How do you keep your cheddar warm during cheddaring? My sink seems to drop at least 10F per 15 minutes.
A sous vide immersion heater or a double boiler (10 litre pot inside a 12 litre pot in my case, on a gas burner)
I agree. I use a double pot setup and monitor the temperature of the water. But I tilt the inner pot while still in the outer pot. I'll send a photo when I get access to my photos. Have a look here on the 'Cheddaring' stages I go through
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,15210.0.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,15210.0.html)
Mal
Thank you both. I was just looking to that as a better answer today.
Mal- Your curd seems to be larger pieces than mine am I over stirring. Mine was like those tiny balls that styrofoam is composed. Maybe the milk gets too warm or I over stir?
If you have stirred for about the same time as I do, there are a few reasons for the size.
1. Stirred too hard for too long. This shatters the curd into small units and you loss a lot of the captured fat. During the stirring phase your whey is probably looking milky instead of a clearish liquid with a yellowish/greenish tinge.
2. Temperature control might have been a little fast.
3. If using P&H (Pasteurised and Homogenised) milk, then might have been over processed or the amount of Calcium Chloride added might need to be adjusted.
Best rule for stirring is to only stir as gently as necessary to prevent the curds from clumping. Curds a very fragile during the first part of the heating and need to be carefully looked after.
I tend to just insert the spoon to the bottom of the pot and lift to the top and repeat more than a circular stirring.
Hope that helps
Mal
I use a cheap seed mat , r most of my cheeses though I do not make cheddars , it only goes to 10 or so degrees above ambient .
There are how ever commercial mats that are adjustable in temps to much higher .
Mal- I believe I'm too rough on it. That and the milk is not the best at the moment.
Gregory- I'm laughing at my small brain, I use a heating pad on medium for my yogurt. I bet the low setting will work for this.
No ..... my small brain , I too have a heating pad , and I am always complaining it is too hot , it's perfect for cheese at least. .
Thanks
If you have an electric griddle you can set it to warm and place a double-folded cotton bath towel under the pot. As for stirring I ended up using a silicone cake spatula: On the first "critical" stirs when curd was very fragile I would angle the spatula about 45 deg. and push it slow with the end of the blade against the bottom so as to gently "lift" the curd instead of pushing it. This works better if you have a long rectangular pan.
ps: I just reread the thread and see that Mal recommended a similar technique using a spoon. Still I would recommend a soft-bladed spatula instead at least until the curd starts to firm.
thanks. I got a chunk of cheese out of it but i suspect it will be dry and crumbly from all the over stirring..but i'll do another and calm my roll.