Hello All!
I'm still new to this and I still love making (and eating) cheese! I've made a farmers cheese from pressed curds (raw milk), a delicious soft garlic (hom. milk) and olive oil "Rondelet-style" cheese, labneh (raw), and yoghurt (raw). Today I am making a stirred cheddar. My greatest challenge is a way to age it at least a little. I dont know what to do about a cave and my fridge is too cold. Can I oil it? If so, how. Or can I brine it? I love you cheese folks.
p.s. how do I update my cheese status?
Mauricia- You really need to have an aging area that can maintain a temperature of around 45-52F for cheddar as well as ~85-90% humidity. You will definitely want to age for at least 90 days to develop flavor profile. As far a coating the wheel, this is for long term aging to prevent the wheel from getting to dry. You can use any of the choices you mentioned- they will all work and will alter the results of your final product as far as texture and flavor are concerned.
I can recommend bandage wrapping and coating with butter. However you'll have to butter it once a month, but that's not a big deal. I did a Lancashire that way, aged it in the fridge, and it was great at 60 days. Had a second wheel that went 4 months.
Thanks so much for the feedback. SmilingCalico, can you give me a bit "how to" on the wrap with butter aging in my fridge. My fridge is currently about 32 deg, and I dont know what the humidity is. How do you get a cheese cave?
Lol, I can tell you the wrong way, which actually worked great for me. Actually, a more correct way is to rub a light coat on the cheese, then smear a little on the cloth. Wrap the cheese, then a final coat on the outside. A couple notes. The cheesecloth is usually cut into two circles for the flat sides, and a strip that wraps around the mid section. Be sure the circles are big enough to hang over the edges so the band goes over them them. Use melted butter so it soaks into the bandage.
The wrong way is to press the cheese well until the cheesecloth is dry to the touch (over night or longer). It should be pressed well against the cheese, and any overlap should be well pressed in too. Then simply apply the melted butter. Again, it's the "wrong way" but super effective. You can use this method best when you are actually making the cheese that you know you intend to bandage.