Please help me fine tune my cheddar recipe.

[lazyeiger]

I have made 2 cheddar's so far, the first one without a Ph meter the second with.

They where both acceptable, however they were more what I would call an American style cheddar, that is the paste is soft and fairly supple.

Growing up in the UK I remember cheddar as sharp modestly hard and crumbly, this is what I call English style cheddar, which is what I am aiming for.

Reading the forums I think that the dry and crumbly texture come mostly from Ph at drain?

The last make was with RA 22 culture, 3 x floc and heat to 102F, drain Ph was 6.09 and salting Ph was 5.36.  Maybe I should not drain until 6.00 to get a dryer crumbly texture?

Any help is much appreciated!

Thanks

Jon

[Al Lewis]

Why not try one of these?  Mine was sharp and delicious.

[GoudaGirl13]

Why not try one of these?  Mine was sharp and delicious.

Nice blog, Al Lewis!

We make our own Maple syrup! Looks like some nice recipes on there to try!
Have you ever cloth-bound a cheddar with that lovely bacon fat? I have some smoked and naturally cured bacon fat here - saving it for something special!

[lazyeiger]

Why not try one of these?  Mine was sharp and delicious.

Al,

do you have Ph markers for that recipe?

Jon

[Spoons]

For British style cheddar, RA 22 is perfect. Floc x3 is good. Draining at 6.10-6.20 is spot on. The one thing you could change is you should only salt at around 5.10. So do the cheddaring step a little longer. You'll get the British-crumbly-style cheddar after 8-9 months or more. Salting at 5.3 or more is more of a modern cheddar-style.

[Al Lewis]

Why not try one of these?  Mine was sharp and delicious.

Al,

do you have Ph markers for that recipe?

Jon

I believe that was JeffHamm's recipe and make.  You can ask him here.