# has anyone made cheddar?



## chicky momma (Jul 25, 2006)

Has anyone made cheddar cheese? How did it go and how did it turn out? Did it take a long time to age? The latest thing I read said about 2 months depending on how sharp you want it. Lisa


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## BlueHeronFarm (Feb 9, 2007)

We just opened up my first goat cheddar. It said to age 1-4 months - we did about a month and a half. It was delicious, but dry. Not too sharp - but definite cheddar flavor. I wish I had waxed it - it might have kept more moisture - but I let it develop its own rind.

Oh well-- I'll try again.


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

If you want to do it properly, make a cheesecloth bandage for your Cheddar, and then cover that with either butter or lard. It's the perfect method for controlling moisture and gas exchange that's ever been invented, at least for Cheddar. Naturally, it's traditional.

And waxing, for me, always stifled the gas exchange so badly that the cheese I've waxed never tastes better than cheap grocery store Cheddar. Very disappointing.

Cheddar only gets better the longer you age it (assuming you know how to age cheese), but I know the temptation to cut it is almost irresistible for beginners. The trickiest part I found in making Cheddar is the cheddaring. It's real easy to quit before the chicken breast stage, or leave it stewing so long it drives all the moisture out of the curd (and then you have the very devil to get the curd to knit when you press). Cheddaring is a whole 'nother complicated step to master after you perfect the first stage of recognizing a clean break, and when to stop stirring and cooking. 

Cheddar's probably not a beginner's project, unless you have uncommon luck.


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## BlueHeronFarm (Feb 9, 2007)

Julia said:


> If you want to do it properly, make a cheesecloth bandage for your Cheddar, and then cover that with either butter or lard.


Lard is just not an option for me - but I didn't even think of butter. I may have to try that next time.


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

BlueHeronFarm said:


> Lard is just not an option for me


Why?


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## BlueHeronFarm (Feb 9, 2007)

I'm a total fat-phobic vegetarian. 
And there are some dietary law issues for me, too.


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

Ah, I see. For what it's worth, though, the lard coating never gets directly in contact with the cheese. It just sits on the outside of the cheesecloth, and forms a lovely, flavor-giving mold as the cheese ages, and is removed entirely at cutting. You'd never eat it.

It just lets the cheese breathe as it ages, unlike wax or other modern coatings, but will retain moisture in the cheese just as well as them. And no petrochemicals!~


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## chicky momma (Jul 25, 2006)

What about olive oil in place of butter or lard?
Lisa


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

chicky momma said:


> What about olive oil in place of butter or lard?
> Lisa


No, it should be a solid fat for Cheddar. Which is not to say that some cheeses aren't aged after being rubbed with olive oil (without the cheesecloth), but they haven't been cheddared first, and that won't give you Cheddar cheese. The gas exchange is different with oil vs. lard. It'll be another kind of cheese, which is cool if that's what you want.

That's the fun side of cheesemaking---when you get the basics down and you can start playing. Then you can make up an original cheese, of your own, and give it a name of its own.


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## chicky momma (Jul 25, 2006)

Thanks Julia,
I asked for home cheese making for xmas. Have tried several kinds. I make feta regularly now and have made a little ricotta. Also make kefir. It is exciting. Lisa


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## coso (Feb 24, 2004)

I must have cooked my strips to long cause I had a devil of a time getting it to knit together when I made it. Also it was really dry. It taste fair but I never have tried it again that was an all day affair.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

coso said:


> I must have cooked my strips to long cause I had a devil of a time getting it to knit together when I made it. Also it was really dry. It taste fair but I never have tried it again that was an all day affair.


Making cheddar and doing anything else that day is a problem for me too. Perhaps with experience that would change but I find doing Gouda a little more forgiving and less labour intensive, so I've been working on my Goat Gouda.

As for the lard issue - I'm with Blue, the issue about using a meat product is that then you are supporting the slaughter of another animal. How about veg shortening?


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

Julia, may I ask where you are and do you do seminars. You seem to be a wealth of cheesemaking info.


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

Liese said:


> How about veg shortening?


LOL! Now you're squicking me out! Hydrogenated vegetable shortening is a heart attack in a can, filled with nasty manufactured fatty acid chains that do bad things to the human body. Me, I'm much rather work with a natural product like butter or home rendered lard!

I suppose it might work though, although I've never done it and don't know anyone else who's tried. But that's the fun of cheesemaking---experimentation! 

Just don't change too many variables at once though, or you'll never make sense of your results.


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

steff bugielski said:


> Julia, may I ask where you are and do you do seminars. You seem to be a wealth of cheesemaking info.


I take seminars, Steff, I don't give them! I've just been on this road longer than you guys, and know what you're likely to run up against. 

Now Peter Dixon is someone in your neck of the woods who gives seminars, and who has forgotten more than I ever knew. He'd be the one to take a seminar from, and he does give them. 

But thanks for the kind thoughts!


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Julia said:


> L Me, I'm much rather work with a natural product like butter or home rendered lard!


Hey Julia, for a Buddhist, in my case although other religons also apply, home rendered lard is not a natural product. So someday when I get the cheddar making urge I'll try the shortening and post the results. Just got an inspiration - Miso! A nice tangy red miso, hmmm. Happy cheesemaking!


