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Hi,

Well, after discovering my 2nd Wensleydale was wet under the wax, I decided to make a replacement cheese.  I have a make protocol for Wensleydale that I want to try, but it looks to be an 8 hour make and I wanted to get out to the busker festival today.  So, Lancashire it was; also, this will be ready in a couple months, which is nice because I've got plenty of cheeses on long aging schedules for now.  Overall things went pretty smoothly.  This is a very basic make procedure, and like caerphilly, is a good one to start with.  Also ready pretty quick so you can see how things are going pretty quick and you don't need to have a large cave as you can be eating the rewards almost right away (well, in cheese time two months is almost right away! :)  ) Anyway, here's the notes so far.  Once it's out of the press tomorrow I'll update this with photos. 

- Jeff

Lancashire (Sunday, Jan 29, 2012; overcast, 18.6 C, low pressure)
10 L home brand standard
3 ice cubes ripened Tararau Buttermilk (mesophilic)
1/4 tsp 50% calcium chloride
0.6 ml rennet IMCU 750
2 tbsp cooking salt

1) Warm to 31.1 0C, stirring gently. Turn off heat. (started warming around 9:30 am; 4 litres boiling, 1 litre tap in lrg pot)
2) Add culture, (time: 9:45  temp: 30.1  oC; a bit early to melt the cubes)
3)  ripen for 45 minutes, at 31.1 0C. (start time: 9:46   end time: 10:31   start/end Temp: 31.4 - ??.? oC).
3) Add  ¼ tsp CaCl in egg cup of water (time 10:30 temp 31.7 oC).
4) Add rennet.  Time: 10:35:00 Temp 31.5 oC
         Floc time 14 min 00 sec.  Use 3.5x multiplier = 49 minutes 00 SEC.  Time to cut is : 11:24:00  )
5)  Cut curd into 1 CM pieces (good curd; time 11:26)
6) Let curds stand for 10 minutes to firm up. (START TIME : 11:34; temp 30.6 0C : placed in large pot with 34 C water: I've increased heal time from 5 to 10)
7) very gently stir (i.e. move) curds for 10 minutes until they release more whey, become firmer and float freely in the whey. (11:48 - 12:00)
8) Let settle about 15 minutes.(start 12:00  Temp  30.6  0C) increased to 15 minutes fr 5
9) Drain off whey through cloth-lined colander (12:15-12:35).
10) Move the cloth full of curds to pot and press down with your hand to knit them together. Twist the cheesecloth around the curd to expel some more whey and to help them knit.
11) Put the lid back on the pot and put pot in warm water to keep the curds warm. Let stand for 15 minutes. (12:39-12:54)
12 ) Turn the cake of curd over and hold for 15 more minutes. Start time (12:55-1:10)
13) Cut cake of curd in half and pile one piece on top of the other in the pot. Cover and hold for another 15 minutes. The two halves will knit together into one piece. (start time: 1:10-1:25) (dealing with ricotta)
14)  Mill into large lumps (size of large walnut) and add salt (start time 1:25 - 1:35)
15) Fill prepared mold with curds press at 10 kg (PSI 0.71) for 1 hour. (start 1:35 – 2:05; increased to 15 kg, 1.08 PSI & went out)
16) Remove from press, flip and re-dress the wheel of cheese. (4:20)
17) Press overnight at 35.2 kg (PSI 2.53). (start 4:25 pm removed 5:53am; 1420 g out of press) (excellent knit 15.5 cm diameter x 5.7 cm height; 1.32 g/cc)  Feels like it's retained more moisture than many other cheeses of late.

18) Air dry 3-5 days until dry to touch. Ripen 12-15 0C at 85 - 90% humidity for 4 to 8 weeks, depending upon your taste.
Moved to 10C cave 6:28 pm, Feb 2, 2012. 


Made ricotta with the whey.  Heat to 93.3 and add ¼ white vinegar (1:48) wait 5 minutes (1:53).  Got 302g after draining (not pressed) for 2.5 hours; added salt to 308g

And, here it is!  Very good knit this morning.  It's come in at over 1400g, which is heavier than most of my other cheeses lately.  It will be retained moisture, so I expect this one to lose a fair amount of weight in the first couple weeks. 

- Jeff

And indeed, over the first few days of air drying this one was dripping whey into the bowl sufficiently to leave a puddle.  It has dried out a fair bit, though, and isn't so water logged feeling.  The rind is starting to form up nicely now, so it will probably go spelunking tomorrow or the next day.

