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Farmhouse Cheddar

INGREDIENTS

10 litres  whole cows' milk.
 2.5 ml    CaCl2 (omit if using raw milk).
 1 sachet  Mesophilic starter.
 5 ml      rennet.
17 grams   (1 tablespoon) iodine free salt.

CALCIUM CHLORIDE
Omit if using raw milk.
Add 2.5 ml diluted in 50 ml cooled boiled water. Stir well.

CULTURE
Warm milk to 32 Celsius
Add the mesophilic starter and stir. Stir again after 5 minutes.
Ripen milk for one hour. Allow natural cooling.

RENNET
Add 5 ml rennet diluted in 50 ml boiled cooled water.
Stir very briefly.
Wait 45 minutes for a clean break.

CUT
Cut curds into roughly 5 mm cubes.
Slowly heat the curds and whey to 38 C over a 30 minute period.
A small temperature overshoot does not matter much but be careful.
Stir gently but often to prevent matting of the curds.
After 30 minutes, rest the curds for 5 minutes - no stirring.

STRAIN
Hang the curds in a cheesecloth bag for one hour to drain most of the whey.
Keep the whey for use in other recipes.

SALT
Add the salt and mix well. The curds will break up. Chunks up to 2cm are fine though.

PRESS
Wrap and press gently in a mould for 10 minutes.
Re-wrap the inverted block and press harder for 10 minutes.
Invert the block and press without a cheese cloth for 12 hours.
Increase the pressure during this period. Clear whey should drip out.
Increase the pressure more but not so much that cheese starts leaking out of the mould.

DRY
Unwrap and dry the wheel at room temperature for a about a week to make a surface rind.
Use shets of kitchen paper to wick away moisture.
Invert the wheel and replace the kitchen paper frequently, several times a day.
Stop using paper towel sheets when they stay fairly dry.

AGE
Wax or vacuum wrap and age for a month or more at 12 Celsius.