3rd Cheddar on the way!

[OlJarhead]

Or it is Whey?


I borrowed a Turkey Roaster (was going to buy it but my mother in law thinks she'd like to keep it and just let me use it when I want -- can't argue with that!)


This 18quart Rival seems to work perfectly to get the temp up and hold it perfectly there!  I love it!


Annatto, Calcium Chloride and culture all added and ripening has begun.  This is MUCH easier then the last two I made!!!!


Temperature is holding nicely!

I'm using the same recipe as the last two with only slight modifications.  Once ready to press I'll use the new dutch press with a 25lbs dumbbell hanging off the end.  I'm excited because I think it will work much better then the silly ebay press I was using!

[OlJarhead]

45 minutes after rennet added and it's holding just under 90 degrees and almost a clean break.  I expected 60+ minutes to a clean break so I think I'm on track.

I think that store bought pasteurized and homogenized milk must have a problem here, or it's the vegetable rennet I'm using.  Who knows but we'll see if I get nice curds or not soon enough.

[OlJarhead]

Same curds as usual but they seem to work despite their small size.


Left overs!  I made too much for my two molds so I'm going to call it farmers cheese and eat it.


crude dutch press.  It works, barely.  I need to do some work on this puppy or scrap it and make a much better one.  It won't press two cheeses at all and I absolutely need more stability!


The new mold is great though!

[OlJarhead]

To be fair I'm not sure this is technically a cheddar.  The recipe calls for two hours of cooking the curds and I was unable to do so.  The problem was that I got started way to late and had too many interruptions in heating the milk (people wanted to eat dinner -- come on!) so by the time I was ready to cook just the curds it was midnight

I cooked them 15 minutes (which is what I did last time -- you'd think I'd learn) and called it.  Salted them with cheese salt and stuck the curds in a press.

So maybe it's a Colby?  Guess it doesn't matter becuase it still tasted great last time and I'm sure it will this time too.

I started at around 6:15PM and had the milk to temp by 7:15pm.  At 8:30pm the rennet went in and I used a little more this time (per gallon) which didn't seem to improve curds at all.  I started the heating process (to 102 degrees) at 10:00pm becuase I wasn't going to wait longer. and took the better part of an hour to get the cheese up to 102 and then cooked for an hour before draining the whey off (challenging with 4 gallons in a big pot).

So any guesses?  Is it Colby?  Farmers Cheese?

[megdcl]

The new mold is great though!

What is your mold made of? Are there any holes in the sides or is the bottom open to let the whey drain out? I'm contemplating putting some pinholes in the sides of my rings to let excess whey out.. sometimes it pools on top of the follower.

Thanks for sharing your process--it's always helpful!! Hope you have a success there!

[OlJarhead]

Actually LOTS of holes in it   I'm loving it and can watch the whey drain out (unlike my first mold which was an El Cheapo Crappo PVC mold).

No grooves or holes under it through, which might be a good thing to try to manage some day.

[megdcl]

Ahh, ok.. I can see the drips of whey now. Maybe I will put some pinholes in my rings. I'm just using cut down gallon jugs (without the bottoms).. they're quite a bit sturdier than regular plastic milk jugs, so they work alright for me.

[OlJarhead]

Ahh, ok.. I can see the drips of whey now. Maybe I will put some pinholes in my rings. I'm just using cut down gallon jugs (without the bottoms).. they're quite a bit sturdier than regular plastic milk jugs, so they work alright for me.

Interesting....what kind of cheese do you make in them?  I've heard of using coffee cans (but it makes it hard to get the cheese out) and other similar things.

[megdcl]

It's just a hard cheese.. I haven't let myself get creative yet.. I'm just trying to get the basic cheese down pat and then perhaps I'll delve into some different flavors .

Sometimes the cheeses are a little hard to get out.. I pull 'em out using the cheese cloth that their wrapped in. I manage, though, and for the most part it works well . I tried a coffee can but didn't like the ridges in the sides, or that they were made of aluminum.

[OlJarhead]

The finished Cheeses

4 lbs total after we ate the left over curds (couldn't get them in a press) which would have been 1/2 or so.

[OudeKaas]

Wow, they look fabulous! Also, at least in the pics, the yellow color is quite prominent. Did you use annatto in these, and if so how much?

[OlJarhead]

Wow, they look fabulous! Also, at least in the pics, the yellow color is quite prominent. Did you use annatto in these, and if so how much?

Thanks   I used a TON of Annatto.  I'm still trying to decide how much is enough but found last time that 40 drops per gallon of milk was about right and this time, with 3.75 gallons I used right about 3.75x40 drops.  What I did was measure the annatto into a measuring spoon and found 40 drops = ~1/4 tea spoon.

[mikeradio]

Wow great color on the cheddar, I was wondering how to use to get that yellow cheddar look.

Cheddar is on the top of my list to make, have you posted the recipe you use?

thank you

Mike

[OlJarhead]

Wow great color on the cheddar, I was wondering how to use to get that yellow cheddar look.

Cheddar is on the top of my list to make, have you posted the recipe you use?

thank you

Mike

If you buy Annatto it should come with some instructions like the stuff I have.  They are kinda vague and when I first used it I didn't use enough to make a difference...then somewhere in here I read a post on it's use and then decided to give it a try in earnest.  I used basically 40 drops for a gallon but this time measured those out and dumped it in (was easier)....next time I'll cut it in half and see how that goes.  I guess that's what most do   Experiment.

I posted the base recipe in the beginning of this thread but have some modifications I've made so I'll post that again soon.

Erik

[OlJarhead]

After a week and a half my cheeses seem to be developing a nice rind however I noticed that each time I flipped them the opposite side seemed to have more rind -- this would switch each time I flipped the cheese....wondering about that a little.

Anyway, they had some small cracks in them (guess I needed more moisture in the cave and warmer temps -- time for a PID I guess) and some white mold.  So I washed them in vinegar and salt and waxed them up to see what happens next!

Funny how the 3rd (and 4th really) cheddar means very little in the learning curve!  So much to learn, so little cheese to eat!


Rinds are about what they were when I waxed No.2 (which is gone now as well as no.1) and I think they could have gone a few more days but without a little warmer temp and more moisture I would end up with big cracks.  Figured better to age them now.


Waxing these with my little chocolate double boiler was a challenge!  I need something bigger to melt the wax in it appears.  But in the end I managed to get them fully waxed with several layers.


In the cave...perhaps in the next few months I'll get a PID and a larger cave -- this one gets a LOT of condensation that I'm always having to mop up...anyone else have this problem?

Can't wait to eat them now!!!  But I've committed to give them two months to age and develop.