Funny story about my lost second Caerphilly.  I put it on a rack for drying on the kitchen counter.  Sometime during the night, one of the legs on the rack collapsed and the wheel hit the floor.  Our schnauzer, Sabrina grabbed it, ate half of it, and inexplicably gently laid the other half in our bed, right next to my sleeping husband's head.  He woke me up and asked if the half was salvageable.  I asked him if he had even noticed how sterile I try to keep my area and tools when making a cheese..  this cheese had hit the floor and got dog slobbered.  Into the bin.  The dog drank copious amounts of water for the next 12 hours.  And I lost a whole day of work, but it was almost worth it for the funny story.

[Digitalsmgital]

Sabrina knew deep down how much love and effort you had put into that wheel...she couldn't hide it or eat the whole thing, so she did what any self-conscientious dog would do, lay it on the master's pillow! 

Yeah, thats a great story and terrific doggie!

[Katoo]

Yep, the dog ate my homework.

[John@PC]

Funny story about my lost second Caerphilly.  I put it on a rack for drying on the kitchen counter.  Sometime during the night, one of the legs on the rack collapsed and the wheel hit the floor.  Our schnauzer, Sabrina grabbed it, ate half of it, and inexplicably gently laid the other half in our bed, right next to my sleeping husband's head.  He woke me up and asked if the half was salvageable.  I asked him if he had even noticed how sterile I try to keep my area and tools when making a cheese..  this cheese had hit the floor and got dog slobbered.  Into the bin.  The dog drank copious amounts of water for the next 12 hours.  And I lost a whole day of work, but it was almost worth it for the funny story.

  Absolutely the best "the dog ate my homework" story   I've ever heard.  Being raised eating mud pies (i.e. dirt) in my back yard growing up if Sabrina does that again you can ship the "remains" to me (as long as you scrape the slobber off ) . 

[Ptucker]

That is too funny, my dog loves cheese curds but I have never had that happen.