Making Artisan Cheese (21 page)

½ teaspoon (about 3 ml) liquid rennet diluted in ¼ cup (60 ml) cool water

2 tablespoons (36 g) cheese salt

TECHNIQUES

For illustrated steps and tools, see Intermediate Cheese-Making Techniques,
page 82
.

PROCEDURE

Heat milk to 90°F (32°C) in a double boiler, then add the starter culture and stir for one minute. Cover and let rest for thirty minutes at room target temperature.

Maintaining the temperature of 90°F (32°C), add the rennet to the milk, stir for two minutes, then cover. Let the mixture sit for forty minutes at the target temperature, or until a clean break (see
page 83
). Make one cut with a curd knife check for a clean cut. Cut the curds into ¼" (6 mm) cubes, keeping the size as uniform as possible.

Slowly raise the temperature to 92°F (33°C); this should take ten minutes. Hold the curds at the target temperature for forty minutes. Be sure to stir frequently to keep the curds from matting. Let rest at the target temperature for five minutes.

Drain the curds into a cheese cloth–lined colander, and let whey drain into a catch bowl for a few minutes. Cut the curds into 1" (2.5 cm) -thick slabs, and stack on top of one another. Turn the stack over, top to bottom, two times in ten minutes.

Though now produced in England, Caerphilly, a mild, cow’s milk cheese, gets its name from the village in Wales where it was first made; it was the traditional lunch of Welsh miners.

Using your hands, break the curds into thumbnail-sized pieces, and blend with salt.

Fill a cheese cloth–lined 2-pound (900 g) mold with the salted curds. Cover the curds with one corner of the cheese cloth, and press at ten pounds for ten minutes. Remove the cheese from the press, take it out of the mold, and unwrap the cheese cloth. Turn the cheese, and put a layer of salt on both top and bottom before rewrapping with cheese cloth. Press at ten pounds for ten minutes. Repeat the same procedure, pressing at fifteen pounds for twenty minutes. Repeat the same procedure, pressing at fifteen pounds for sixteen hours.

Take the cheese out of the mold, and let it air-dry. This should take several days. Be sure to turn the cheese several times daily to ensure even drying. When the cheese is dry to the touch, it is ready to be ripened. Ripen in your refrigerator at 55°F (13°C) at 80–85 percent humidity for three weeks, turning several times a week.

Yield: 2 pounds (900 g)

Artisan Advice

Although the process of making cheese is not terribly difficult, it can be time consuming. Taking into account all of the factors involved in culturing, renneting, scalding, stirring, milling, and pressing, you should allow anywhere from three to four hours per session.

Cloth-Banded Cheddar

This cheese is not something you can make in a hurry, but you will find it quite rewarding. It has a texture that is drier, with a crumbly flake that is associated with traditional English cheeses. Age it for six months (if you can hold out that long), and see what flavor intensity has developed.

We associate Cheddar with the firm, somewhat sharp yellow English cheese, but the word cheddar also refers to a unique method of layering the curds when making this famous cheese.

INGREDIENTS

2 gallons (7.6 L) whole milk

4 tablespoons (60 ml) mesophilic mother culture, or ¼ teaspoon (about 2 ml) mesophilic direct-set culture

teaspoon (about 1 g) calcium chloride diluted in ¼ cup (60 ml) cool water (see
page 72
)

1 teaspoon (5 ml) liquid rennet diluted in ¼ cup (60 ml) cool water

2 tablespoons (36 g) cheese salt

TECHNIQUES

For illustrated steps and tools, see Intermediate Cheese-Making Techniques,
page 82
.

PROCEDURE

Heat the milk to 86°F (30°C), then stir in the starter culture, cover, and ripen for forty-five minutes. Add calcium chloride. Maintaining the target temperature of 86°F (30°C), add the rennet to the milk, and stir for one minute. Cover and let it sit at target temperature for forty minutes, or until you get a clean break (see
page 83
). Make one cut with a curd knife to test for a clean break.