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

Liese said:


> Hey Julia, for a Buddhist,... home rendered lard is not a natural product.


Well, I think there is some wiggle room there under the general idea of "Right Livelihood', or how else could a Buddhist dairy? The Theravada school even has the Buddha eating meat from time to time...he just didn't kill it himself.

For that matter, how do you reconcile the killing of excess milking animals (and their surplus bucklings) who give you milk to make cheese with?

(Is this too much of a thread drift?)


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Julia said:


> Well, I think there is some wiggle room there under the general idea of "Right Livelihood', or how else could a Buddhist dairy? The Theravada school even has the Buddha eating meat from time to time...he just didn't kill it himself.
> 
> For that matter, how do you reconcile the killing of excess milking animals (and their surplus bucklings) who give you milk to make cheese with?
> 
> (Is this too much of a thread drift?)



We only eat milk products from our own goats, eggs from our chickens, our sheep are strictly for wool. This way I know what happens - any goaty boys will be wethered and sold to 4H'ers in NJ where they can show and keep the boys as pets, the chickens live out their natural life. Before we had a farm we were vegan fro several years, vegetarians for almost 30 yrs. This year I am experimenting with milking the Alpine girls thru - seems that some girls will milk several years between freshening, I hope both Gardenia and Iris think this is a good idea too.

My knowledge of the Theravada School is pretty sketchy but because they beg daily and all gifts are considered good karma for the giver probably it would be bad form to reject the gift. I follow the Zen form myself which is a bit different. But at any rate my goal is to be consistent, so I appreciate you asking.


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## Mr. Dot (Oct 29, 2002)

I turned to cheddar to deal with our excess milk after the pig was tucked into the freezer. I have 10 or 12 2~3 lb rounds waxed and aging in the back room but haven't tried one yet. The oldest is coming on 3 months and I'll be getting into it any day. A couple of them have some pretty livid mold under the wax and I'm not sure what I'm going to find when I slice it open -  - but we have high hopes. The biggest question mark/challenge here is the lack of a handy cave to age the cheese. It's aged in the back pantry now with the humidity and temps not at the ideal. Made a first stab at monterey jack last night.

Both of these recipes came from the Mary Jane Toth book: Goats Produce Too vol II


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

Mr. Dot said:


> It's aged in the back pantry now with the humidity and temps not at the ideal.


Too hot or too cold? Too cold will just slow aging down *a lot*, but doesn't usually cause off flavors. Too hot can cause off flavors, as well as putting aging into hyperdrive. It's probably the most risky thing about aging to mess up. 

Humidity is not an issue for waxed cheeses, though. That stuff stops air flow so effectively that no moisture is lost even in a self-defrosting fridge, which is usually as dry as the Mojave. Unfortunately, it also stops flavor development.

Finding the right place to age cheese is problematic for everyone, though, at least since the invention of central heating.



Mr. Dot said:


> Both of these recipes came from the Mary Jane Toth book: Goats Produce Too vol II


I love her books. She has an intuitive understanding of the cheesemaking process, and is able to communicate it wonderfully well. And it's a very inexpensive book, too.


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## Mr. Dot (Oct 29, 2002)

Temps are too high but not outrageously so - it _is_ December in Montana in a wood heated home after all  - but the humidity is _far_ lower than the 85% range. I just cut into one round and discovered a dry cheese more salty than I would have imagined and with the taste of blu cheese. Pretty good but not what I was expecting. This was the most moldy of the rounds. I have a jar that I'm trying to grow the blu mold in on a counter in the kitchen and maybe some of that mold hitched a ride.

Here's a question I've been pondering: In lieu of or in addition to waxing would vacuum sealing be a plus or a minus?


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## Julia (Jan 29, 2003)

Mr. Dot said:


> Here's a question I've been pondering: In lieu of or in addition to waxing would vacuum sealing be a plus or a minus?


<shudder> It would be an abomination, and rob you of any hope of getting good flavor development. Why would you want to do all that work only to get second rate grocery cheese, when you could take part in milk's leap to immortality?</shudder>



Mr. Dot said:


> I just cut into one round and discovered a dry cheese more salty than I would have imagined and with the taste of blu cheese.


It was dry and salty before you waxed it. You'll just have to tweak your recipe for next time. Use less salt, don't let the acidity get so high and/or cook the curd so long and at so high a temp. And take notes. Extensive notes.

The blue taste is coming from the blue mold under your wax. Blue mold is one of those living things that is indestructible (like cockroaches). The spores float in the air everywhere looking for things to land on and grow. You don't have to culture it, it's already there. 

Here's the thing about mold and cheese. You can either spend considerable time and effort fighting it, or you can embrace it. Mold on cheese is normal and right, and can add amazing flavor to cheese if you know how to manage it. The great cheeses are mold ripened, and learning how to do moldy rind correctly will boost your cheese up to another dimension.

But if fighting mold with waxing is what you want to do, you'll have to heat the wax up much hotter than you have been, and dip the cheese rather than brush the wax on. It just cools down too much in the brushing, and so is not hot enough to kill the mold spores sitting on your cheese's surface.

It's the high heat that prevents the mold, not the actual wax.


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