Farmhouse Cheddar Pictorial

[SuperiorBrew]

SWMBO & I took our first stab at this cheesemaking thing. With a farmhouse cheddar.

Ingredients / Supplies:

2 gallons whole milk, we used the stuff that is processed right at the farm about 10 miles away. It is pasteurized and homogenized, but it's not the ultra pastureized stuff like they have at most grocery stores.
1/4 tsp calcium chloride
1/2 tsp liquid animal rennet
1 packet mesophilic starter

Sanitize kettle and all utinsils.

Add milk to SS kettle, fill sink with hot water. Then add 1/4 tsp calcium chloride to 1/4 cup cool water, stir and add to milk, stir again.

Let milk warm to 90º

 

[SuperiorBrew]

Add mesophilic culture, stir in gently then cover and let sit for 45 minutes. Maintaining 90º temperature.

Add 1/2 tsp liquid animal rennet to 1/4 cup cool water, mix well, then drizzle evenly into milk. Stir in gently for one minute. Cover and let set for 45 minutes again maintaining 90º temperature.

After 45 minutes check for clean break (borrowed picture our picture didn't turn out)

If it is fairly firm and looks like the picture above cut it vertically about 1/4" apart, then repeat horizontally.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

Take a ladle or slotted spoon, and slice the curds about 1/2" deep layers all the way down to the bottom of the kettle. stir very gently.

Increase your water bath so the curd/whey temperature increases by 2º every 5 minutes. You want it to be at 100º after 1/2 hour. Stirr gently every few minutes.

After you reach 100º cover and let sit 5 minutes.

Pour off most of the whey and dump into cheese cloth lined colander.

Tie 4 corners of the cheesecloth and hang it in a non drafty area. We just covered it with a towel & hung it over the kitchen sink.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

After 1 hour of hanging remove it from the cheesecloth.

Break it into walnut sizes pieces. Add one tablespoon of cheese salt & mix it in well.

Rinse your cheesecloth and line your mold with it. Add the salted curds.

Add 8 pounds of weight to your mold. (we had to get a little creative) let sit 15 minutes

 

[SuperiorBrew]

Remove cheese from mold and flip it over.

Place it back in the lined mold and add 20 pounds of weight for 12 hours.
Had to get a little creative again.

This is what it looked like at 12 hours when I pulled it out and flipped it over.

After 24 hours in the mold (12 on each side) we placed cheese on some chopsticks so air could circulate, flipped it over 3 or 4 times a day for 3 full days, until a nice rind formed and there was no longer moisture on the bottom when flipping it.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

Melted cheese wax in a double boiler, briefly dipped 1/2 of the cheese into the was and let it dry for 30 seconds, then repeated several times until the was was nice and thick and you could no longer see the cheese through it.
Then flipped it over and repeated the process.

The cheese is now waxed and ready for aging.

Aging is best done at 46º - 60º and 75-95% humidity. They recommend 4 weeks for the farmhouse cheddar.

See you when it's time to cut the cheese

 

[Vels]

Cool

Cant wait for you to finish pictorial.

Is that i Zwilling knife i spot ? - if so its good taste and a great tool !

Cheers
Jakob

 

[SuperiorBrew]

Is that i Zwilling knife i spot ? - if so its good taste and a great tool !
Cheers
Jakob

Sure is, I hated to use it for cheese making, but it was the best choice I had available.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for all the great pictures- I'd like to get into cheese making and I love seeing the process you're going through.

 

[Beerrific]

That is very nice. I think that I might have got a kit from the same place you got yours. Did you use special salt? Best I could tell any iodine free slat would work. Same with you?

 

[SuperiorBrew]

That is very nice. I think that I might have got a kit from the same place you got yours. Did you use special salt? Best I could tell any iodine free slat would work. Same with you?

I bought some cheese salt, but after looking at it and reading, I'm fairly sure it's just Kosher Salt. They say Kosher salt if fine to use. When put side by side I could not tell any difference.

 

[Beerrific]

I am about to do this...I was going to do the Farmhouse cheddar too. But, I don't have a pot that will hold 2 gallons of milk, I guess I could use my turkey fryer pot.

Are you going to put it in wax? I do not have any cheese wax, I might use paraffin. Any thoughts?

