First white cheddar

[ksk2175]

Its been two months since I made my first white cheddar.  I decided to age it in my modified cheese cave (fridge with temp control) and also aged in a vacuum sealed bag in lieu of waxing. 

I decided to taste it this weekend and cut the wheel into smaller wedges.  It smelled wonderful but tasted a bit mild for me so I decided to seal them back up and put them back in for another couple months to get more sharpness out of them if possible.

[Al Lewis]

Remember the key to cheddar is aging.  The older the sharper.  Beautiful looking cheese!  AC4U

[awakephd]

Yes, I was disappointed with my first cheddars ... until I got out beyond about 6 months. After that point, they are scrumptious!

If you want a cheese to tide you over while waiting 6 months or more, look at a Lancashire or Caerphilly -- these are cheddar-ish, but much shorter aging. Lancashire is quite good at 6-7 weeks, and Caerphilly in as little as 3 weeks.

By the way -- welcome to the forum!

[ksk2175]

Thanks for the tips and the welcome!   Caerphilly is definitely on my list of cheeses to make so that may be next.  I just came upon a trusted source for some fresh raw cows milk and used it for the first time this weekend to make a Leicester.  There was sure a difference in the make and something I look forward to experiencing on the other side of aging. 

[heapdogg]

Hey guys.  I am new to the forum and am looking for some help on heating the milk.  If there is a separate thread to this topic please help me find it.  I am wondering what the technique is (fast heat vs. slow heat) when warming up the milk and how vigilant I need to be when raising the tempurature.  Thanks a ton!

Chase

[ksk2175]

Hello Chase, if you havent tried a search yet, look to the top of this page and you should see a search box.  Enter in your search topic and then select "entire forum" in the drop down box next to it then select search.

If you have already done that and not found many helpful results, try starting your own thread.  There are many people on here that I bet would chime in to help. 

-Ken

[ksk2175]

Update - When I had tried this cheese in January it was only two months old and I cut the wheel into a half and two quarter wedges.  At that time, it was not that flavorful and everyone was telling me ... more aging .... more time .... boy you all were right.  I just tried one of the quarter wedges, now at 5 months vac packed at 55f.  Wow, what a difference.  Knight and day.  I will leave the others in there longer now that I have seen this much difference but this one is getting eaten..... A tad dry in the mouth feel but tasty.  PH is a little low at 5.13.  Still flexible, much more cheddary taste, doesnt crumble, can cut pretty thin, and melts well.  So far, a success in my book ... here are some pics ... I cant wait to take the rest of it out closer to a year now.  Hope I can wait that long.

[awakephd]

 Yep, definitely a success - AC4U!

[Kern]

Looks really good and it will likely get even better.  Have a cheese on me.   

[john H]

Nice job, if you can make it last a year you are a better man than I.