Made a Derby last night - didn’t read the recipe until I was well into ripening.  OH no! HAD to take the next step and do some rudimentary “cheddaring” for the first time! Came out great so far. Curds immediately “knitted”. Cut into slabs etc… very proud of myself today.  Next up- Provolone….

Matt

I made a traditional cheddar this weekend. I never tried before because of the “cheddaring” step. I was worried it wouldn’t work or the curds wouldn’t stay together but it seemed to work okay. Still pressing, I’ll let this one age for a while.

SAL

Made my first Derby about 24 hrs before you.  I read over the recipe several times during the week so I’d be prepared for all the steps.  I was a bit apprehensive too about the modified cheddaring procedure, but it went surprisingly well.  I came up with a couple ideas for a slightly different technique which I will not share until after I try them.  If they don’t work out, I don’t want to be responsible for someone else’s failure.  I’ve been looking for a better way to dry my cheeses out of the press - better than laying on a board that is.  I came up with setting the wheel on a sanitized fiberglass screen with a fine mesh colander over the top.  It worked very well - uniform drying without needing to frequently turn it.  Now the hard part - waiting 3 months to try it!

I’m with ya. Mine is sitting on grease splatter guard.

Example http://www.amazon.com/Cuisipro-746587-11-5-Splatter-Guard/dp/B00004SU1D

Haven’t tried cheddar, the cheddaring kind of scary but on the other hand, this PH thing is a pain and i want to get it right before investing in a long term project, i have cheeses over 6 months and their not menltable, disappointing, still taste ok and use them in salads or sandwich but would like to get the melt aspect, thats mainly why i like cheddars pluss the taste.
Did a swiss today, just put it in the press now for the night.

after doing a Derby, I am no longer afraid of cheddaring and will do a full blown old fashioned cheddar in the next couple weeks.

Talking Seagull - 17 June 2008 12:02 PM

after doing a Derby, I am no longer afraid of cheddaring and will do a full blown old fashioned cheddar in the next couple weeks.

I did the cheddaring process with an English-style cheddar a few weeks ago.  It came out great, at least it looks that way, but I found it to be a lot of work.  Of course I didn’t start until after work and was up until after 1 AM until I got it in the press.  Lesson learned, do this on a weekend or day off.

LOL, yup been their, thats why I try and start in the morning. Starting on the swiss at 1pm already pushed it to 10pm, always unpredictable things.

LOL, seems that I have had that issue as well.  Start late, up past my bed time to finish it.