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Hi, guys!

Ian, I flip my cheese a couple of times a day, once in the morning & evening when I get home.  I don't really do anything with the other cheeses, though.  The only thing I really have done apart from the flipping, is wash the tomme rind. 

Jeff,  I'm heartened to hear I'm not the only one! 

Darius, since you don't mind the hi-jack...I'll post a pic of the other Caerphilly for comparison, the one without the powdery stuff, on the UGLY side of the Caerphilly world this is what happened...

Photo 1: the watery top/bottom part, it's white where the seepage is happening & seems to be a tad soft on that part when I press lightly.  On the other hand...

Photo 2: the rest of it has a pretty nice rind going but for the crack on it! (it's not really that dark yellow..just realized after I uploaded it & checked my camera settings, my daughter changed it to "vivid")

I don't even know if this little dude is salvageable or not.  There's also a speck of bluish mold growing on it that I've cleaned up.  Got a lot of not-so-desirable things happening all at once, poor thing is sickly!

My Caerphillies are jealous of yours, their prettier cousin! 

(edit: Oops! Forgot to load the pics)

Steph,

I have the white on mine too note the picture here , I think you are safe with that.  I had some blue show up, I just washed with a salt brine and it was gone. 
How are you for humidity? You might be ripening your cheese in an area that is too dry, that could cause the crack.  My recipe says you should have it at 50F and 85% humidity.

Fixed the link

Hey, Ian!

It seems to be a common occurrence, at least, so I'm ok now.  Panic averted!  I wiped all my cheese down first thing (well, second..after I made breakfast for the kids..see where my priorities lie? before I even had my breakfast!). 

In the AM, the temp in my cave is exactly 50F, humidity always hovers at the 80% mark (I might add a bowl of water in there to see if it goes up any).  In the evening, though, for some reason, the temp spikes up to 55F!  I've seriously thought of getting a wine fridge so my hubby can rig it up to a constant temp & humidity.  I really wanted to rely on just my natural environment (the cellar), in the summer it stays 55F there even if it's 100+ outside.  But if the humidity never gets up past 80%, I don't think I'm doing my cheeses any justice. 

Now I'm stoked... look at these pictures of Gorwydd Caerphilly!
http://trethowansdairy.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/bidding-fond-farewell-to-winter-cheeses/ 
http://trethowansdairy.wordpress.com/2010/11/28/gorwydd-caerphilly-wins-best-welsh-cheese/

Murray's Cheese carries it... I may have to order some to see what caerphilly should taste like!
http://www.murrayscheese.com/prodinfo.asp?number=20031200000

Looks good.  The rind would develope with the longer aging.  I see in the last link they age them 3-5 months and they are 8 lbs or 3.6 kg wheels.  Might have to make one for longer aging and see what happens.  Apparently there is a small cheese company here in New Zealand that also makes caerphilly, but I think it's in the South Island and I can't find any here.  Must search again.

- Jeff

I cut my lemongrass caerphilly today. It's rather crumbly and will get vac-packed and go back in the cave. The dried lemongrass gave it very little taste, which is pretty much as I expected.

I am a bit envious of your willingness to experiment with falvours, That looks like a nice cheese.  I put my Caerphilly back in the Vacuum Bag and the two parts knitted back togeather.

Looks good by the way

Hi darius,

That does look like a really nice cheese.  The texture looks really good.  I've read that caerphilly is often crumbly, so I think you're getting it right with this make.   I've only a few small pieces of my two caerphilles left, so I'll probably have to make another soon.   Hmm, would be a good time for me to do so as I have a few other cheeses comming online relatively soon so I could try aging one a few months to see what happens.

- Jeff

My friends from Maryland just stopped by for a short visit. I gave them a taste of the Caerphilly w/thyme, and they raved about it, so I sent one quarter of the small wheel home with them, and half the larger wheel of Caerphilly w/lemongrass (which was cold and they didn't sample). I also gave them some of the first Lanc, which they liked a lot, just not as much as the thyme Caerphilly.

Guess I need to make more Caerphilly with thyme!

Sounds like that one is a grand success.  I've decided my Sage Wendslydale is a great cooking cheese, just not not one for nibbling on.  It melts fantastically, and goes great on potatoes.  So, I might try herbs in the cheese again.  If I do, thyme caerphilly is at the top of my list I think.  Well done.

- Jeff

I am glad your cheese were a success, I am still hesitant to add herbs to my cheeses.  I am not that adventurous, little wine, but herbs....
we just finished the Caerphilly we made in February, the family liked it.

Ian, just bite the bullet and do it!

In the last 3 days I have made 2 more Caerphilly batches of 2 gallons each. One I did with dried thyme, about a teaspoon and a half... the other I used dried Herbs de Provençe from a sample I just got from Glengarry.

Darius, do you incorporate the thyme thoroughly or just in the middle, avoiding the sides?  I'm making a couple of Caerphillies this week, one plain & I'm thinking of doing a thyme one, as well.  I've been hesitant about adding anything to my cheeses yet, apart from the feta (I've added red pepper flakes a few times).  I do have a tomme sitting in merlot & marc right now..but, other than that, I'm chicken.  I've decided to follow your advise & add bite the bullet!

I just mix it in thoroughly along with the salt before putting it in the mold.

HTH

I just ate the last piece of the first Thyme Caerphilly I made March 12. It was great at 4-6 weeks but at 8 weeks the thyme is overpowering. IIRC, I used a tablespoon of dried thyme to a single gallon batch.

I have 2 more in the cave, made of 2 gallon batches with a tablespoon and a half of thyme each batch. That may still be too  strong if they age more than 6 weeks.