Here's some pics of my first cheddar cheese from 200 easy
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0221.jpg)
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0222.jpg)
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0223.jpg)
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0224.jpg)
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0225.jpg)
200lbs of weight
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0226.jpg)
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0227.jpg)
(http://www.interiorhobbies.com/mmIH/Images/smoker/img_0228.jpg)
Very nice! Love the pics of your cheddaring process!
I just got a tabletop roaster similar to yours and can't wait to try it out!
Nice looking cheese. Love your mold! How long do you plan to age it?
Susan
Thanks SGW and Susan
I am going to let the cheese age about 2 weeks in the cave, then vacum seal and let it age for 6 months in the cave
or as long as I can wait ;D
Good luck! My first 2 cheddars are still in the cave and are 5 months old. I am torn between opening them up to see how they taste at this age (of if they are even edible! :o). But I don't want to interrupt the aging process if they are going to be fantastic at... say 1 year!!! So while I try to decide, it continues to age.
Susan
Susan, not sure this helps (I have a horrible impatience problem - hope I can cool my jets, after the first blush of cheesemaking aged cheeses wears back to "normalcy"), but have you thought about a trier of some sort, even an apple corer? I've found it helpful to do a kind of horizontal tasting of my wheels, across time (only done this on my tommes, so far), and have found I don't seem to interrupt or otherwise mess up any aging, so long as I'm careful to reseal the hole properly.
Mike, beautiful wheel - congratulations!
I would love to try it. But just don't know how to do that. I was worried I would mess with the aging. How do you 'plug up the hole'? That really has no effect on aging? I considered quartering the wheel and resealing then using them at different ages. But I know this will create aging issues. But still might do it.
Susan
With a trier, you take out a plug of the cheese and just try the inside end of it - say a half inch. Then the rest of the plug goes back in the hole to plug it up. Never done it myself, but that is my understanding.
Mike, that looks great! How big is it? You may want to age it in the cave longer than two weeks before vacuum sealing it, but if you do, just watch for a buildup of moisture in the vac bag.
I have to say that I get a jolt when I see cheese and curds that have had annatto added to them. I started out coloring my cheeses because that is what my family was used to, but I gradually weaned them off of colored cheese and now all of my cheeses are varying shades of white.