First of all thanks for all the write-ups on this forum, it has been a huge help. Keep up the good work. I thought I should participate in the discussions rather than stalking them and write up my experience making my first cheddar – or a version of cheddar.

I used 4 litres of whole milk (pasteurised and not homogenised), heated that to 32 deg C in a double boiler then added 1/16 Teaspoon of the Starter (Flora Danica). This is where I think I might have made a slight mistake. I have since found out that Flora Danica produces gas so I think I will be expected a few holes in the cheese, which is not typical from my experience in eating Cheddar.

I then added about 4mls of liquid rennet mixed with 4mls of cooled boiled water, stirred and left the curds to form for about an hour.

After cutting the curds I let it settle for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Then I ramped up the temp slowly to 39 deg C over about 45mins. I found this a bit tricky to regulate but I suppose that is where a bit of experience will come in handy.

I then drained the curd and placed back in the boiler at 39 deg C for about an hour adding 1 tablespoon of salt and stirring to keep the curds from binding together. I believe this is an alternative procedure to the actual Cheddaring of laying strips of the curd together. I was surprised how much more whey was generated doing this.

The curds were then placed in a cheese cloth lined round mould and pressed for about an hour with 9kg (a large pot filled with 9 litres of water). I then turned the cheese over a pressed it again overnight with 20kg. I was going to take a photo of the “Precarious” balancing contraption involving various pots full of water on the kitchen bench, but gravity beat me to it. I had to spend a couple of hours cleaning 20 litres or water from the kitchen floor. The cheese survived the carnage though. Mental note - must build a decent cheese press.

After the drama I now have quite a nice looking piece of so-called Cheddar that I left to age for 5 days to dry out, turning it every day. I have ordered the wax and it should have been here yesterday but I’ve had issues with the courier company, so hopefully it turns up today so I can wax the cheese tonight. Otherwise I might end up with a very solid piece of dry cheese. I will have to age it in the fridge for the next couple of months as I don’t yet posses a dedicated cheese fridge to regulate the temperature, which could be my next project. Fingers crossed it will taste OK. Will report back on how the waxing went.

Cheers

I’m thinking your refrigerator will be too cold for good aging.  I have used an ice chest with a block or two of ice.  It keeps the temp at low to middle 50’s and the melting ice provides moisture.  Need to check the ice daily to make sure you have enough.  Might serve better until you can get equipped.

OK, I am by no means an expert after a dozen cheeses, but no this would not be cheddar to me.
Flora Danica is used for buttery flavored cheeses like Havarti, Gouda, Edam, etc. I am told

The good news is it will be cheese no matter what and probably delicious.

Green Cheese Maker - 06 June 2008 02:24 AM

I’m thinking your refrigerator will be too cold for good aging.  I have used an ice chest with a block or two of ice.  It keeps the temp at low to middle 50’s and the melting ice provides moisture.  Need to check the ice daily to make sure you have enough.  Might serve better until you can get equipped.

+ 1 on this one.
Even a basement if you have one would be better.
If not I would put it in a cooler with a frozen bottle of water. replace the water bottle with a new one every couple days. Should get decent humidity that way too.

Beautiful wheel of cheese there.  I agree with TS, probably won’t be cheddar, but it is going to be tasty anyway.  You will have cheese, and it may turn out to be something that you really like. 

Great recipes probably started out this way.  You may just be an innovator.

As a way to encourage you, 3 days ago I opened my fist waxed traditional whole milk cheddar after it had aged for 2 months and 2 weeks. Yes I am new to this too and trying to find my way. I was totally blown out of the water by how good it was. It had a perfect texture and was sharper than I expected which was encouraging to me as I love the sharper cheeses anyway.  There was a little mold under the wax but it didn’t go in very far and didn’t alter the flavor in the least.  There was no flake, and I would rate it between a sharp and medium.

I cut the 1.5 lb wheel into quarter’s and took one quarter to a food club I belong to that makes all our own food, to share with the other members. I took a few slices to neighbors… then in the next day and a half I ate the whole thing.  Cheese for breakfast, cheese for lunch, cheese until there was no cheese anymore. Thats right I couldn’t leave it alone and ate the rest, lock, stock and barrel.  Well, OK, I did spit out the wax.

Pic looks real nice, thanks for sharing. Its always a surprise as to how ones cheese turns out as a “homemade” hobbiest. making the cheese is half the fun the other half is finding out what unique flavor u end up with

That is a very nice looking wheel of cheese.  How did you achieve that nice, smooth texture on the surface and clean, rounded edges?

Good work!

Hey Ben Gunn - I envy you.  I have one more week to go on my first cheddar - a farmhouse, so I didn’t have to wait quite as long.  I can envision myself being the cheese glutton too.  Gonna make a Colby in the morning and that may take my mind off it for a while.

Green Cheese Maker - 06 June 2008 02:24 AM

I’m thinking your refrigerator will be too cold for good aging.  I have used an ice chest with a block or two of ice.  It keeps the temp at low to middle 50’s and the melting ice provides moisture.  Need to check the ice daily to make sure you have enough.  Might serve better until you can get equipped.

Yes thanks for that, it looks like the fridge will not be ideal, I will take it out tonight and put it in a polystyrene ice box with a couple of ice pads. That should do the trick for a while. I did do some testing on one of these a little while ago and managed to get the temp down to around 10 deg C, but it wasnt consistant and it did creep up to about 15deg C over a 12 hr period, I thought that might affect the cheese more than the cooler temp. The good news was that the humidity remainded quite consistant at 85%.

Cheers

DaggerDoggie - 06 June 2008 10:22 PM

That is a very nice looking wheel of cheese.  How did you achieve that nice, smooth texture on the surface and clean, rounded edges?

Good work!

Im not sure how I managed to get the good smooth finish. I just pressed the cheese in a basket type mould wrapped in fine cheese cloth. When it came out of the press it did have a few bumps from the holes in the mould but these seemed to have shrunk while I let the rind dry out. The bottom surface wasnt quite as smooth as that has the cheese cloth patterns over it.

Talking Seagull - 06 June 2008 11:18 AM

OK, I am by no means an expert after a dozen cheeses, but no this would not be cheddar to me.
Flora Danica is used for buttery flavored cheeses like Havarti, Gouda, Edam, etc. I am told

The good news is it will be cheese no matter what and probably delicious.

Thanks for that, its very interesting. I wonder how the cheddaring process (Stirred) will react with using the different starter. I might have to patent something here…...

see next

Green Cheese Maker - 06 June 2008 02:24 AM

I’m thinking your refrigerator will be too cold for good aging.  I have used an ice chest with a block or two of ice.  It keeps the temp at low to middle 50’s and the melting ice provides moisture.  Need to check the ice daily to make sure you have enough.  Might serve better until you can get equipped.

Hey, Kiwicheese, are you in NZ? I am in rural Nelson and at this time of year ( winter) I have my cheeses in a switched off refrigerator in a shed outside in the shade. This gives me an in-fridge temp of around 10 deg. C. at the moment. The crisper box at the bottom of the fridge is 3/4 full of water with a wire rack in it and a tea towel draped over the rack for a wick, this keeps the humidity up, which is vital. I have to change the water and tea towel about once a month or they go mouldy!

Hey Kev, Great area Nelson we are seriously thinking of moving there sometime in the future. We are in Auckland at the moment. Your old fridge in the back yard is a good idea, I might look into that a bit further. Im also considering trying to regulate temperature in the Polystyrene box somehow (after building the cheese press), I have seen devises called Peltier Thermoelectric Modules, but that is another forum subject I think. Thanks for the feedback.