I notice the site hasn't got a recipe for Cheshire cheese, so as I made one 5 days ago, I thought I'd put my recipe up here. I'll add photos when I get round to sorting my camera out.
Cheshire Cheese
3 Imp. galls. whole milk, pasteurised; 2 ozs single cream; 4 ozs creme fraiche; a generous 1/2 tsp Calc. Chlor. and the same of animal rennet; 2 1/2 tbs salt. 6" x 5" mould.
1. Put milk, cream and creme fraiche in pot, mix for a minute and raise temp. to 86F/30C. Cover and hold for 30 mins, with the pot covered in towels or a blanket.
2. Add Calc. Chlor., and mix, raise temp. to 86F again, cover, hold and blanket for 10 mins.
3. Add rennet and mix. Raise temp. to 86F again, cover, hold and blanket for 45 mins, or until a clean break is reached.
4. Cut curd into 1/2 inch pieces. Let stand for 5 mins, then take off whey until the curds can be seen just below the level of the whey.
5. Cook curds, raising temp. gradually to 90F/32C over an hour. Stir gently and intermittently for 50 mins. That is, an hour all told; 50 mins of intermittent stirring and 10 mins of pitching/settling.
6. Cover and blanket for 40 mins.
7. Pitch curds and pour off whey, retaining curds in pot.
8. Let curds cake at bottom of pot for 30 mins and press down with hand at 10 min intervals to aid the whey flow. Maintain temp.
9. Tip off rest of whey, keeping curd cake whole, then cut curd into equal fist-sized chunks. Return to pot. Raise temp. to 90F/32C again. Cover and blanket for 3 hours. Check temp. every so often and heat pot if it drops.
10. Tip off any whey in the pot and tear chunks into 1" pieces and salt in the pot.
11. Press into cheesecloth lined mould and add weight at 14lb for 30 mins. Turn cheese, adjust cloth and weight at 28lbs for 30 mins.
12. Turn cheese, adjust cloth and press at between 56 - 60lbs for 16 hours. Take off cloth, turn cheese and put back in press at the same press weights for 3 hours to get rid of cloth marks.
13. Salt cheese all over with 1 tsp salt and dry on cheese mat/rack at room temp., under gauze, for a day. Next day wipe off brine and return to drying at room temp. for 7 to 10 days, depending on when the rind, bottom and top, feels dry to the touch and there's no more seepage of whey. Turn once a day.
14. Then either bandage cheese and age at 60F/16C for 2 months and up to a year, turning cheese daily for three months then twice a week up until time of eating, OR don't bandage, but leave to develop a natural rind with the same aging conditions as a bandaged one.
I prefer a white Cheshire, but some people colour it with annatto. Originally, Cheshires made beyond Cheshire's borders had to be coloured and that was done either with carrot juice or beetroot juice.
Thanks for the recipe, fied. Now, looking forward to some pics. :)
Also, updates on the affinage, as you go.
-Boofer-
Thanks for that fied! Might have to give that a go in a few weeks when I have some room in my cave again.
- Jeff
The only point you need to watch is the first part of 13, where I salt the cheese. That's because any cheese in Glasgow will grow blue mould when left out to dry, so I get it before it starts. Your local conditions may not need it, though I suppose it helps to form the rind early, too.
The other issue is that I press relatively lightly for hard English cheeses as I like them crumbly. You may want to press as recommended for Cheddars on this forum.
I also left out a step at 12, so I've made the addition to the recipe now.
A photo of the Cheshire 4 days into drying off:
Some cheeses currently being used: right back, the Cheshire; right front, the remains of a Feta make from a month ago; left front, Fromage Blanc made with the remains of the creme fraiche and cream from the recent Cheshire make. I'll be making a 'Liptauer-type' cheese spread with the Fromage Blanc- dill pickles and spring onion, finely chopped, olive oil instead of butter, finely grated cheddar instead of chopped anchovies and paprika to taste.
