Our complete recipe on making Cheddar Cheese

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• published: 24 Oct 2015
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A complete guide from start to finish on how to make Artisan Farmstead Cheddar. The recipe: 1) Ripening: Add the starter culture (RA21 7.5DCU/100L + FLAV 54). Allow the milk to ripen for 50 minutes at 32C. pH should be about 6.7-6.6 2) Rennet: 5 minutes before the rennet add the colour (Annato 3CCs per 100L of milk) stir well then add the rennet to the milk. DO NOT dilute the rennet and leave it standing for a period of time before adding it to the vat. Stir for 3 minutes. 3) Cutting: After 50 minutes the curd should be ready to be cut. Test for firmness by laying the back of the hand flat on the surface of the curd near the side of the vat and gently pulling away. The curd should come cleanly from the side of the vat. You can also check for a 'clean break' . The curd should split cleanly and the whey should be yellowish green. Do not cut the curd before it is ready. pH should be about 6.55 Cut the curd with the vertical knife lengthways into 10mm strips. Wait for 3-5 minutes until the curd has sunk down. The cut horizontally and wait again. Then into cubes. You should end up with 10mm cubes. 4) Scalding: Leave for 5 minutes until the cubes starts to sink. Then begin to stir and put the heat on. Scald to 40C taking 1 hour. 5)Stirring: Stir the curds and whey for one hour maintaining 40C At this stage the curd particles will feel quite firm and retain their shape when pressure is applied. 6) Pitch: Allow the curds to sink. After 5 minutes gently push the curd back from the outlet and about 1/3 of the way towards the back of the vat. Check the acidity of the curd. At this stage they should be about pH6.2 7) Drain: Run the whey from the vat. This should take about 20 minutes but if the pH is low do it more quickly. Make a channel in the middle of the vat spreading the curd evenly on either side of the vat. At the end of draining the pH should be about 6. 8) Curd Handling: After 10 minutes cut the curd on either side into 7-8 inch slabs and turn over carefully. 9) Turning: After 10 minutes turn again. After 10 minutes begin the cheddaring process and pile 2 high. Turn again after 10 minutes. Pile 4 high and turn again after 10 minutes. Repeat again after10-15 minutes then make just one stack. Try to turn the beast if you can every 10-15 minutes. 8)Mill When the pH reaches 5.3 weigh the curd into a clean container and mill through a peg mill. Spread the curd evenly. Monitor the acidity and when the pH is 5.2 add 2% non iodized vacuumed salt. Allow the salt to mellow for 15 minutes stirring twice in this period. 9) Hooping. Fill weighted amounts of curd into the hoops / moulds with cheesecloth. 10) Press. Apply gentle pressure 10 psi for approximately 1 hour or add weight. Remove from press and carefully pull up the cloths to remove creases in the sides of the cheese. Press again and increase the pressure to 40psi. 11) Leave the cheese for approximately 16 hours, during this time the temperature of the press room should be about 22C 12) Remove from hoop, record the weight vacuum pack and label. Cheese should be aged at about 10-12C for 6 months. I'll try to make another one soon showing a few modifications how you can do the same process in your home. Any other queries leave a question in the comments. http://cheesethailand.com/