First Cheddar, what did I do wrong?

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November

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So I made my first cheddar. Everything seemed like it went smoothly. I pressed for 15m at 10 pounds, 12 hours at 40 pounds, and then 24 hours at 50 pounds. It is now drying and the surface feels smooth but the surface is irregular like the curds never melded together.

Can I save it? I plan on vacuum sealing it if that helps.

Any ideas on how to fix this for next time?

img_20150209_162613-64904.jpg


img_20150209_162531-64905.jpg
 
Yea, curds aren't knitting. Best bet is to vacuum bag it. That will pull everything together and maybe help. If you dont' have a Foodsaver or similar, you're probably gonna have a cheese that falls apart. Might happen anyway.

The problem is cause by the curds being too dry before pressing. Too much heat for too long, too much stirring, cut curds too small, I think there's a lot of things that could cause that.

Keep making cheese and you'll figure it out. That cheese doesn't look too bad though.
 
One of my chedders also looks like this. I waxed it. Will it still turn out edible? Was planning to age three months, should I eat sooner since higher risk of infection with the cracks? Also added jalapeños and habanero sauce, not sure if that makes a difference.
 
One of my chedders also looks like this. I waxed it. Will it still turn out edible? Was planning to age three months, should I eat sooner since higher risk of infection with the cracks? Also added jalapeños and habanero sauce, not sure if that makes a difference.

Brush it down with a brine solution and vacuum bag it. Shouldn't get mold.

You're right, those cracks are where the mold will form.

Dry cheddar eats just fine. I've got the dryest cheddar in the world on my counter right now. I felll asleep with the curds still in the pot. When I woke up, they were super super tight. I'm going to bread them, freeze them, then deep-fry them. Fried cheese curds!
 
Nice! I bet you still made cheese even if it's cracked. Like PP said, best to vacuum seal it to keep mold out. Waxing is fine, but you will have wax in the cracks. no big deal but you will have to peel it out when you eat it.

I wouldn't waste it in any case. Cheese is not cheap enough to throw away IMO.
 
Unfortunately, my first attempt at cheddar looked like that. It grew mold through the cheese wax, despite brining, and had to be disposed of.

So I'd try vacuum bagging it first. I need to buy one of those...
 
I bagged the first one. Then I made a second. It went better. I have two cracks on the top but nothing on the sides or bottom. I will bag this one too and try again. I might make something other than cheddar next. Maybe jack or Havarti?
 

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