Looking for a recipe for Lancashire cheese. Seems like the perfect cheese for those of us limited to 2 gallon batches. I know it calls for meso and thermo cultures, but that's as much as I've been able to determine. One producer speaks of Ph, but doesn't give details (naturally). Anybody find any good recipe books in the public domain on Google books?
I found the book, Dairying: a book for all who are engaged in the production & management of milk By John Prince Sheldon, on Google Books. It seems to have a pretty thourough description of the make, though a bit difficult to understand/vague at times. I'll keep trying to find something more, though since I've got 6 gallons of milk at my disposal, I'll give something a shot.
Smiling, if you Search the forum on "Lancashire" you'll find a couple recipe threads and some videos and a tread on Floc Multiplier, but I couldn't see any pH markers.
pH "markers" are generally a personal preference and not an absolute. What you need to focus on is how to alter your cheeses at various points during a make. TONS of info throughout the forum.
Thanks Guys,
I did a search on the forum previously, but didn't quite find what I was looking for (I felt like Bono). I'll try to look a little more diligently. I went ahead and started making the cheese before I even found the book I referenced. Unfortunately it looks like I cooked the curds too long, as the book says not to cook them at all. Anyhow, I'm still going forward, have my second 2 gallons going now. In the end, if it doesn't turn out, no harm, no foul, the milk is FREE!! If once I find the recipes and see they're significantly different from what I'm using, I'll post it.
OK, so after I got to read up on the cheese in the book I referenced in this thread, the ebook will no longer open for me. I'm asking Google to see about the fix, but in the meantime I'll report what I did and what I can remember.
The recipes I saw on the site here were quite different from the recipe I found from 1909, so I decided to give the older one a try.
THE STORY
The book noted that the farmers sold so much of their milk that the wives never had enough to make a wheel of cheese, so the wives made curds on 3 succeeding days, then combined the curds on the third day to make one full wheel.
THE MAKE
According to the book, after making the curds, you simply cut them, heal for a short time, then pitch the curds (in more simple terms let them sink to the bottom) and remove the whey. Leave them in a pot covered with cloth, at room temperature, sitting in whatever whey they release, until ready to combine. The second day gets the same treatment, and those curds get their own pot. Finally on the third day, make the curds in the same way, only this time, combine all three batches. As you are milling the curd you'll release a lot of whey which you'll need to remove before salting. After salting, press the curds.
WHAT I DID
2 gallons milk heated to 85°f.
Added 1/8 teaspoon of meso and 1/8 teaspoon of thermo cultures
Allowed milk to ripen at same temperature for 30 minutes.
I then added 1ml of double strength rennet diluted in water. Let sit for 30 minutes before cutting.
I cut in 1 inch cubes, though book said the horizontal cut was optional.
Allowed to heal for 5 minutes, followed by a 5 minute stir.
I then pitched the curds and drained the whey.
THE THIRD DAY
I did the standard make, then mixed the three batches together while milling by hand. I added 1/2 teaspoon salt per pound, estimated curds to be 6 pounds.
Lined molds with cheese cloth, filled with curds, began light press of 5 pounds for 15 minutes. I was going to redress curds and flip, but found the first one to be a bit crumbly, so I said forget it and left the cloth on, merely flipping.
Increased weight to 15 pounds for 15 minutes, then flipped and pressed at 30 pounds for an hour. I flipped once more and pressed for 12 hours at 100 pounds.
I decided to skip redressing with dry cloth as the pressing really sealed the cloth on nicely, and it was relatively dry, so I melted butter and sealed the cloth bound cheeses with it.
SIDE NOTES
I did cook the first nights curds because I didn't know better at the time.
The first curds are pretty rank and acidic by the third day, but the idea is that the third days curds really evens out the acidity of the first two days. The cheese was traditionally bandage wrapped and sealed with butter, and I really wanted to see how well that works. I think it went well overall. The sour smell of the first days curd was gone by the end of pressing, and I hope the butter provides a touch of flavor. Oh, the molds were two 7 inch tomme molds.
Thanks for posting this, calico, but I really can't imagine making cheese over a three day period right now. Lancashire will have to wait.
Karen,
Contemporary Lancashire recipes are really fast and easy and do NOT take 3 days. I use the one from "200 Easy Cheese Recipes". Lancashire is really good even at 60 days, and one of my favorite cheddar styles.
Calico - did you really seal with butter right out of the press without draining and drying first ????????
I know making 3 days in a row is a pain, but for me, it was worth it. I wanted a bigger wheel from the same equipment that I have at home, which only allows me to do 2 gallons at a time. This traditional recipe was perfect for me. Yes, sailor, I did. My logic, which has been incorrect more than once, was as stated above, that though the cloth was not perfectly dry, it was quite dry, and would likely pick up that much moisture after sealing if it was a new cloth. Also, from the pressing, it fit the cheese like a glove. The cheese had pressed for 12 hours at 100 pounds and was not expelling any more whey. What issues do you foresee? Oh, lastly, my milk is free, so to me, even if the cheese is hideous, I've learned something, and the whole experience is a positive.
