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Looks great Mal. Have another cheese. Agreed that labeling is somewhat pointless at times. I just love the nut based products which have a warning 'Contains nuts'. 

Shane

Thanks everyone for the cheeses it really is very encouraging   Make me want to get better.. Doing my first washed rind today 

Nice work work and details Mal! Here's another cheese

Out of interest Mal, do you find the annatto lightens with age? I made a small cheddar a while back which was overdosed with annatto, but 3 months later it didn't look so bad.

Shane

I've found that the colour deepens - on the rind anyway - as it dries but as I cloth bandage my Cheddars I sort of loose where the colour way. If you're too worried about 'over dosing' the colour check this out - mimolette.

Colour is cool.

-- Mal

I think I got pretty close to that.  I've attached a before and after. The after is a little hard to tell as it is shrink wrapped, but it seems much less Oompa Loompa like.

Shane

I see what you mean.  I didn't realise you had Vacbagged it.  The colour will lessen the more moisture is drawn out of the cheese but will deepen when it dries out like 1.

Nice looking cheese.  I see why your bagged it as leaving it natural will dry out before maturing is complete.  A cheese though for a fine looking cheddar.

-- Mal

Thanks Mal. It was more bagged due to laziness. It was waxed originally, and there was a thread about it's effects on my dishwasher.  At 3 months I cut it in half and started eating it. It was far too mild, so it went back into the cave. I noticed that there was a hole in the wax and a small deposit of mould. I removed all the wax and cleaned it up. I then went away for surgery and when I managed to get back to take a look it was a mould paradise. I scrubbed it again with brine and bagged it at that point. It's presently 5 months old. I'll wait another month and try it again.

I'm thinking of making another larger cheddar based on your recipe as they always look great. I might even try bandaging, but I'll have to mature in a ripening container as I just can't get high enough humidity within my cave to prevent it from drying out too much. I'll make another thread about it at a later date as I'm unsure on starter cultures. I'm not sure I have what you've used.

Shane

A cheese as well Shane.  Just curious but has anyone tried using stretch-wrap or saran for cheese?  You would think that it whould give a nice (moderate but not occlusive) oxygen barrier, maybe .  I also wonder if it would create less wrinkles in softer cheeses and provide enough O2 exchange to prevent the accumulation of water on the cheese surfaces that you often get with vacuum bagging.  I've learned to love vac bagging but the drawbacks make me want to find some middle-of-the-road solution that gives good results without the drawbacks.

Putting my money cheese where my mouth is I had a 2 mo. Gruyere in the cave and thought I would wrap it with the stretch poly. Will see what transpires.

Thanks John. It wasn't really a thread about my cheddar though. 

Danbo posted once about a semi permeable plastic wrap for cheese. It looked like it was only for commercial use. I'm not sure he got any answers on it. Maybe ask him.

Shane

Edit: Here is a link to the product
https://www.dsm.com/content/dam/dsm/foodandbeverages/en_US/documents/Pack-Age_Leaflet_A4_UK_low.pdf

Quote from: Shane on April 08, 2015, 09:36:54 AM
Thanks John. It wasn't really a thread about my cheddar though. 

Oops  .  Apologies to you and Mal.   Had a couple of posting boo-boos lately.  Think it's something in my cheese  .

Ahhh ! It's all here to share

All tucked away - Brother count of 4 (three Musketeers) - Wedgie on the right

I'm going to have to do another of these.  Timing is right for running out of the last one i did when it's ripe.  Does that make sense?

Sure  .  to any one else but those here - it wouldn't make sense - make perfect sense BTW.

-- Mal