 

[Rick_R]

No no no no no no no no. I'm making homebrew; someone posts about coffee, I'd thought about it before, now I'm roasting coffee beans. I've often thought about making cheese, but no no no no no no no.

Great post, though; looking forward to the next update.

Rick

 

[RichBrewer]

This is great! Thanks.
Now I'm wanting to know more. Just what I need. Another hobby!

 

[SuperiorBrew]

I am about to do this...I was going to do the Farmhouse cheddar too. But, I don't have a pot that will hold 2 gallons of milk, I guess I could use my turkey fryer pot.

Are you going to put it in wax? I do not have any cheese wax, I might use paraffin. Any thoughts?

I bought a pound of it for $5.50 it's supposed to wax 10-20 cheeses.
Paraffin will work, just real messy when taking it off the cheese.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

No no no no no no no no. I'm making homebrew; someone posts about coffee, I'd thought about it before, now I'm roasting coffee beans. I've often thought about making cheese, but no no no no no no no.
Rick

Hey I had one homebrew in Alaska last year and look what happened

SWMBO & I even made some rootbeer today, I used US-05 for the yeast. The recipe I had used bakers yeast & I figured the Ale yeast had to be better than that.

 

[Soulive]

Thanks for posting. It looks like its fairly easy to do. I'll have to take a shot at it...

 

[Dude]

OMFG....jealous. That looks SO good.

thanks for the awesome info and the pics. I SO want to do this.

 

[Dude]

Seeing this, made me want this:

:rockin: :rockin:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com//attachment.php?attachmentid=4403&d=1202655034

 

[zoebisch01]

I posted my recipe for Poutine a while back.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

Seeing this, made me want this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com//attachment.php?attachmentid=4403&d=1202655034

It looks good but what exactly is it?

Edit, Seen this:

I posted my recipe for Poutine a while back.

Found this https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=32133&highlight=Poutine

 

[McKBrew]

Cheesemaking looks like another awesome hobby. Another awesome hobby requiring more equipment, another refrigerator, more storage space etc... Yeah, I'm interested, but not going to jump on board right away. Although, cheese swaps could be interesting especially when paired with certain beers for each cheese.

 

[BrianP]

Man, that looks good. Must resist temptation for a new hobby.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

I think we are going to try making just cheese curds this weekend. More instant gratification

 

[JFink]

Would the cheddar recipe be good with some ale and mustard grains in it?

 

[Kai]

So when you left it out for three days to let the rind harden, with the chopsticks and the flipping and all, did you take any steps to avoid mold getting a foothold?

 

[paulthenurse]

Doesn't happen. SWMBO makes cheese a lot and as it dries it forms a leathery rind.

Paul

 

[SuperiorBrew]

Would the cheddar recipe be good with some ale and mustard grains in it?

Sounds good, first I have to see if it turns out good with nothing in it

So when you left it out for three days to let the rind harden, with the chopsticks and the flipping and all, did you take any steps to avoid mold getting a foothold?

Nope I just covered it with a clean dish towel to keep the dust off of it. I looked it over good before waxing and no mold or anything strange looking.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

How much does your wheel of cheese weigh? I have always been interested in cheese making, but I recall someone saying "you'll be amazed at how much milk it takes to make a pound of cheese", which deterred me from trying it... Looking at your pictures, that looks like a nice huge chunk of cheese for just 2 gallons of milk going into it, I'm pleasantly surprised!

Brewing got me onto this forum, and then this forum got me addicted to baking bread. Just what I need, another hobby! Oh well, at least bread, cheese, and beer all go well together

 

[SuperiorBrew]

How much does your wheel of cheese weigh? I have always been interested in cheese making, but I recall someone saying "you'll be amazed at how much milk it takes to make a pound of cheese", which deterred me from trying it... Looking at your pictures, that looks like a nice huge chunk of cheese for just 2 gallons of milk going into it, I'm pleasantly surprised!

Brewing got me onto this forum, and then this forum got me addicted to baking bread. Just what I need, another hobby! Oh well, at least bread, cheese, and beer all go well together

I didn't weigh it but they said you should get 2 pounds of cheese out of 2 gallons of milk