This is NOT how you do "bandaged" cheeses. The cloth may have felt dry but it definitely was not.
I'm no expert on bandage wrapping, Sailor. This is my first time. I read some posts on it and got a few different views on how to do it. When I saw how it looked and felt I decided to go for it. It may well prove to be a huge mistake. I'll be sure to post as time goes on. I plan on ageing for 3 months, so unless things start going horribly wrong, I won't post much further here unless to document disaster (of course if it is successful, I'll post that too). I'll look at the bandage posts again specifically for your input, as I know you give great advice.
Sailor, I did use the recipe from "200 Easy Cheese Recipes" but didn't get a good knit at all with the curd. I was also puzzled by the recipe because on a thread I read on the forum it said that Lancashire is not cheddared, but the stacking of the curd in the recipe sure sounds like cheddaring to me.
Karen,
Lancashire is cheddared, but for a fraction of the time used for a true cheddar. With cheddar, part of the goal is to remove a lot of residual whey and build up acidity to a pH of around 5.4. This can take quite a while depending on the culture that you use. When the pH is right the slabs will have a texture like BBQ'd chicken. Then you mill and salt to stop acidification, hoop, and press.
Lancashire is an uncooked, moist curd cheese. You want to end up with a semi-hard, creamy cheese, so you only cheddar for a short time. I flip every 15 minutes for no more than an hour. Then you mill and salt. BUT, and here's the big difference, because of the shorter cheddaring time, the cheese does not build up the same acidity - say 5.9 to 6.0. As a result, the cheese will have a much softer texture than a cheddar. And because of the higher pH and moisture content, Lancashire ages much quicker. As I said, really good even at 60 days. Lancashire probably hits it's peak before 90 days, so I don't consider it a candidate for bandaging anyway.
After salting, I hoop and press instead of letting it stand overnight. I use light pressure (like a Gouda), and I get a fabulous curd knit. I don't feel that is cutting corners, because the salt has already stalled acid production anyway. I am VERY pleased with the results.
For others following this post, Sailor is undoubtedly correct about the recipe from 200 cheeses being good at 60 days and peaking at 90. If you choose to follow the lengthy 3 day method, you may still choose to bandage it and age for 3 months. This is the TRADITIONAL method. Ageing for 3 months will give you what is labeled as Creamy Lancashire. Ageing for 6 months is labeled as Tasty Lancashire.
Thanks, Sailor, I think I will go with what you do and press it right away instead of sitting overnight before pressing. That's probably why mine looks like barely knit cubes of Knox Blox!
My Knox Blox are slightly more stuck together, but not by much.
Smiling, I was GOING to press mine that night, but I fell asleep. Ack. And then I had to press it in the unheated dining room since I don't have clear access to the kitchen on Sundays - it had been on a shelf in my closet, probably around 70 degrees, and then went into the press in the 50-or-so-degree dining room. So other than already being too dry, the cold certainly didn't help the knit. I went ahead and vac'd it after a few days air-drying - all those crevices made me nervous. Next one I'll put straight into the press per Sailor's method. I do very much like the idea of a cheddar-like substance that's good right at 60 days (or even 30, according to Easy Cheeses).
(Not sure if I'm guilty of hijacking here, but thought it was better to not have two threads going on the same subject in the same timeline? Sorry if I'm wrong.)
George, I think you stole my Lancashire! Mine is still in the ripening container and isn't looking too bad. Surprisingly enough, it has only developed a slight fuzz occasionally and I've been able to remove it with salt and vinegar.
I'll use Sailor's method next time, too.
Hi-
I think this cheese will be fun to do, I'm planing to use this recipe that I found on the forum to do the Lancashire cheese
Lancashire cheese
Ingredients:
1 gallon of whole milk
½ pint of active buttermilk
4 oz. plain active yogurt ( I used Danon)
1 oz. kosher salt
Rennet
Procedure:
Bring milk up to 88°F or 31°C
Shake up the buttermilk and add it to the milk and stir vigorously.
Take some milk and mix well with the yougurt then add to the the pot.
Mix rennet per instructions add to the milk and stir well.
Cover and leave for 90 minutes at 88°F or 31°C until a clean break is achieved.
Once a clean break is achieved cut the curds into 1/4 inch cubes.
Gently slide lift the curds upwards so that they turn over, cutting any big ones that you find.
Leave the curds covered at 88°F or 31°C for 30 minutess.
After 30 minutes the curds should have sunk below the whey. Drain of the whey until it is just covering the curds and leave it sit for another 30 minutes stirring gently so they don' t matt together.
