A Lancashire

[JeffHamm]

Hi,
There was a spat of lancashires made not too long ago, and everyone was reporting good outcomes.  I've got room in my cave for one more cheese, so I decided to try it out.  The make went quite well.  As shown in the photo at the end, the knit is a touch poor at the 9 o'clock position, but not devistatingly bad.  It's ended up at 1646g out of the press, which is in the typical range I get, though on the heavier side.  I suspect this is due to it being a moist cheese, so it's retaining moisture.  Anyway, looking forward to trying it out.  Fingers crossed.

- Jeff

These are my make notes.  These are basically from the recipe posted by MrsKK awhile back, and I edited them to reflect how things went.

Lancashire (Sunday, May 1, 2011; overcast, 18.5 C, medium air pressure)
10 L home brand standard
4 ice cubes mesophilic culture
1/2 tsp calcium chloride
0.6 ml rennet
2 tbsp salt

1) Add ½ tsp CaCl
2) Warm to 31.1 0C, stirring gently. Turn off heat.
3)  Add culture, ripen for 45 minutes, at 31.1 0C. (start time: 1:49   end time: 2:34   Temp: 31.6 -  34.0 )

4) Add rennet.  Floc time 15 min 00 sec.  Use 3.5x multiplier = 52.5 minues.  Time added: 2:37:30 so Time to cut is :  3:29 temp: 34 0C at rennet)

5)  Cut curd into 1 CM pieces Let curds stand for 5 minutes to firm up. (START TIME :3:35 )

6) Stir curds for 10 minutes until they release more whey, become firmer and float freely in the whey. Let settle about 5 minutes.(stir 3:40-3:50; sit 3:50-3:55 :33.5 0C)
 
7) Pour content s of pot into a cloth-lined colander. Return curds to pot and press down with your hand to knit them together. (Twist the cheesecloth around the curd to expel some more whey and to help them knit.) Put the lid back on the pot to keep the curds warm. (run some hot water in the sink and place a weight on top of the lid to help keep the curds warm). Let stand for 15 minutes. Turn the cake of curd over and hold for 15 more minutes. (If it breaks - just do the best you can)  Start time (first 15 min warming period: 4:08 – 4:23 -  2nd period: 4:23-4: 4:38)

8) Cut cake of curd in half and pile one piece on top of the other in the pot. Cover and hold for another 15 minutes. The two halves will knit together into one piece. (start time: 4:38: - 4:53)

9)  Mill into large lumps (size of large walnut) and add salt
10) Fill prepare d mold with curds press at 10 kg for 1 hour. (start 5:02 – 6:03)

11) Remove from press, flip and re-dress the wheel of cheese.  Press overnight at 20 kg. (removed 5:05 am; 1646 g out of press)

12) Air dry 3-5 days until dry to touch. Ripen 12-15 0C at 85 - 90% humidity for 4 to 8 weeks, depending upon your taste.

[MrsKK]

Lookin' good! My first Lanc, the really knobby one, will be 90 days old on May 5th, but I'm going to save the last quarter of it for a tasting at my next cheese class, as we are making a batch of Lancashire and I want them to be able to taste it.  I had a bit last week and thought it was still quite good.

[JeffHamm]

Thanks.  The temperature got a bit higher than the recipe calls for (up to about 34 C, which is about 2 or 3 degrees C higher) but not disasterously so.  The water in my double boiler was hotter than I realised, so when the milk reached 31-32ish I turned off the burner, but of course, the water was warmer and continued to warm the milk. 

Anyway, it all went well, and now it's just a matter of drying and keeping the mold away.  I think my mini-caves are keeping the humidity a bit on the high side, so I'll have to prop an edge open.

- Jeff

[darius]

Looks good, Jeff!

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

Just an update on this one.  It's still around and uncut.  Now weighs in at 1288g (about 2.8 lbs).  A bit of geo making itself at home.  I brush this back every few days.  Will probably cut into this in a week, if not sooner.  Looking forward to it (I hope!)

