I am quite excited. I made a farmhouse cheddar a month ago and we opened it up today. It looks great and tastes just like sharp cheddar. It was a little dry but we pressed it with too much weight. Lesson learned. I can't wait to make some more. I like the fact that I can eat a cheddar in one month. The other half we will eat around christmas I think. I also waxed my first gouda yesterday. Fingers crossed it turns out as good as the cheddar.
Sharp flavor after only a month? How did you do that?
I have yet to make my first cheddar...so really curious since I didnt relish the idea of waiting a year or 2 to eat the fruits of my labor lol
Here's one of several recipes for farmhouse cheddar. They can be eaten fairly young. http://idiotsguides.com/static/quickguides/foodentertainment/make_your_own_farmhouse_cheddar_cheese.html (http://idiotsguides.com/static/quickguides/foodentertainment/make_your_own_farmhouse_cheddar_cheese.html)
The recipe I used was in Ricki Carroll's book. I used a mesophillic starter for it. I found a quick ripening cheddar on this board I still plan on trying.
Congrats on the first cheddar!
Its always great to eat something that you make.
My first cheddars were a bit dry and crumbly. Tasted a bit sharp too.
But my cheese got to acidic. My pH was way lower than it should have been, and that was the cause of the dryness.
Stacie, I also had a dry and crumbly farmhouse cheddar made with Rikki's recipe. As Wayne suggests, overacidification may have been to blame. I am still new to this, having made only around 30 cheeses (and a dozen+ are still aging) so take what I say with a dose of salt.
One thing I picked up trying to read all of the posts on this site is that Rikki's recipes tend to be a bit heavy handedwith starter and rennet. I have had more success by cutting the culture in half when using her basic recipe for temperatures and timing. I've been using her liquid animal rennet at 1/4 tsp per gallon and about 1/4 tsp of starter culture to 2 gallons of milk. You'll need to experiment to find what combinations work for you and your milk. You'll also be more likely to get good results if you use the flocculation method to time cutting the curd. See the Wiki for how to do that. The "when to cut curds" wiki page also lists typical flocculation multipliers for a number of cheese types.
Thanks. I have wondered about the over acidification. I will look on into flocculation.