Finally, I settled in to making my first farmhouse cheddar tonight, and everything is goimng well, in no small part to the excellent advice I’ve gotten here recently.

Well, it was time to add the diluted rennet and only now do I notice that the rennet should have been refrigerated all this time I’ve had it (several months).

I can only hope that they actually meant “Refrigerate after opening”. Anyone know what I’m in for? I had no choice but to go forward.

Thanks,

Slim

Only way is to try it out and see how long it takes to set. If it takes longer then an hour (does your milk need CaCl if not raw) then u might need to add more, too much can cause bitterness.

Thanks, Neil.

I almost gave up on it, as it didn’t seem like it was setting. I’m not convinced it set as well as it should have, but it did set to some extent, and it’s in the second round of pressing. Next is presing at 12 hours at 50 lbs, and then to bed. It’s been a long night.

We’ll see what it looks like in 12 hours, but I’m cautiously optimistic. In any event, I’ve learned a lot tonight, and at minimum, next time there won’t be as much stress or mystery about it.

More later…

Slim

On a couple of batches that I have made, I have had to wait over 12 hours to get a curd set.  Cheese turned out fine however.  You should not have any worries.

On one of mine, I actually forgot to put the rennet in - and then wondered why I was not getting the curd to set at all.  I discovered the mistake after nearly two hours.  It still set quite well and made a good cheese.  What kind of rennet are you using - tablet or liquid?  I would think the tablets would be less affected than would the liquid.  On another note - welcome to cheese making.  We learn from our (and other’s) mistakes.

Hi All,

I think that my cheese is OK. It’s been three days now in the aging process before waxing. A rind has developed along the edges. Is that good enough or do I need to wait for it to be more complete?

Also, is it easy to clean wax from the pan one uses to wax it, or should I find a junk pan for this purpose?

Thanks,

Slim

For me I wait until the wheel is dry on all surfaces, not necessarily a rind.  As far as a wax pan - you better figure that you’ll never use that pan for anything else in this life, unless you want to spend a LOT of time cleaning.  Probably only scorching hot detergent will take it off.

Thanks, Rich. I just had the idea to microwave the wax. Any experience with that? I have lots of microwaveavle plastic containers I can give up, but no sauce pans.

Slim

I mentioned it before, cheese wax melts with boiling water, if u have a very hot tap then it will wash away. best keep it in something easy to heat and use to apply to the cheese.

I use a Maxwell House Coffee Can - 3Lb size.  It work great, and has a plastic lid to keep dusties off of the wax when not in use.  I immerse it in a pan of water and heat like a double boiler, then dip the cheese.