I could only wait nine months

[OzzieCheese]

I'm Weak, ....
I couldn't wait any longer and this cheese was just asking to be eaten. 
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13742.0.html

The first of my Banded brethren bares all in a once in a lifetime expose.... Too Dramatic ?? 

Oh well here it goes.  I though I'd show first the state of the cheese as it came from the cave. It came from dim dark reaches at the back and the first two are before I brushed it off.  BTW I don't just leave them like this.  They do get a monthly brush and turn.
You can see in the second two that a light brushing gets rid of the furry bits.  My lovely wife took these by the way..
and then for the revealing...

[OzzieCheese]

First the side and then the top and you can see that 90% comes off in the first layer.  One of the reasons to use a butter muslin in the outer layers.  The next two layers as just cheese cloth.  A bit of staining from something but wasn't too distressed.

The inside in a bit.. I want you to savour the experience

-- Mal

[Stinky]

I'm impatient....

[OzzieCheese]

I'm sorry Stinky.. Oh alright I'm being cruel..
After a scraping with knife the final lard layer reveals this wonderful smelling cheese.  It slices wonderfully and the cheese almost melts in your mouth.  It has a nice tangy to is and a most enjoyable aged cheddar taste. 
There is a creaminess still to the taste and just enough salt - though a little more wouldn't have gone astray.

[OzzieCheese]

All in all - a most enjoyable Cheddar. 12months is just too long - I will have to be stronger.

-- Mal

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Looks great Mal. Actually, I suppose I should qualify that and say that it looks great on the inside.
I have no doubt that the taste is as good as the appearance of the clothed cheese is bad.
A cheese for you in spite of your lack of moral fibre.

[shaneb]

It looks great Mal. Have a cheese from me. My bandaged cheddar doesn't seem to be going quite as bloomy as yours. Is there a point in time where it really takes off, or is it a matter of what is floating around in the cave at the time? Mine doesn't look a great deal different than it did when I uploaded my last photos.

Shane

[scasnerkay]

A real beauty! Well, after the cleaning anyway! Thank you for sharing. I may yet try bandage wrapping on one of mine...

[Stinky]

It looks great Mal. Have a cheese from me. My bandaged cheddar doesn't seem to be going quite as bloomy as yours. Is there a point in time where it really takes off, or is it a matter of what is floating around in the cave at the time? Mine doesn't look a great deal different than it did when I uploaded my last photos.

Shane

Different caves are different. Might also be humidity.

[OzzieCheese]

I must admit to running mine around 90%.   I find my Caerphilly dries out too much at the lower RH.  When the last one gets eaten I'll drop it back to 75-85%. 

Thanks for the cheeses ...

-- Mal

[John@PC]

A great post Mal and a cheese for you.  Interesting that you age at 90% RH but then again the surface mold can be dealt with but if a cheese dries out it's hard to re-hydrate it.  I tend more toward the high end myself because that darned fridge compressor keeps sucking the humidity out    (esp. during summer months).

[awakephd]

Wow, wish I could taste that! AC4U.

[qdog1955]

Mal----that is the most disgustingly wonderful looking home made cheese I have ever seen----AC4U
Qdog

[JeffHamm]

What a great looking cheddar!  A cheese to you.  Next time, make two and maybe one of them will last a year?

[WisconsinDan]

AC4U Mal. I need to invent some sort of taste and smell I/O for this forum because the looks of your cheese my mouth water for it. I also have been keeping my cave at 90%, I was keeping it at 85 and admittedly had less mold, but then I had some cracking in my gouda so I figured try 90% because it is eliminates one possible variable to consider should any future cracking appear elsewhere.

You keep posting about these bandaged cheddars like this and I may just have to lose my moral fiber to make room to try it out.