This Cheddar has been quietly sitting in my cave for the last 9 months with various little colonies of different colours ranging from black to even a red spot. The first three are just as is came out of the cave - this was my little Christmas present.
So the first layer -- this was the first close weave layer. Peeling the layers is really a bit nerve wracking seeing the various colonies being revealed. As the layers came off so did the moulds.
I won't bore you with a complete blow by blow unveiling except to say that you have to have faith that the traditional ways are good. As layer two came off, the colour of the cheese started showing through and the various colonies were evicted.
The next two are of the all the layers removed. As you can see it is almost perfectly clear of moulds.
Nice (http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/images/smilies/smilie_thumbsup.gif)
AC4U
The only thing to do now is remove the lard on the cheese. I use a pairing knife and just carefully scrape the remaining lard and the last of the mould patches - not that there are many.
The taste:
Sharp on the sides of the tongue as I expect from a good cheddar -Tick
Slightly crumbly but slices well - Tick
No bitterness - Tick
the cheese tastes was full without tartness and dissolved smoothly across the mouth. - Tick
and something I didn't expect - IT HAS CRUNCHIES !! BIG Tick. Not the hard flaw crystals but the soft just slightly gritty one that just disintegrate with the slightest of touch.
This is a success...
That looks like perfection! Congratulations... crumblies and crunchies! A cheese for you!
Awww thanks for the cheese - Merry Christmas
What to say? Wow...
And well done! O0
That is one beautiful cheese! A cheese to you.
I'm drewling.... You deserve a cheese!
Happy New Year.
:-) Danbo
Thank you all for the kind words and Cheeses. Peer acceptance is a wonderful by Product of an amazing activity.
-- Mal
beautiful! its always hard to believe all those colonies of diff molds are only on paper (cheese cloth) layers.
Perferct!
a cheese 4u
A fantastic looking cheese, a cheese for you!
Dittos of all the other kudos with an extra cheese as well. I've got about 60 yds of cheesecloth collecting dust so I need to put it to work. Let's see, about half a sq. yard per cheese, so 60 x 2 = 120 cheeses I need to make :o. Maybe I should ship it over to you Ozzie - you probably make that many cheeses a month :).
@ John, I wish !! I would so love to stop what I'm doing and make cheese for a living but even the thought of it is expensive over here. Thanks for the cheese !
-- Mal
Hello there Ozzie Cheese,
I am in Northern NSW and I have just started to make cheddar and cloth bind it under the tutorage of a cheddar cheese maker from the UK. I am finding lard really hard to find. The last thing I used was beef dripping and it seems to work well, a nice hard coverage.
I have just looked at your step by step post and I see you think copha will work. Considering I usually have copha in my fridge for a few years before I use it I think you could be right.
We have been suffering from a heat wave the last few days and I am worried about larding up my latest cheddar today, it will be dripping all the way to the fridge!
Amazing job Mal!! Does that taste as delicious and sharp as it looks? It's making my mouth water. :P
To cheeseslovesu, I've never used Coffa but it should work. The Lard I use should be available at Coles or Woolies outlets. Here is how I do mine
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13778.0.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13778.0.html)
How does this wrapping method compare to yours ?
@Al. Oh Yeah !!!! 8)
-- Mal
I have a whole crew of cheese makers in the area scouting out for lard and dripping. Apparently IGA has lard.
The cheddar maker from the UK slathers the melted drippy lard all over the cheese first then soaks the cloth in lard so it is dripping and slides it on smoothing down the edges. When he has finished the last cloth he throws a thin cloth over the whole thing then slides the hoop back on and presses one more day so the whole cheese and cloth seals together. The final cloth doesn't stick it just holds everything in place while it goes back in the hoop. He uses blue disposable cloth for this stage.
I did this today with the cheddar I made on Friday. It has been so hot here I was worried the lard would just slip off the cheese and cover the floor of my wine fridge! I will post a photo of the finished product tomorrow.