I'm Weak, ....
I couldn't wait any longer and this cheese was just asking to be eaten.
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13742.0.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13742.0.html)
The first of my Banded brethren bares all in a once in a lifetime expose.... Too Dramatic ??
Oh well here it goes. I though I'd show first the state of the cheese as it came from the cave. It came from dim dark reaches at the back and the first two are before I brushed it off. BTW I don't just leave them like this. They do get a monthly brush and turn.
You can see in the second two that a light brushing gets rid of the furry bits. My lovely wife took these by the way..
and then for the revealing...
First the side and then the top and you can see that 90% comes off in the first layer. One of the reasons to use a butter muslin in the outer layers. The next two layers as just cheese cloth. A bit of staining from something but wasn't too distressed.
The inside in a bit.. I want you to savour the experience :)
-- Mal
I'm impatient....
I'm sorry Stinky.. Oh alright I'm being cruel..
After a scraping with knife the final lard layer reveals this wonderful smelling cheese. It slices wonderfully and the cheese almost melts in your mouth. It has a nice tangy to is and a most enjoyable aged cheddar taste.
There is a creaminess still to the taste and just enough salt - though a little more wouldn't have gone astray.
All in all - a most enjoyable Cheddar. 12months is just too long - I will have to be stronger.
-- Mal
Looks great Mal. Actually, I suppose I should qualify that and say that it looks great on the inside.
I have no doubt that the taste is as good as the appearance of the clothed cheese is bad.
A cheese for you in spite of your lack of moral fibre.
It looks great Mal. Have a cheese from me. My bandaged cheddar doesn't seem to be going quite as bloomy as yours. Is there a point in time where it really takes off, or is it a matter of what is floating around in the cave at the time? Mine doesn't look a great deal different than it did when I uploaded my last photos.
Shane
A real beauty! Well, after the cleaning anyway! Thank you for sharing. I may yet try bandage wrapping on one of mine...
Quote from: Shane on August 23, 2015, 09:34:54 AM
It looks great Mal. Have a cheese from me. My bandaged cheddar doesn't seem to be going quite as bloomy as yours. Is there a point in time where it really takes off, or is it a matter of what is floating around in the cave at the time? Mine doesn't look a great deal different than it did when I uploaded my last photos.
Shane
Different caves are different. Might also be humidity.
I must admit to running mine around 90%. I find my Caerphilly dries out too much at the lower RH. When the last one gets eaten I'll drop it back to 75-85%.
Thanks for the cheeses ...
-- Mal
A great post Mal and a cheese for you. Interesting that you age at 90% RH but then again the surface mold can be dealt with but if a cheese dries out it's hard to re-hydrate it. I tend more toward the high end myself because that darned fridge compressor keeps sucking the humidity out >:( (esp. during summer months).
Wow, wish I could taste that! AC4U.
Mal----that is the most disgustingly wonderful looking home made cheese I have ever seen----AC4U
Qdog
What a great looking cheddar! A cheese to you. Next time, make two and maybe one of them will last a year? :)
AC4U Mal. I need to invent some sort of taste and smell I/O for this forum because the looks of your cheese my mouth water for it. I also have been keeping my cave at 90%, I was keeping it at 85 and admittedly had less mold, but then I had some cracking in my gouda so I figured try 90% because it is eliminates one possible variable to consider should any future cracking appear elsewhere.
You keep posting about these bandaged cheddars like this and I may just have to lose my moral fiber to make room to try it out.
@Dan... I hear you !! So, many time here I have wanted to reach out and touch and smell and taste the wonderful cheeses made here. My use of descriptive language is so lacking I wish I could somehow communicate it better. What do I write that comes somewhere close to the rich creamy notes that play particularly nicely with the tang around the sides of my tongue as it slowly dissolves into a wonderful Cheddar taste that lingers well after it has gone down. __ How's that ??
I suppose because I wasn't concerned what grew on the outside I didn't really take that much notice of the RH. If I was predominantly doing natural rinds I would be on to the molds like a shot.
@Jeff I have another 7 'Cave' I just have to wait now till Feb Next year - Oh God no !! - that's 5 months away - I'm never going to make it that far, I'm just not that strong :( I need to fill the gap with something - Caerphilly, 'Malemberts' and a couple of wash rinds - Breathe.... it's alright ... Don't PANIC !! ... anxiety attack over .... :)
-- Mal
wow.... i cringed in my ignoranceat first but by time you were eating the cheese i was jealous
An amazing result Mal!! Up to your usual standards. I have a parm in the cave coming up on 12 months in January. Hope I can hold out. ;D AC4U for your patience my friend!
I'm convinced!!!! Next weekend I'm making a clothbound cheddar for Christmas 2016....that is if I have more self control than you did. AC4U
Martin
Thanks Al, a 12 month Parm - yummm ! I still feel a little guilty cracking it open at 9 months though the other will wait. I've given my self a firm talking to - "no sneaking the cheese" !.
@Delislem - always good to have goal. I have tried to make a Cheddar a month so come February I hope to have a rolling stock of 12 month cheddar every month thereafter. I have 7 in the cave at the moment (less the one I ate early :-[ ).
-- Mal