Put some cheese cloth into the colander and gently scoop the curds into the colander to drain.
Tie the corners and hang curds to drain for 30 minutes.
Press this for two hours at about 10 pounds pressure.
Unwrap your curds and break up into cherry sized pieces then add the salt.
Place the curd in your mould and press with 10 pounds of pressure for several days turning at least 4 times the first day.
After three days the cheese can be removed from the mould and aged or eaten fresh. I recommend a minimum of 3 months - 6 months is better!
My question is:
The recipe says that it should be pressed for 3 days. Does the temperature of the room matters???
My house is usually 75F I don't know if I leave the cheese at that temperature for 3 days it will be spoil or to acid.
Quote from: MrsKK on February 25, 2011, 01:35:44 PM
George, I think you stole my Lancashire! Mine is still in the ripening container and isn't looking too bad. Surprisingly enough, it has only developed a slight fuzz occasionally and I've been able to remove it with salt and vinegar.
I'll use Sailor's method next time, too.
Depending on how much milk I get next week, I might do it again mid-week or so. At the moment I've got my first batch of cams bloomin' away, and a couple of bries (I got lazy a couple of weeks ago and wanted really fast makes). So other than trying to get up a stash of cheddars (flavored or no), another Lancashire seems the best way to go right now. While I would dearly love to start trying to duplicate those Stiltons, I'm still afraid of the pervasive p. roqueforti everywhere - or at least not till I sterilize my cave from the LAST batch!
I'll keep ya posted. No pun intended. ;D
To any one here. I am wondering what the yogurt, a thermophilic culture, brings to the cheese aging and flavor profile since we don't ever raise the temperature into the higher range to get it active.
Hey Steam, I believe I recall reading that the thermophilic is active albeit more slowly, and that it can work better in higher acidity than mesophilic can. Anybody, correct me if I'm not recalling correctly.
I replied in the other thread where you asked this. The Lancashire recipe doesn't call for yogurt, the culture is either mesophilic or buttermilk...
MrsKK, if you look back in this thread, the recipe I made my Lancashire from is an old traditional Lancashire, and includes both meso and thermo cultures.
Sorry, I read your question in the other thread first and looked back at the recipe on that one!
I think you got a pretty good answer from Sailor on the other thread.
I'll post pics soon of this, but as I just spent a half hour typing and adding pics on my phone, all to have it disappear, I'll just do a quick write up here.
I was going to hold out till the 7th this month to unwrap the cheese, but I just couldn't wait! There was a fair bit of blue mold and geo on the cloth (which I'd buttered a second time on it's 30th day). Underneath I found the same blue mold on the rind, but happily it went no further.
The rind was thin. There were no surface cracks whatsoever. The paste inside was also perfectly knit. The texture was moist for the most part, with just a hint of dry. I don't have another Lancashire to compare this to, so I don't know if I'm spot on or not. I couldn't see it in the photo's but up close, you could see at least 2 different days worth of curds (remember it was a three day make).
As for taste, there's a quick hit of cheddar tang, which mellows fast, but the finish is long and creamy. This was from goats milk, but I didn't notice any goatiness (though I like that taste, so may not have noticed it).
I don't regret having improperly bandaged it. I think it turned out quite well. I will try a proper bandage next time however, to see if I can keep the blue from growing under the cloth in the first place.
All in all I'd say it was a successful make. Perhaps I'll post again when I decide to open the second wheel. I still recommend this cheese to the home cheesemaker who doesn't have the equipment to make a larger wheel all in one shot. And judging by the way the three day old curds smelled, to how the cheese tastes now, it's very forgiving!
Thanks to all who've been following this thread!
1. Clothbound and moldy
2. Unwrapping
3. Unwrapped, some mold on the rind
4. The inside
Quote from: smilingcalico on April 04, 2011, 05:38:59 AM
I was going to hold out till the 7th this month to unwrap the cheese, but I just couldn't wait!
You know, I was going to noodge you about this to find out how it was, but then I went back to the beginning of the thread and realized you said you were going to wait 3 months, so resigned myself to waiting along with you. So is it inappropriate to say I'm glad you jumped the gun? ;D
Anyway - very happy it came out well. Someday I'll most likely get around to doing it your way with the 3-day curds - now that you've done all the experimenting for me. >:D
I have a second one still ageing, hopefully it will last 3 months! I am still practicing trying to get patience! I wish I could do the 3 day make at work, but with the make schedule, it would never work out. This'll have to be a special home make only.
I have lazily been eating through this cheese and finally took a picture that captures the mixed curds. The cheese, by the way, isn't yellow, that's the glow from the sun. This is goat milk, so the paste is actually white. I still have the second cheese from the make, and it'll probably not get opened for a while as I've been eating lots of Gouda and Feta.