Getting my cheddar curds to knit properly

[TimT]

Greetings good people of CheeseForum!

It's my first post here (though apparently I've been a member for a year or so now, who knew? Not me). And this is probably a problem you've heard before, but....

I'm having problems getting my cheddar curds to knit properly together into a nice fat wheel of cheese.  I had similar problems last year too: made two cheddars according to the 'traditional cheddar' recipe. Same problem each time: I go through the usual process of cutting the curd, cooking the curd, ageing the curd in a pot in a sink of warm water, etc.... and then when I break it up into teeny-tiny pieces, salt it, and put it in the press, and press it lightly for a small amount of time.... at the end of that hour, when I take it out of the press and open up the cloth to turn it over.... the curds mostly want to fall apart again.

Most annoying!

Last year when I had this problem I assumed, well, maybe I need to press with a slightly heavier weight. But, since I've got the same problem this year, I'm not sure whether that is it.

Thoughts about how I can vary my process to get the curds to knit together:
- Pay close attention to the preparation process when I cook the curds to expel whey, put them in a warm pot in the sink to age a little, before breaking them up, salting them, and piling them into the press. (Possibly some matting of the curds early on is making it harder for them to knit together?)
- First press: press under an even heavier weight. (Go from 10 pounds to 15 pounds).
- Make sure the mould is right in the centre of the cheese press so the weight is distributed evenly over all parts of the curds as they are being pressed.

Any suggestions and tips on this problem would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

[Spoons]

Hi TimT,

Welcome to the forum! It's normal for a cheese to be very fragile after the very first press. The important thing after your first press is seeing some significant knitting. Be gentle with the cheese when you flip it the first time.

Cheddar is one the hardest cheeses to make at home only because it requires some heavy pressing. Some people still have success without the heavy pressing. By heavy pressing, I'm talking about 200LBS + on a small mould, and that's light pressing compared to traditional techniques.

Best tip I can give you: Set your ambiant temp a little higher, not too high though, you don't want to lose the precious gooey fat. Also keep your mould warm when you first press. this will help soften the milled curds. 72F is a standard pressing temp I have read here and there. 74F may be on the higher side.

[TimT]

Interesting. Thanks for the tip Eric. A good trick might be to just do some cooking by the time it comes to do the pressing, hence raising the temp of the room. Good excuse to put the whey into a cake or something.....!

[JeffHamm]

Hi TimT,

To get a good knit with a cheddar type without having 200 lbs stacked upon your mould, it is important to keep the curds warm and I suspect your problem is that the curds are cooling off too much.  Many of us here follow Sailor's advice of "pressing in the pot".  What that means is, you keep your curds warm while cheddaring them by putting the pot in the sink in a bath of warm water, that keeps the curds warm while they sit there and you flip and stack them.  Then, you mill them into small pieces in this warm pot, mix in your salt, and put the warm curds into a warmed mould (so pour warm whey over your cheese cloth and the mould, then fill them with the warm curds).  Ok, now, put the mould back in the pot, and put the pot in the sink of warm water.  Now put your weight on top and press for 30 minutes.  If you're pressing around 1 PSI (1 pound per square inch of surface area of your follower) then the curds should knit enough for you to undress the cheese, flip, redress, and press again with a bit more weight.  Keep doing this, and keep the water in the sink warm (and cover the pot, use towels, anything to keep the warm moist air in the pot with the curds).  Each press and flip also increase the weight a bit (add an extra 10 lbs), until you're up over 2.5 PSI.  After two hours of pressing in the pot, you can probably move the mould to a warmish room, and complete your pressing schedule (a few more flips maybe, but press until the next day with over 2.5 PSI).  That doesn't take too much weight (about 35 kg on a 6.25 inch diameter mould).  That should get you a decent knit.

- Jeff

[TimT]

Thanks Jeff. May have to get a method that suits me/my kitchen as I'm not all too sure how I'd balance a mould in a pot in a sink full of water.....!

Since the first press is relatively short, warming up the press beforehand, having a warm ambient temperature in the room, and a warm cheesecloth might do the trick. Last year some of my cheddars knitted better than others and maybe it was just the temperature on the day or variations in my method that did it. Cheers!

[UrbanMonique]

Thanks, Tim, for asking this, and y'all for the great answers; this will help me a bunch as well!

I must say, I'm very impressed with the helpful and cheerful vibe here! I own an instrument making website that was started, to a great degree, because such sites before us were not kind to 'dumb questions from rookies', so THANK Y'ALL!

Urb

[JeffHamm]

Hi TimT,

It's not too hard as the sink doesn't have to be full.  I usually have enough water that the pot floats, even with the mould and cheese in it, but once I add a 2.5 kg weight on top of the follower it sits flat on the bottom.  That gets enough warm water up around the sides of the pot to keep it warm inside the pot when covered (with a clean towel, etc).  It might be trickier if you have a press, though, as you have to work that into the spatial puzzle, but I just stack free weights to provide the pressure, so there's nothing larger than the pot to fit into the sink.

Sailor has also used a seed warming mat to warm things up, and that might be another way to go.  If you search the site you should find some threads on that with photos to show the set up. 

And I agree UrbanMonique.  This site has been a great help to me and others, and the posters are all very helpful.  A great place to learn.

- Jeff

[TimT]

Yep Jeff, I know I'll find some solution. Of course at first I envisaged the whole cheese press somehow going in the sink but I know that's impossible, so I would be using just free standing weights. I often find doing stuff in the sink a bit unwieldy and got a little paranoid this time as at one point the pot overbalanced and water from the sink flooded in!

However some of my cheddar-style cheeses last year were more successful than others. A Leicester, for instance, which, if I remember correctly, involved a step where you laid a warm cloth over the curds while they aged. I think if I sterilised the cheese cloth before first press, and perhaps washed the mould in warm water too, that would provide a warm surrounding temperature sufficient to knit the curds. Anyway, I'll have a ponder over what you said; next time I'll work something out. Thanks again for your advice.