My 2nd Cheshire

[JeffHamm]

First signs of blue mould this evening, on both faces.  Not a huge amount, but a number of spots, mostly towards the centre of each face.  Brushed it back with a nail brush reserved for my cheese cleaning duties.  Back to a pristine state.  I find that brushing, rather than salt and vinegar, helps develop a nice rustic natural rind.  Will see if that holds for this one. 

- Jeff

[Geodyne]

That's interesting, because I've just come from brine-and-vinegar washing the Cheshire I have which is a week older than yours, to find this post.

I'm hoping to make some more Cheshires this weekend - my brother is getting married in September, so I'm stocking up to take some - so I might make two from different recipes and give them different affinage treatments, to compare.

[JeffHamm]

Hi Geo,

That would be an interesting comparison.  I never had much luck with salt and vinegar washing myself.  Brushing doesn't prevent mould from growing, but it knocks it back.  Eventually, the rind darkens and takes on a nice rustic look and then it seems that it doesn't progress and it becomes fairly trouble free, only requiring a brushing every couple of weeks or so.  However, the rind is wild, and not very tasty, but it does influence the flavour of the inner paste in a nice way.  I suppose it depends upon what moulds you have in your area, but I don't think there is anything particularly special about Auckland's mould.  If you do decide to try two different rind maintenance approaches I would recommend following the same make procedure for both cheeses - that way, you can be more confident that any difference is due to the rind regime rather than the make itself.  You could even make 3 more, so you could have two of each make procedure, each being cared for with a different affinage treatments, and then have a blind taste test, and then have people rank the 4 cheeses, and then ... and then ....

- Jeff

[Geodyne]

Hah, you have a deal. 

I'll start with 2, because 3 crates of milk equals two 26-litre batches of cheese.   

[JeffHamm]

Cool! 

Look forward to the results.  And photos.

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

Updating the rind development on this Cheshire.  It's now 6 months old, and down to 1068g.  Probably won't lose much more moisture from here on out.  This is recommended to age to at least 6 months, and I think another two is really recommended.  Soon!  It will be soon!

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

And soon it was!  We ended up going to visit a friend so took a wedge of cheese, and it was the Cheshire that moved first.    The paste is very firm, a bit crumbly.  Certainly not a moist cheese, but not overly dry, just the right sort of moisture level for a 6 month old cheese trying to be a bit more mature.  The flavour is more than just a mild cheddar, with some wonderful sweet notes with bright highlights (not quite sharp like a vintage cheddar, so let's call it bright).  It has a bit of a tang to the sweet bits too, not sour, just a hint of personality to it.  Overall I'm very pleased.  Might try and seal a bit of this as I think this is an excellent specimen for further aging, but then, I also think this is an excellent specimen for just stuffing my face with.  Decisions, decisions. 

[Boofer]

Ahhh, Jeff...a deep, mature, killer rind!

Wonderful looking cheese. Excellent effort. Very descriptive dialogue. May I bestow a cheese on you?

As always, you are the point of the cheese spear. Congrats!

As I type, I'm waiting for my Tomme #7 to ripen before adding my rennet. No Derby today...couldn't see where you cooked it so I bailed to the Tomme. Tomme #6 was done two years ago.

-Boofer-

[H-K-J]

Yes very nice Jeff, as always, 
Have another Cheese

[JeffHamm]

Thanks for cheeses guys!  I'm quite pleased with this one.  The rind is thick, as it was never waxed, etc, but it is edible (just not the outer mould layer - wild moulds are not tasty despite the yumminess they impart).

Oh, Boofer, there's no cooking phase in that Derby make (nor is there a cheddaring phase, both are absent by design).  Basically everything is done around 30 C.  It will cool, and you raise it back to 30, so that sort of cooks it a bit I suppose, but all whey expulsion is achieved by stirring, cutting, milling, etc. 

- Jeff

[Boofer]

Ok, got it. It threw me 'cause I'm so used to raising the temp.

-Boofer-

[Geodyne]

And a cheese from me. That's an awesome-looking cheese. Your description of the flavour suggests that you have it spot-on for a Cheshire make.

I made a Cheshire from your recipe a couple of weeks ago, but flavoured it. I think it's time to make another, plain one.

[JeffHamm]

Thanks Geo.  This make was originally posted by fied from Scotland, though I don't see her posting anymore.  I've made it twice now, and have been pleased both times.  Definitely worth adding to the rotation. 

- Jeff