Cheddar Cheese

Cheddar cheese is a standard cheese that undergoes a cheddar process. That’s a high-tech British term for cooking longer at a fixed low temperature, because you couldn’t say “sous vide,” that would be . . . to French. You need to have a water bath maintained at a constant temperature for several hours during the cheddar process, so you might consider buying a Sous Vide machine if you don’t have one. See general cheese making tips below before you start.

Ingredients

  • 2 Gals Milk – unpasteurized is best, but not UHT/UP milk
  • 1/8 tsp Calcium chloride diluted with 2 oz water
  • Culture: 4 oz Butter Milk or Yogurt, or 1/8 tsp Mesophilic culture
  • Rennet – 0.5 tsp animal or 1/2 tablet – dissolved in cold water
  • 2 TBL Sea Salt

Process

  1. Mise en Place – measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
  2. Pour milk into a large pot and heat to 85 deg F (29 C), over med heat. Take your time and let the milk slowly warm.
  3. As milk warms, add the calcium chloride – you don’t need to do this if you have unpasteurized milk.
  4. When milk reaches 85 F, add culture, stirring in an up and down motion for 1 min.
  5. Cover and allow milk to ferment undisturbed for 1 hr.
  6. Stir to homogenize and add diluted rennet in the same manner as the culture, stirring for 1 min.
  7. Place pot in a bath of 90 deg. F water.
  8. Let sit undisturbed for 1 hr or until whey separates and solid curds form.
  9. Cut the curds into 0.25″ cubes and let set for 5 mins. Do not stir.
  10. Pour off whey (liquid) and heat curds over med heat to 100 deg F. Heat slowly, like taking 30 mins. Stir constantly as curds shrink.
  11. Maintain temperature and continue to stir. If curds get hot, remove from heat.
  12. After 30 mins, remove from heat and allow curds to settle for 20 mins.
  13. Line a colander with cheese cloth (at least 2 layers thick) and pour in curds.
  14. Allow curds to drain for 15 mins. Meanwhile, drain whey from pot.
  15. Remove curds from colander and turn onto a cutting board and cut into 5 sections
  16. Place curds back in pot and cover.
  17. Make a water bath for the pot with a temp of 102 F, and maintain this temp. Using a sous vide would be ideal.
  18. Place pot in water bath and turn the slices every 15 mins for 2 hours, this is the cheddering process.
  19. Remove curds from pot and cut into 0.5″ cubes, and put back in pot that still in water bath.
  20. After 10 mins, stir gently with hands. Let rest 10 mins and stir again with hands. Repeat once more.
  21. Remove pot from water bath and gently stir in salt.
  22. Line a press/mold with cheese cloth and carefully place the curds in the press.
  23. Wrap the cloth around cheese and press to 10 lbs pressure for 15 mins.
  24. Remove cheese from press, unwrap, flip cheese, re-wrap, and put back in press at 40 lbs pressure for 12 hours.
  25. Remove from mold and air dry 2-3 days until smooth and dry to the touch.
  26. Either wax cheese or wrap in clean cheese cloth and age at 55-60 deg F for at least 60 days.
  • Cheese Making Tips:
    1. The most important tip; don’t use UHT/UP ultra high pasteurized milk, it is basically dead with all the healthy bacteria removed and won’t break down – just like it won’t break down in you gut.
    2. You need a mesophilic culture – you can buy chemicals if that’s your deal, but cultured buttermilk or yogurt works better.
    3. If you cannot get unpasteurized milk, you can add calcium chloride to pasteurized milk at 1/8th tsp diluted in 2 oz water then added to 2 gallons of milk – because why would you make cheese from just one gallon of milk.

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