I tasted my leiden’s today for the first time. I’ve never had leiden cheese, but I wanted to make a cheese with cumin seeds so I tried it. I had 3 recipes for leiden, and one of them called for 1 tsp of rennet, one of them 3/4 tsp and one of the 1/2 tsp. Things like that drive me nuts!

I made two cheese, one with 2 gallons of milk and 1 tsp of rennet and one with 2 gallons of milk and 3/4 tsp of rennet. I used store bought pasteurized 2% milk for both of them.

I plugged them with my cheese trier for tasting, so I don’t have a picture. The one that I used 1 tsp of rennet in has a much nicer texture than the one that I used 3/4 tsp of rennet in. I expected it to the other way, I thought that this one would be hard and rubbery.

The cheeses are both moist and creamy, but I think that it is a little young. My recipe says 8 weeks, so maybe I just need another week in the cave.

I decided to cut into it so that I could see the inside.

Pic one had 3/4 tsp of rennet and was pressing in a 4-1/2” mould. Pic two had 1 tsp of rennet and was pressed in a 6” mould, so it came out kind of flat, but it has a better texture.

Do you think that the texture difference is the pressing method or the amount of rennet?