Cheddar Part 1

Scott bought us a cheese making kit from Amazon for a #smaj activity. We already successfully made halloumi, but Rosemarie said I should document the process next time, so here is our attempt at making cheddar cheese!

Don’t use this as a recipe, I haven’t included the finer details.

Heating the (6L) unhomogenized milk, calcium chloride, starter culture, and rennet.
Once it was set I cut the curd. Then we had to heat it up again very slowly while stirring to break up the clumps.
Curds ready for hanging. I didn’t save the whey this time, but last time I used it to make bread, which turned out weird.
Then we hung the bag for an hour.
Which resulted in a more solid curd lump.
Breaking up the curds and adding salt.
Curds in cheesecloth-lined press.
Scott setting up the press.
We pressed it at 5kg for 10 minutes, then 10kg for 10 minutes, then 20kg for 12 hours.
What it looked like after pressing. Also this is my favourite picture I’ve taken with my new camera so far.
Our cheese cupboard. LOL.

Now we have to leave it in the cupboard for a week, flipping it twice a day, so it can develop a natural dry rind. (We have a mesh food cover for it.) Once it’s dry we have to cover it in wax, and then leave it to age for minimum 5 weeks.

Part 2 in six weeks!!

1 comment

  1. I love this post!! Not to be picky.. but.. can you include a banana for scale next time?
    The block turned out way bigger than I thought it would, but I think you just have a really big pot!!

    PS: I think we have matching curtains. Are they from IKEA? It’s been 2 years and I still haven’t hemmed them.

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