A picture of my cotswold, that was not pressed properly. It tastes good, it just crumbles.

My Cotswold’s were all crumbly too.  I don’t think it was the pressing that caused it.

That’s encouraging. It does taste good, but I’ve never had cotswold before so I assumed that the texture was off, since I know that I made it in a 5-1/4” mold and pressed it by the instructions for a 4” mold. I looked at all of the commercial molds and it does say that a small mold is 4” round and holds 2lb. I have a tomme mold that says it is for a 1 or 1-1/2 lb cheese and it is 5-1/4” round. I have been making 2 lb cheeses in it. I have no idea why a tomme mold is different so I’ll have to do some research.

How did you eat your cotswold? What did you serve it with? I’m thinking cheese burgers on the grill with some cotswold melted on top sounds good.

crumbling normaly high acid, if it does not melt then that would confirm it. Looks good, and as long as it tastes good then its still a success.

Yes, high acid content will produce a crumbly texture; but there seem to me to be some recipes that just ARE crumbly.  I’ve never had a Farmhouse cheddar that was not crumbly.  And the Cotswold is basicly a Farmhouse cheddar with some additives.  As for eating, a slice off the wheel is good straight up; crackers and cheese are a good breakfast as far as I’m concerned.  And the melted on a burger sounds terrific.  Here’s a good thought:  since its already crumbly, how about crumbling some over a green salad?

Must be high acid because it does not melt. How do you check acidity? I have a ph meter, but I did not have it when I made this cheese. Does checking the ph do the same as checking the acidity? A new thing to learn about.

I went online and read a few articles, none of which said how to control the acid. Is it the addition of or leaving out the calcium chloride? Is it cooking too long or not enough?

This is only the 2nd cheese that I have opened so I really have no idea which part of the procedure that I am screwing up.

I am going to make pepper jack tomorrow and I found a recipe on this site with ph markers noted. I will make sure I get that right at least.

I know what flocullation point is, but I never check it. I always let the rennet sit in the milk for the amount of time that the recipe calls for. Would this do something to my acidity level?

The first cheese that I opened was a farm house cheddar. We ate most of it and put a small piece back in the cave. I ate it just now and it is smooth and creamy and delicious. That makes me feel better. When we opened it the first time it was good, but a little strong flavored and little crumbly. Letting it sit for another month did a lot for it.

I just found out something. My cotswold is not supposed to be ready for two more months. I wrote the wrong date on my list of cheeses and when they will be ready. Maybe aging it more will help. That makes me feel better too. I only ate a little of it and vacuum sealed it and put it back in the cave.

Acidification is the normal process of the culture working in the cheese.  When you add salt to the curd this will slow down or halt the acidification process.  Sometimes if the salt was not added soon enough the curd get too acidic.  Not sure what can be done to reverse this, or if it can be.  Using the PH meter to target acid levels will help improve your cheeses quality as you can add the salt at the proper time, and hoop at the proper PH level.

I’m sure that someone with more knowledge than me will chime in, or should. 

Linuxboy where are you? 

Thanks. I read lots of stuff about when to stir how much to stir and I was thinking Oh God, now I have to count the number of times that I stir? I am not going to worry about it, but keep checking my ph and make sure that the ph is right before I salt. Now that I can check that, I feel like I have a better chance.

Cheese is not going to whoop me…...

LOL, practice practice practice