- Jeff

Hi,

Well, cut into this today.  It's now 8 weeks old (well, a day short, but I won't tell ... oh wait, I just did ....) and the flavour is really much stronger in this one than I've had before with this make.  It's very good.  As you can see, it's developed a fair amount of black spot, which I used to have a hard time with, then it's been absent, and now returned for this cheese.  I think it's because this cheese retained a lot more moisture than my other recent makes, which was always a problem before.  It started off at over 1400g and now, after 8 weeks of aging, it's at 972g! Anyway, these black spots are only superficial and so they are removed when I cut the rind off.  I've eaten them too, in the past, and the impart no flavour and I'm still here, so take that for what it's worth. 

Anyway, this one has really turned out nicely.  My first two makes resulted in very mild, almost bland, cheeses.  This one has a much more pronounced flavour, so I'm very pleased.  This was my replacement for the ugly Wensleydale, and it's doing a fine job.  Also, I've had a chance to make the Wensleydale based upon the recipe I alluded to earlier in this thread as well, and it's comming along nicely. 

Nice when they work out.

- Jeff

Wow, Jeff, really gorgeous cheese! I don't see any crumbliness. Only 8 weeks, huh? That rind coloring looks like it was aged longer. Isn't it amazing how well the rind protects the inner paste?

That really is nice. Sorry about the black spots. Can't get rid of them, huh?

It lost about a third of its starting weight? Is that typical?

-Boofer-

Looks tasty Jeff.  What did you do different to get a stronger flavor?  Mine was too mild and I didn't like that.

Rightous looking cheese there Jeff! A cheese for your efforts! They look green to me can't you just brush them off?

<itch, itch, scratch , scratch>

Thanks all!

The black spots don't come off.  I've been brushing this one every day or two to keep the wild geo down and the black spot just laughs at this (I shall avoid any direct references to treasure island now Jim lad, for the black spot is no triffeling matter).  But as you can see in the cut slice, there's no penetration into the paste. 

I've been looking at my notes, and there isn't much different from before.  My first make used 4 ice cubes of flora danica, the last two have been made with ripened buttermilk.  This one with 3 ice cubes, the second with 2.    This was in the middle in terms of size afer pressing (1420 vs 1362 and 1646, for third, second, and first make, respectively), so it hasn't retained the most moisture. 

The only difference I really noted was the fact that for this one I was extremely gentle with the stirring of the curds.  Using P/H milk, anything more than a wee giggle will cause a lot of curds to break or shatter early in the stirring schedule.  This time I went ultra careful, which did result in much less curd destruction.   

The loss of about a third of it's weight was expected since I usually end up, after drying, with cheeses in the 1.0 - 1.1 kg range.  When I get a cheese out of the press over 1400g it's all retained fluid.  This one was pressed more heavily that the others, but again, it wasn't the longest in the press.

So, in the end, I'm not entirely sure why this one has developed so much more flavour as I've not dramatically changed the make in any way but it's probably due to a culmination of little things that I'm doing better as I make more cheeses, but not things I'm aware I'm doing better. 

That, or it was just luck.

- Jeff

Less than a wee giggle did the trick?  Thanks for the tip Jeff.  I would never have thought of that!   

LOL!  That should say "anything more than a wee jiggle...", but giggle works too.  It does, just think about it, ... think harder it works I tell you!

- Jeff

I jiggle when I giggle... that works! 

This looks really tasty, Jeff!  I'm making Lancashire right now.  Just added the FD in & now doing a bit of browsing while sipping my cuppa.    I'm hoping for a more flavorful one this time, so will do as you did & wait for 8 weeks.  I've always been so impatient with the Lancs before & never could resist. 

Pav has been helping me with a tomme I made a week ago & it's developing rather nicely, so I thought I'd make another cheese today.  I get my fresh milk tomorrow morning, a couple of gallons, so another one tomorrow, as well. 

My Lancashire is 1 gal creamline & 1 gal 2%...never have done a 2%, apart from the parm of last year.  I think the rind of yours looks really good, actually...adds character.   

Thanks kookookachoo!

When I have a slice of it now, it's nice and crumbly, which is good (I like crumbly).  This is a very nice cheese.  Looking forward to seeing how yours progresses too. 

- Jeff

My past Lancs have been on the creamy side, with one failure-being really tart!  I even aged it more, to see if it would get better/get more mellow.  Alas, no such luck.  I'll let you know how mine turns out in a few weeks. 

-Steff

Mine other two were really quite creamy too.  Not sure what's different in my make this time around, but the flavour is much sharper and it's much drier and a bit crumbly.  I'm not complaining, but curious.  I will have to go over my notes carefully.  Good luck with yours.

- Jeff