Maintaining the target temperature, cut the curds into ¼" (6 mm) cubes, and let them rest for five minutes. Slowly heat the curds to 100°F (38°C), stirring occasionally to prevent the curds from matting. This should take thirty minutes. Once you reach the target temperature, hold for an additional thirty minutes, continuing to stir. Let the curds rest for twenty minutes at the target temperature.

Drain the curds into a cheese cloth–lined colander and let them sit for fifteen minutes at room temperature. You now have a large block of curd. Cut the block into ½" (about 1 cm) -thick strips, and lay them in an 8" x 8" (20 x 20 cm) pan in a crisscross pattern. Cover with a kitchen towel, and put the cake pan into a sink filled with 100°F (38°C) water, to a depth that comes just to the top of the pan. Make certain that the water does not get into the pan. Keep the curds at 100°F (38°C). Rotate the curds top to bottom every fifteen minutes for two hours. Be sure to drain the whey from the cake pan every time you flip the curds. By the end of two hours, your strips should be smaller and tough, with a smooth, shiny finish on the sides. Tear your curds into ½" (about 1 cm) pieces, and put them back into the pan. Cover and let them sit in the 100°F (38°C) water for an additional thirty minutes. Stir the curds frequently to keep them from matting. Blend in the salt by hand, and let the curds rest for five minutes at room temperature.

Banding Cheese

Cloth banding is the traditional way to form a rind on Cheddar cheese. The advantage to cloth is that the cheese can breathe more effectively than when covered in wax, and proper breathing gives the cheese a richer, fuller flavor. Cloth banding is easy to do, and it gives your cheese an authentic look.

PROCEDURE
Place the cheese on a clean sheet of cheese cloth, trace the top and bottom of the cheese, and cut out four circles that are each wide enough for the cheese cloth to cover the sides of the cheese. Rub a thin coat of vegetable shortening on the cheese, covering the entire cheese. Lay the cheese cloth on the top and bottom of the cheese, adhering to the shortening. Repeat the process, layering a second coat of shortening between the two layers of cloth. Cover with the second layer of cheese cloth, and rub the fabric smooth to form a solid seal. Ripen at 55° F (13°C) for three to six months at 80–85 percent humidity, turning weekly.

Pour the curds into a 2-pound (900 g), cheese cloth–lined mold. (If you are using the Wheeler cheese press you will not be able to fit all of the curds into the mold, unless you use the stainless-steel mold to catch the additional curds.) Press at ten pounds for fifteen minutes. Take the cheese out of mold, and peel off the cheese cloth. Turn the cheese over, rewrap it in the cheese cloth, and press at forty pounds for twelve hours. Repeat this procedure, and press at fifty pounds for twenty-four hours.

Take the cheese out of the mold, and let it air-dry on a cheese board for two to three days. Turn the cheese several times daily to allow for even drying.

Yield: 2 pounds (900 g)

Artisan Advice

The process of cheddaring occurs when the cheese maker takes the mass of drained curds, lays them out flat, cuts them into blocks, and then stacks them on top of each other. Over time, the curd blocks will shrink in size and become firm in texture as they continue to lose whey. The end result is a cheese renowned for its flaky texture and pleasantly tangy flavor.

Colby

Colby cheese was developed in Colby, Wisconsin, in 1885, by Joseph F. Steinwand. Colby is similar to Cheddar, but because it is produced through a washed-curd process, it is a softer, moister, and milder cheese. It is often called Colby Longhorn, which is in reference to the long cylindrical molds that are used to form the cheese—not the cow.

PROCEDURE

Heat the milk to 86°F (30°C), and gently stir in the starter culture. Cover and let the milk ripen at the target temperature for one hour. If using homogenized milk, add the calcium chloride. Add the diluted annatto coloring and stir.

Maintaining the target temperature of 86°F (30°C), add the diluted rennet and stir for one minute. Cover and let sit for forty minutes at target temperature. Check for a clean break (see
page 83
) with a curd knife (or your finger) and making a test cut through the curds. Cut the curds into
" (1 cm) cubes. Stir and let rest for five minutes at target temperature.