Left back is the last half wheel of an experimental Cheddar, also a 3 gall. make. I was wondering how farmers aged their hard cheeses before the age of refrigeration and without cool caves, so decided to bandage and age this one at ambient late summer temperatures in an outside coolish cupboard (c.16-19C) to see how far it would go. It's 3 months old, tastes sharp and nutty, with some depth of flavour. It doesn't have the full mellowness or complexity of a year-old Cheddar caved at 10-12C, but is passable and tasty. The family seems to like it. I also didn't bother with humidity pans as Glasgow's ambient humidity is quite high for most of the year, usually around 70%. You'll also note the thickening of the rind, so I judged it needed to be eaten now rather than have a thicker rind develop. I would do this again, but will also go back to ageing at the right temperature/humidity for longer for a more complex taste. Those made for ageing I usually wax when they're about a month - 6 weeks old and free of mould. If I were making 20lb cheeses for ageing, I'd probably just bandage and age as is, but these smaller cheeses need extra help to stop the rind from thickening too much:
Quote from: fied on October 06, 2011, 03:35:38 PM
A photo of the Cheshire 4 days into drying off:
Good-looking cheese. Well done.
-Boofer-
Looks great. Ageing at higher temps and improper humidity are my specialty! Actually my temp is about right, humidity is about 60. Your rind will stop about where it's at, the rest will age a bit quicker than would under ideal conditions, for this reason you can get pretty good flavor development at 2 months. Recently opened up some 6 month gouda's, rich and caramel like, and already hints of crystals. Those normally take 18-24 months. I did sample lots of gouda that was aged at ambient temp and humidity for 18 months and it was better than heaven. I'd imagine your ambient temp and humidity would be more ideal than mine. I could see it suiting your cheese well.
That's a great looking collection of cheese fied! Nice.
- Jeff
Many thanks, people. On quick-ageing Cheddars at ambient temp/RH, it's good to know that the rind wouldn't have thickened more. I envisaged eating cheese rind only in 6 months!
One other thing: Still experimenting and for the only time, I used my great-grandma's metal, screw-top cheese press for the Cheddar. Result? I buckled the follower and bottom plate and some of the soldering on the bottom rim sprang while I was trying to keep up the pressure. Lesson learned? Don't use antiques for cheesemaking unless you know what you're doing. I'm guessing that these presses were only used for semi-firm table cheeses. I did manage to get quite a pressure on the Cheddar, though; at least, the texture of the paste is about right.
Hi fied, Quick question. In step 5
5. Cook curds, raising temp. gradually to 90F/32C over an hour. Stir gently and intermittently for 50 mins.
is that covering 1 hour 50 min, or is the 50 min stirring part of the 1 hour cooking time?
Thinking I might make this soon. Thanks.
- Jeff
Hi,
Well, I'm giving it a go. I'm making a 10 L batch. I think 3 UK gallons works out to about 14 L. The 2 oz would be around 60 ml, which is around 40 ml for a 10 L batch. I think I over poured and have about 100 ml of cream, but that should be ok.
I'm working on the assumption that the 50 minutes of stirring during the hour of cooking is the same time period. Also, not having Creme Fresh for a starter, I've used 2 ice cubes of buttermilk starter and 1 cube of Flora Danica.
Will post my entire make notes once it's in the press.
- Jeff
The one hour and the 50 minutes are different time periods. When cooking a cheese, you take a certain amount of time to gradually get it up to working temperature, and then hold it at that temperature for another designated time. This gives the starter bacteria time to acidify, expels whey, and firms the curds according to the style of cheese.
Thanks Sailor. Will do that then. I was tossing back and forth between them being the same and different times. Yesterday I thought different times, today, while making it I went for same time. Flip flop goes the clock, or something like that. :)
- Jeff
Sorry Jeff, I've been away for a few days and have just got back.
"5. Cook curds, raising temp. gradually to 90F/32C over an hour. Stir gently and intermittently for 50 mins."
That is, an hour all told; 50 mins of intermittent stirring and 10 mins of pitching/settling. I should have been much clearer in the recipe, so will alter it now.
Thanks fied!
I did them as separate times when I made it yesterday. I suppose I've increased the acidity, so it will be much more crumbly. But that's ok, I like crumbly cheese. Then again, the whey was still pretty sweet tasting, so it didn't seem overly acidic.
