Farmhouse Cheddar 1

From SackWiki

Level of difficulty:

There are several ways to make cheddar, this being the easiest. It's a great hard cheese to start with, because it's easy and can be eaten after only a month of aging.

Ingredients: 
 
  2 gallons whole milk
  1 packet direct-set mesophilic starter
  1/2 tsp liquid rennet
  1 tbsp kosher salt
  cheese wax
 
Procedure:
  
  Heat milk at Med on stove until 90F.
  Add starter and stir well for 1 minute.
  Turn off heat. (it should maintain 90F)
  Cover and let set for 45 minutes.
  Mix rennet in 1/4 cup cool water and pour into milk.
  Stir thoroughly for 1 minute with slotted spoon.
  Let sit at 90F for 45 minutes or until the curd gives a clean break.
  Cut the curd into 1/2" pieces.
  Place the pot in a sink full of hot water and slowly heat the 
    curds to 100F, increasing the temperature no more than 2 degrees 
    every 5 minutes (should take about 30 minutes).  Stir gently every 
    couple of minutes to keep the curds from matting.  The curds will 
    shrink noticeably in size as heating continues.  The yellowish whey 
    will grow in quantity as the curds shrink.
  Cover the container and let the curds set for 5 minutes.
  Pour the curds into a cheesecloth-lined colander.
  Tie the corners of the cheesecloth into a knot and hang the bag in a 
    draft-free spot for 1 hour to drain.
  Place the curds into a bowl and break them up gently into small pieces.
  Mix in the salt.
  Firmly press the curds into a 2-lb mold lined with cheesecloth.
  Apply 10 lbs of pressure for 10 minutes.
  Remove the cheese from the mold and remove the cloth.
  Turn cheese over and re-dress.
  Apply 20 lbs of pressure for 20 minutes.
  Remove the cheese from the mold and remove the cloth.
  Turn cheese over and re-dress.
  Apply 50 lbs of pressure for 12 hours.
  Remove the cheese from the mold and remove the cloth.
  Air dry at room temperature for 2-4 days until a nice rind has developed 
    and the surface is quite dry.  Turn the cheese several times a day.
  Wax the cheese.
  Age for at least 1 month.

Attempt #1 - September 2, 2006

Overall satisfaction:

Finally, my first hard cheese! I dedicated an entire Saturday to this attempt, which was good, because it took longer than I expected it to. Mostly it was the usual figure-it-out-as-you-go kind of stuff, but I did have a hard time getting a clean break on the curd. I let it sit for over an hour, but it still wouldn't break. However, if I made a cut in the curd and then came back a few minutes later, the cut was clear and filled with whey. I finally decided that was good enough, and I cut all the curd into pieces. I let it sit a bit and it looked fine. I didn't have any other problems with the curds. I was pleasantly surprised at the large yield I got.

The resulting cheese was 4" wide, 5" tall, and weighed about 2 pounds.

I let this cheese air-dry for 3 days and then waxed it and put it in the cheese fridge.

The cheese aged until October 4, 2006, which was just over 4 weeks. I removed the wax and noticed that the rind was a bit icky in a few spots. Not bad for my first try, but still not presentable. So I "peeled" it and got down to the nice yummy insides.

I tried slicing some of the cheese and found it to be quite loose and crumbly, and not at all the tight curd I was expecting from a cheddar. It doesn't taste like cheddar either, but don't get me wrong... it's really good. It has a texture similar to a firm blue cheese, but a taste more like a feta or very sharp cheese. It is dry at first, then very creamy as you chew it. I think it would be great served on a heavy cracker (I got some Rosemary and Olive Oil Triscuits to try soon) or fantastic crumbled over a salad.

Photos