Farmhouse Cheddar update 1

This Is my first blog after making Farmhouse Cheddar. 

This cheese is a fairly easy cheese to make. It took me 

probably 5 hours to pour, stir cut and mill the cheese, until it was pressed in my makeshift cheese press, for 12 hours.

When making it I stuck fairly closely to the recipe; except that I could not find the rennet that came with my cheese kit, instead I used a product that was in our pantry "Junket". This was a little hard because I needed mL and it was in tablets, secondly, once I got what I thought was the right amount, but after leaving it for 45 mins, and then a further 15mins the milk had not turned into curds, at this point I was starting to worry, and I was afraid that the reaction would happen, so I left the Milk in the incubator over night and when I opened it in the morning I found that it had finally set properly and was ready to be cut.


After cutting the curds I cooked them at 38C in the incubator. this process took longer than I thought it would and  longer then  the recipe said (Depends how much hot water you put in the incubator)

Next I poured the mixture into a butter muslin lined colander and stir it slowly as it began to drain. Now the recipe said to tie up the corners and let it hang for 4-5 hours, but I just left it in the lined colander for 24 hours and it worked the same

After packing a mould with the remaining mixture, I began pressing. The only problem was that I did not have enough room on my makeshift press to weigh it down with 20Kg, so I instead pressed it at 15Kg. This was almost the same only slightly moister

What things worked well?
- Cutting the curd
- It drained from the colander the way it should
- The vat fitted in the microwave

- There was just the right amount to fit into the mould

What didn't work so well:
- My rennet took longer then it should to set the curds
- The cheese was moister then it should be and wasn't completely drained

Time it took to make:
- 5 Hours

Time left on project:
- 15 hours

Recipes - Farmhouse Cheddar

This is a great cheddar to make if you have never made cheese before. It takes less time to make then reglar cheddar and is ready to eat after only five weeks of aging.
This recipe makes one small Farmhouse Cheddar

Ingredients

• 4L of Whole Non-Homogenized milk
• 1ml of rennet diluted in al least 4ml of cooled, boiled water
• Approximately 1/4 a packet of Mesophilic starter culture
• 1 tablespoon of cheese salt
• Cheese Wax

Equipment

• Cheese vat (tub)
• Cheese incubator
• Hard cheese mould with follower
• Butter Muslin
• Thermometer
• Pipette
• Measuring beaker
• Draining spoon
• Long bladed knife
• Weights or cheese press

Method

Step 1 - Sterilizing Equipment 

• Set up a bucket or large container (I generally just use a small basin, fill it with cold water and add the correct amount of sterilization tablets)
• Keep all equipment that will come in contact in said tub. if you use something twice make sure you rinse it then place it back in the tub

Step 2 - Inoculating the milk

• In the cheese vat heat the milk to 32C using a microwave
• Stir in Mesophilic starter culture
• Cover and let cheese ripen for 45mins in Incubator 
• Remove vat and pour in diluted rennet and stir it in using an up and down motion for the next minute
• Cover and let it sit for another 45 mins

Step 3 - Cutting the Curd

• Now cut the curd into 1 cm cubes
• Add hot water to the cheese incubator to slowly increase the temperature of the curds to 38C(this should take roughly 30mins)
• During the 30 mins continue to stir the curds from clumping together
• After a temperature of 38C has been achieved, cover the cheese vat and let at 38C for 5 mins inside the incubator

Step 4 - Draining and milling the curds

• Pour the curds into a butter muslin lined colander. Tie the corners of the cheesecloth into a knot and hang the bag in a warm spot to drain for 1 hour
• After an hour, place the curds into a bowl and break them up into small pieces. Mix in the cheese salt

Step 5 - Moulding and Pressing

• Pack the curds into a lined cheese mould. Fold a piece of butter muslin over the top of a piece of the cheese before pressing at 5kg for 10 mins
• Remove the cheese from the mould. Remove the cheese cloth, turn the cheese, redress the cheese in the butter muslin and press again for 10 mins at 10kg
• Repeat this process again but instead press at 20kg for 12 hours

Step 6 - Ageing the Cheese

• After 12 hours, remove the cheese from the mould and air dry on the cheese cheese mat for a few days until the cheese develops a natural dry rind. this should take 4 days
• While the cheese is air drying, make sure you turn it over regularly to prevent moisture from collecting on the bottom 
• After the cheese has developed a natural rind, it is ready for waxing.
• Age the cheese at around 13C for 5 weeks

Recipes- Farmhouse Cheddar

Recipes - Farmhouse Cheddar:

Farmhouse Cheddar.

This is a great cheddar to make if you have never made cheese before. It takes less time to make then reglar cheddar and tastes just as good

IY8 Overview

This is my first post so I'll try to explain what my task is and what I'm trying to achieve by doing it

Ok so for school we have a project called IY8. (Inspire Year 8) which involves every body in my year at school to do a project on what ever they want over a 10 week period, You can do almost anything: Create a website, write a novel, build a Pizza oven, or even make cheese (which is what I am attempting to do) 

The only rules are,

-That you must do at least 20 hours on the project across the given weeks

-You must keep a journal of every thing you have done (which I am doing in the form of a Blog) 

-And you must write a reflection at the end

-Plus you must have a mentor (My parents) that signs off certain comment boxes that your teachers check to see how you are going