My Cantal

[cbenner33]

My wife and I made our first Cantal in Dec 2016. This was a 4 gallon make. We are debating if we break it open now at the 6 month (Entre-Deux) stage or wait til 8 months (Veiux). I hope you enjoy the pics. I am going to post more pics tonight to show you what it looks like now. If we do break it open I will also take pics and post them.

Pics 1 and 2 - Taken at draining time 12/17/2016 (sooo much curd had to use to big plastic storage bins to drain)
Pic 3 - Pressing in my homemade compound cheese press - plans received from AwakePHD, thanks again Andy
Pic 4  - Close up of Pressing time (final stage) - 18 PSI - 14 x MA (700 lbs of force on the cheese)
Pics 5 and 6 - One month of aging
Pics 6+ - See Below (opened on 5/26/17, 6 months aging)

Please ask any questions you like.

Chris

[AnnDee]

Love the pictures! AC4U on nice looking Cantal.
Even though it is not very easy to press when I made it, I have made several Cantals now because they taste so good. We like it when it is 7 months old onwards, it is slightly sharp but in a good way.

[John@PC]

Looking good and a cheese for the "1/3 ton pressing"    Assuming that is a 6" form that is almost 25 psi hydraulic pressure .  Great looking press.  Is that AwakePHD's design?

[awakephd]

You got a beautiful knit on that - well done, and AC4U! With the Cantals I have made, I generally wait at least 8 months. It is interesting to compare a slice of Cantal next to a slice of a traditional cheddar - if you just tasted the Cantal by itself, you would think "it's a cheddar," but when you put them side by side you can see, or rather taste, the unique subtleties of the Cantal.

John, guilty as charged - my design, but Chris did a nice execution/adaptation of it.

[cbenner33]

You got a beautiful knit on that - well done, and AC4U! With the Cantals I have made, I generally wait at least 8 months. It is interesting to compare a slice of Cantal next to a slice of a traditional cheddar - if you just tasted the Cantal by itself, you would think "it's a cheddar," but when you put them side by side you can see, or rather taste, the unique subtleties of the Cantal.

John, guilty as charged - my design, but Chris did a nice execution/adaptation of it.

I think the Cheddars are a bit sweeter and the Cantal has a slightly firmer texture IMO

[cbenner33]

Looking good and a cheese for the "1/3 ton pressing"    Assuming that is a 6" form that is almost 25 psi hydraulic pressure .  Great looking press.  Is that AwakePHD's design?

it's a 7 inch form and yes that's Andy's (awakephd) all wood design.

[cbenner33]

We broke into it and low and behold the beauty before my eyes. It was great this is my first and certainly not my last Cantal. As i mentioned earlier this has a firmer texture than I was expecting and it was pretty sharp in taste. So far it's been great! Please give me some feedback on the texture in the pics below. I'm not sure if I hit it right...Thanks for the kind words thus far.

[ellenspn]

Looks really nice!

[matsnykanen]

We broke into it and low and behold the beauty before my eyes. It was great this is my first and certainly not my last Cantal. As i mentioned earlier this has a firmer texture than I was expecting and it was pretty sharp in taste. So far it's been great! Please give me some feedback on the texture in the pics below. I'm not sure if I hit it right...Thanks for the kind words thus far.

Looks delicious! AC4U!

[awakephd]

Looks great! It is a crumbly cheese in my experience - hard to imagine how it wouldn't be, given the make procedure. Yes, a sharp cheddar taste, but again a subtle difference from a true cheddar.