I bandaged my cheddar, first time making. I know it should have mold on the bandages.... But how much is ok? It has all different colors and sizes. I am wondering if I won't kill myself when I'll open and eat it.
we used duck lard...
I've only bandaged about 6 wheels each grew some very scary molds all colors but when you remove the husk, it was pretty clean and was delicious. I'm aging most of them for a year. When in doubt give a sample to your least favorite neighbor if the live your safe. Just kidding
Here is my scary little cheddars
Oh Nah !! thats a clean skin. try these... and it was the nicest Cheddar ever !! JUst make sure you remove all the 'funky' bits
Its where I got my avatar from.
Wow, that's an awesome display of molds.
WOW! Mine are far from that (at the moment). I guess I won't die if I open them in X months from now...
But the "give it to your least favorite neighbour" is a good suggestion too :D
Thanks everyone!
This particular Cheese was 9 months old and I must admit to being a little lax (a lot lax really) on the mold control. The Texture and aroma was awesome although there was still a hint of bitterness it was still one of the best Cheddars I have done.
I have experimented with Cloth Bandaging, just natural rind and Vacuum Bagging and most definitely by a very long margin - Cloth Bandaging is by far the superior coating for a long aged cheese for the home Cheese maker. The Natural rind was ok but requires a rigorous maintenance and RH monitoring and the several I did were a little too dry and bitter (probably due to the lower moisture in the 'Cave' - I didn't have a cave cube at that stage so I don't know what the RH was).
The Vacuum bagging was, by far, the least successful. The cheese didn't have a gas exchange pathway so they sweated in the bags and was having to replace then almost monthly. The cheeses were still bitter and a very flat flavor. I need to do some more reading on that method but I would only use Vacuum bagging for short term storage of Cut cheeses.
Cloth bandaging Cheddars - and I will be experimenting with Caerphilly and Colby in the near future - allows a gas exchange pathway so the excess moisture and other gasses can escape. That does of course mean that something can get into the cheese and where the bandage maintenance is crucial.
Sorry, that was longer than intended - hope it helps.
MalD
I'm a big fan of clothbound cheddar types too. Fascinating to see how the molds come and go, although IME they usually settle down after a couple of months.
(https://tiabr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/DSCN9255.jpg)
-L
One thing I would caution about cloth banding is that it's a bit of a double edged sword. It keeps moisture in, but it keeps moisture in :-) So if you have your make working right for you then it's should be fine. But if it's weeping under the cloth, it's pretty easy for b.linens to rot it out. I frequent the cheesemaking subreddit of reddit and I don't think I've seen a single successful cloth banded cheese in the last year (I may have missed one or two, though).
I think the key is that you need to understand why you are doing it. If you are aging a cheese for three months, for example, there is really no point in cloth banding it. A natural rind will be fine. The rind will not be so thick that you'll lose any cheese. Somewhere up around a year or more, then it makes good sense to cloth band it. My only advice is to do a lot of practice making cheese before you get to that point. I see a lot of people who try to cloth band a cheddar in their first 5 cheeses and the result is always failure.
I agree with not your first five cheeses - but I would say that experience is a good teacher. My first Cloth banding effort was a bit scary but by the time I'd done it a couple more times it became easier until I got to results like these
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13721.15.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13721.15.html)
admittedly this was three year or so into my cheese making - but there are plenty of excellent Cheddar makers on the forum to learn from.
I' d just say, if you are struggling with it - practice !!
Mal
I've never had any problems with cloth banding, including some of my first cheddar types. Maybe that's because I don't smear the cheese, just dip the cheesecloth in melted (pork) lard, wrap the cheese and repress it. Maybe also because cheddars weren't my first cheeses, so I knew how to get a pretty "dry" make and moisture wasn't a problem.
After three months or so, all the fat (IME) gets absorbed into the rind, so it's not really different from a natural rind.
In any case, I don't really see the point. Cloth wrapping is a PITA to do, and IME even though you get a more "interesting" series of molds, I can't taste any difference in the finished product. The only advantage I see to banding is that after removing it, there's no mold to remove. :)
-L
What a nice cheeses! And thank you for the hints.
I take that repressing after bandaging is a must? I'm not sure but i think we did that...
I rub the lard on the cheese and then put a layer of cloth on and repeat that 3 times. I've never tried repressing. I suppose it helps form the nice rind. I might try that way next time.
Always something new to learn.
has anyone got a knack for bandaging with muslin /lard and then trying to repress without pulling all the cloth off? I'm sure its something very simple but i have given up trying.
I repressed when I did mine then ran the mold under hot water for a second to loosen from the mold.
I don't know that it's a good idea to repeatedly smear a cheese with lard and wrap it in cheesecloth.
-R
This is how I bandage my Cheddars.
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13778.0.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13778.0.html)
If you wish you can put the cheese back into the mold and repress for 24 hours after you have put the first layer on and then add further layers for more protection. I normally do three layers and find that moisture buildup is basically nil.