This is what the final product looks like off of 4 gallons of farm fresh milk. This is from a double batch and the cheese is pressed into a 6 inch wheel. Weighs about 3 pounds.
I did skim most of the cream for ice cream (almost a gallon from a 5 gallon bucket) and made ricotta afterward from the whey (got 2 cups +/-). I used the farmhouse cheddar recipe out of Ricki Carroll's book.
The next monthly tech meeting for our homebrew club is going to be on cheese making so I thought about doing a pictorial walkthrough as I took pics of the whole process.
I wanted to just link back to the tutorial for a reference piece but we're making mozzarella due to time constraints instead. The cheddar takes quite a while to complete, like 6 hours (sans pressing time).
Maybe I'll do a separate thread for posterity anyway just to show off the process a bit.
I used a really poor cheesecloth and didn't fold it really that neatly. The block didn't look quite as a smooth as I wanted it to. Doesn't affect the taste though.
I'll age it for 6-12 months in my cheese fridge before popping the cherry on it ,unless I just can't wait.
Any suggestions on what beer I should brew to complement a cheddar?