Farmhouse Chive Cheddar

I didn't take too many pictures. They all look mostly the same anyway.

This is an 8" wheel. It's about 3.5# (I didn't weigh, but I get about a pound per gallon of milk). I did use half gallon of goat milk in this for no good reason at all.

This make went perfectly. No problems. I've been having some too-dry wheels lately, so I made sure to pull the curds here before they were too tight. I watched the pH of the curds until it hit about 5.35, then drained them and added salt and chives. Then pressed by hand a little, then into the big press. 8# for an hour, then 12# for another 12 hours. Then brined for 8 hrs, then dried for 2 days. Now it goes into 50F for a couple of months.

The wheel has a nice rubbery feel, like pressing on a chicken breast. I'm hoping that's an indication of the correct moisture content in it. We'll see.

BTW, don't let the little specs of chives fool you, this wheel has a distinct chive aroma. I made a cotswold before, with chives AND minced onions, but I think you don't need the onions. This will (fingers crossed) be a great beer cheese.

Nice looking wheel! Just out of curiosity, how much do you pay per gallon of milk? Assuming you've not got your own animals anyway

vincentAlpha said:

Nice looking wheel! Just out of curiosity, how much do you pay per gallon of milk? Assuming you've not got your own animals anyway

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Man, I envy people with their own cows and goats. It would still be more expensive for the milk, when you factor in everything, but raw milk is where it's at when making cheese. MUST age 60 days though to avoid the possibility of E. Coli, Listeria, etc.

I pay about $4 / gallon. If you factor in the cost of milk / ingredients, the cheese is a great deal (look at the cost of a wheel of blue cheese and you'll see - stuff is over $20 / lb. But if you include the cost of my time, I'm an idiot. I guess I just like making stuff.

Nah I see where you're at with that, same thing with homebrewing but I like making things so stuff like this is right up my alley. I've been wanting to get into cheese making myself but where I was there were no stores that had rennet and shipping would have been painful(doubling the cost). I've since moved to a different province and I can get cheese making equipment where I am locally... but the milk is awful and about $2-2.50CAD/L so probably close to double yours. So for now I'm going with expanding to sausage making and maaaaybe curing meat since there is a nice local butcher only a 30min walk or so who I get the feeling won't mind selling me some pork belly.

vincentAlpha said:

Nah I see where you're at with that, same thing with homebrewing but I like making things so stuff like this is right up my alley. I've been wanting to get into cheese making myself but where I was there were no stores that had rennet and shipping would have been painful(doubling the cost). I've since moved to a different province and I can get cheese making equipment where I am locally... but the milk is awful and about $2-2.50CAD/L so probably close to double yours. So for now I'm going with expanding to sausage making and maaaaybe curing meat since there is a nice local butcher only a 30min walk or so who I get the feeling won't mind selling me some pork belly.

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I make sausages with pretty good success. I made salumi once, cured and dried over several weeks. It turned out better than I expected, but it really needs a perfect environment to age, temp and humidity.

passedpawn said:

but it really needs a perfect environment to age, temp and humidity.

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That is why I've been a bit hesitant to try something involving aging like that. I've got a hold of a really simple bacon cure recipe from The River Cottage smoking and curing handbook and it sounds pretty fool proof so I'll start with that and see about setting up a proper curing environment if I get into it enough.

So, when you put cheese in your cave, do you keep it vacuum sealed? Other than the fuzzy cheeses, of course...

Homercidal said:

So, when you put cheese in your cave, do you keep it vacuum sealed? Other than the fuzzy cheeses, of course...

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Yes. Didja get your mini fridge set up last night?

passedpawn said:

Yes. Didja get your mini fridge set up last night?

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It's plugged in and cooling. I still have to add an STC-1000.

I am considering wiring the power cord directly into the STC rather than installing an outlet. Saves space. I have TONS of power cords I can put back on it if need be later.

I'd really like to wire it up internally and have the STC embedded in the door, so I'll be checking it out this weekend and figure a plan.

I have the same thing planned for the kegerator and also adding a recirc. fan.

Set a thermometer in that fridge. You might not need the STC at all. They don't have any fan, just that freezer tray. You could probably wrap a piece of insulation around the tray and lower the fridge temps significantly. But I guess if you have the STC, might as well use it.

passedpawn said:

Set a thermometer in that fridge. You might not need the STC at all. They don't have any fan, just that freezer tray. You could probably wrap a piece of insulation around the tray and lower the fridge temps significantly. But I guess if you have the STC, might as well use it.

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That may be a good idea. I have several spare STCs, but I can't see using this thing for brewing in any fashion. It's very small. If I cut into it, then it's not really worth much down the road.

Maybe worst case I wire an STC but do it all externally save for the sensor, which can be run through the door, minimally invasively.

But the internal thermostat might work fine on low. I'll try it.