- Jeff
Cheshire ready to be caved. I'll leave it to develop a natural rind for 2 or 3 weeks, then wax it:
Nice! I can only hope mine goes so well. It's fairly dry already, and will probably end up in the cave tomorrow. Will see how it goes.
- Jeff
Looks great, fied!
Can you tell me where you got that 6"x5" mould?
-Boofer-
The mould's the dreaded PVC food grade piping - 6" diameter. Prior to using it for cheese, it was put into near boiling water with a handful of ordinary washing soda for 20 mins.
I'll have to try this cheese over the winter when my cheesemaking classes are all done. That looks really good - thanks for sharing the recipe and photos, Fied.
You're welcome, Karen.
One other pre-make point I forgot to add in: as I use cultured creme fraiche as a starter, the night before the make, I mix the amount I want to use in a mug of the cheese milk and leave it on the counter; in winter I stand it near the kitchen boiler. By morning, it's usually thickened up. I also do the same with yoghurt when I need a thermo. starter.
The current Cheshire ready to cut at Christmas. I left it to develop a natural rind:
Looks good! All the best to you and your family for the Christmas holidays and New Year! Looking forward to seenig how this one has turned out and a taste report. I'm thinking of aging mine out 4 to 6 months, so it will be a bit of time before I get a chance to try it.
- Jeff
Happy New Year, Jeff!
I was going to take a photo of the cut cheese, but the household gannets beat me to it and now there are only crumbs and a piece of rind left. The taste was fine - tangy and nutty, with some depth. The texture was just right - chunky and creamy with a smooth bite. I'd made some redcurrant, red pepper and chili jelly to go with it, but I've just noticed that's mostly gone, too. I assume, in the face of the great silence, that I did something right with this one!
Congrats, fied! Job well done.
What's next for the new year?
-Boofer-
More Cheddar types, I think. Perhaps a Gouda and some of the sharp, fresh goat cheeses. Chaource types might be interesting, too.
Fied,
Your Cheshire looks very nice. I have a Cheshire after your recipe air drying now and am going to try another one this weekend. The temp of my milk started off high with the first one as the milk didn't cool off as much as I expected after milking before adding the culture. I will try to rectify that with the next make. I so much appreciate your posting of the recipe with pictures.
Happy New Year Fied!
The speed at which a cheese dissappears indicates its quality. It sounds like this one was an outstanding success! I've got the one I've made locked down for extended storage, maybe 6 to 8 months. We'll see. This report is going to make that resolution harder to keep. How long have you aged this make? Does it age well? It looks to be one that should.
- Jeff
I aged it for three months, Jeff, and was surprised at how quickly the flavour developed. I usually age for six months or more.
Let us know how your cheese turns out, Cloversmilk. If you're using raw milk, you might need less rennet than I've used, but as long as you're around the 20 min. floc. time, it should be fine.
Here's the Cheshire after coming out of the press. I think it has the smoothest surface of any cheese I've made. It certainly feels denser than my Goudas and Montasios. It weighed in at 4 lbs 10 oz coming out of the press and has lost an oz overnight.
My floc times have been so slow this winter that I've been using a little extra rennet. This is the second Jersey I've milked. Her milk varies seasonally more than that of my first Jersey. Overall it is great for cheese as it is somewhat naturally homogenized.
It's looking good. Let us know how it ages.
Very nice looking wheel. Well done.
- Jeff
Just opened...a cheshire from fied's recipe. I have 3 of these aging in wax, all made at the beginning of January. The wax was loose on the bottom side of two of them, so I opened one to figure out what was going on. It turned out that it had released some moisture after waxing. There wasn't really moisture buildup, but the cheese felt damp. Of course, once that it was open, it had to be tasted.... And it tastes very good indeed. ;D It is creamy and crumbly all at once in the special way that a good cheddar has. It is still quite mild. I am surprised that it released more moisture. While it was air drying, the air in the house had been quite dry and it had developed some surface cracks. These were no longer evident. Thank you fied!
That looks very good! I've heard only good things about fied's make, so I'm looking forward to when I cut into mine.
- Jeff
That's a great looking cheshire! A cheese for you!