I made my first cheddar a couple of months ago- and am very disappointed. It has a bitter sour taste and is covered in fine layer of a white mould under the wax. After the drying it did have a couple of dark mould spots on the bottom which I treated with vinegar. They left stains but didn’t seem to grow after the waxing. The white mould was a surprise.

What did I do wrong?

It also has holes in it which I presume means that I didn’t press it hard enough. Is that right?

1- it is over acidity issue, and it is the most major problem, u need to follow time/temp to get out more whey, so u end up with less acid

2- what type of holes u got? very small tiny like bubbles? if yes, u need to be more clean during cheesemaking

The holes are jagged pointed, looks like trapped air to me. Is that a problem with not enough weight?

Thanks for your comments- the sour taste is from the acidity rather than the cheese going off?

Wecome to the forum Bezza.  Are you new to cheesemaking, or just new to the forum?

With the info you provided its hard to pinpoint the cause of your less than optimal result.  What kind of cheddar did you make?  What was your pressing regime - weights and times?  It does sound like mechanical openings, i.e., not enough pressure for not enough time.  The taste problem sounds very much like a sanitation issue.  You must be meticulous about santization.  Absolutely everything that touches your cheese at every stage must be absolutely clean.  What are you using to sanitize?  How are you sterilizing your equipment?

How long did you dry your wheel before waxing?  Moisture on the surface will cause problems once waxed.  I recommend you rub down the wheel with salt, or wipe with brine or vinegar solution prior to waxing to eliminate anything that may have gotten on the surface during the drying.

Other than the taste issue, how was your final product?  Dry and crumbly or smooth and moist?  Does it melt?

Hang in there.  Once these problems are dealt with, you’re going to be delighted with home made cheddar.

I am new to cheese making as well as to the forum. I have made soft cheeses before and a couple of very crude hard cheeses about 2o years ago… This is the first time I have actually tried working from a recipe.

I have now downloaded the free book mentioned in another post and it is far more detailed than the one that came with my kit. The recipe I used was Farmer’s cheddar. I did not stick to the times or temperatures mentioned very acurately.

I have started another cheddar today, with strict adherance to the times and temperatures, and much more attention to sterilisation.

I also make wine so my kitchen probably has wine yeast all over it…. does this affect the cheese?
Do I need to sterilise the wax or does the melting temperature take care of that?

Thanks for you help

Your description of the resulting cheese does not seem to be a yeast infestation.  As long as you have sanitized well, you should be OK.  Using the corrections you mentioned should help greatly.  I will say that I have yet to make a “good” Farmhouse cheddar.  They are always dry and crumbly, and the taste has not been satisfactory.  I get much better results from Stirred Curd Cheddar, and really good results from Derby - which gets you into the cheddaring process.  As you gain experience and confidence, you’ll no doubt want to move up to other types.

Good luck with your next attempt.  Keep us posted.

Well now here’s a surprise- to me at least..
I kept that sour/bitter cheddar for my husband to taste when he came home, just salted the surface and covered in Gladwrap, in the fridge. I expected to throw it out after he had tasted it.
But lo-3 days later the bitternness has gone-. It is now still quite sharp tasting but not bitter. It is 44 days old (6.5 weeks)

Did it need airing or something? Or did I open it to soon?

So now I’m goung to rewax it and continue aging it.

Any comments?

I have noticed that a cheese changes flavour after removing the wax, as if it needed to breath and maybe get rid of some bad gases. My guess.