- Jeff

[MrsKK]

It looks good to me, Jeff.  Many of my ripening box cheeses get such growth and don't seem any the worse for wear because of it.

This recipe is definitely a keeper.  I cut up the last of my first Lanc the first evening of  the advanced techniques class I taught.  We made Lancashire that evening, pressing it overnight, and everyone tasted the fresh cheese the next day.  They were glad I'd shared the aged version with them, as they would have been happy to eat it all fresh.

[darius]

My, my... lookin' good!

I guess I need to open one of the Lancs I made 2-3 months ago and see how they are, I didn't much like the one I made with lemongrass... no flavor.

[JeffHamm]

Thanks!  The geo is fine, and protects the cheese.  It's the black spots that are visually offputting.  But, they are only surface spots and don't penetrate into the cheese.  I've eaten the rind, which has these sometimes, and there's no off taste and I'm still here, so they aren't nasties, just uglies.  I'm pretty sure this is due to the humidity getting too high, or perhaps I need to air dry longer? 

Darius, I'm sure the aged ones will be better.  Let us know when you try one.  I've not tried adding herbs after the sage Wenslydale.  Was it the cheese needed more flavour, or was the lemon grass not comming through?

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

As the family was a bit unwell over the last weekend, this Lancashire has survived for another week.  I just realised that it is now 58 days old, so in two days it will reach the 60 day period.  Ok, it's made with pasturized milk and all, but still that's a good benchmark time.  So, that gives me freedom to break into this one any time after Thursday.  We do have a piece of aged cheddar that I picked up at the market last Saturday, but it's almost gone now.  Will post some photos when the time comes.

- Jeff

[darius]

Jeff, just realized I didn't answer your question (above), sorry. I think dry lemongrass must have no flavor. It's not a herb I generally use but I had dried a bit I grew last year. (It's not perennial in my zone.) I shan't waste the cheese, probably grate it into something. Actually I haven't found great favor of any of the Lanc's I've made. On the other hand, my first Caerphilly (what was left of it!) was fantastic at 12 weeks!

In the process of making room in my root cellar to add an old refrigerator for a cave, I moved water lines, and developed a leak. I left the door open overnight to help it dry out and some animal got into my stash of cheese that was aging, destroying quite a few vac-packed wheels. I assumed they'd be okay since they were sealed, although I really didn't think about any possibility of animals getting in there.

[JeffHamm]

Hi darius,

A shame about the cheeses.  The wild can get into things with the first oppertunity.  Interesting about the low flavour profile you're getting from the Lancashires though.  I know it's supposed to be mild, while Caerphilly (at least when young), can have a good tang to it.  I've got a good growth of geo going on mine at the moment, and I'll post a photo of it before I cut into it.  I'm wondering if that will add to the flavour profile.  I don't vac seal mine, so the natural rind continues to develope.  Not always a good thing, especially when the natural rind wants to allow all sorts of wild molds to "volunteer"!   

Thanks for the info on the lemon grass.  Sounds like the herbs had lost their potency.   I've got a caerphilly which will be getting close on 3 months soon.  It's older than the Lancaster, so I think I'll try and stretch that one out to 90 days.  Will have to look at my notes to see how close it is.

- Jeff

[MrsKK]

Darius, what a bummer about your cheeses!  I'd be livid.

Jeff, my Lanc's have a good sharpness to them, almost sharp Cheddar flavor.  But creamy in paste.  What is the longest you've aged one?

[JeffHamm]

Hi MrsKK,

This is my first Lancashire, which I made on May 1st, so 58 days is my longest aging so far.  I'll wait until this weekend, so it will pass the 60 day mark.  I've got a caerphilly I'm taking out to 90 days, so this will be the cheese that gets me there. 

- Jeff

[darius]

Karen, none of my Lanc's have had a creamy paste' they are dry and crumbly. I'm using your recipe, wonder what I'm doing wrong?

[george]

Thanks for the info on the lemon grass.  Sounds like the herbs had lost their potency.

Lemon grass loses just about everything when dried.  I've frozen it (chopped) a few times, but it worked better to just dig up the plants and bring 'em inside for the winter.