New Cheddar
Posted: 13 February 2008 01:27 PM   [ Ignore ]
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I made a stirred curd cheddar a couple weeks ago using Rick’s instructions from his #14. Everything went well, I waxed it and now its aging. I’ve noticed, however, that it feels like it might be getting soft and it’s worrying me. Should I open it up? If I open it up and its fine, can I just re-wax it.

Sal

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Posted: 13 February 2008 01:50 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 1 ]
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U could, but i would wait unless u see some water collecting under the wax or mold. patience.

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Posted: 13 February 2008 02:10 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 2 ]
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I can wait, but I used black wax so it’s near impossible to see through.

Note to self: buy yellow cheese wax. cheese

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Posted: 13 February 2008 07:54 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 3 ]
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LOL, cut in half then rewax.

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Posted: 14 February 2008 04:54 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 4 ]
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good solution Neil wink

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Posted: 15 February 2008 10:25 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 5 ]
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Well, I cut it open, and immediately I could see the liquid. It wasn’t a lot but there were some pockets of whey in the center. A bit crumbly but its only a few weeks old.
Was this a pressing problem? What are my options? Can it be saved?

The good news is it tastes like a cheddar, albeit a strong cheddar.
Sal

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Posted: 16 February 2008 08:27 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 6 ]
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i think u have pressing problem, it looks so loose for cheddar, plus did u cheddar ur cheese?

Now i am getting more convinced about homo milk is a disaster

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Posted: 16 February 2008 09:46 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 7 ]
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I did not cheddar it, I may have to try that next.

I followed Rick’s Stirred curd cheddar recipe.
http://www.rickandlynne.com/rick/go/forums/viewthread/31/

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Posted: 16 February 2008 01:05 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 8 ]
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Sal, i’ve been thinking , gradual pressing is the mechanical way to remove whey from in between the curds…
how did u press ur cheese ??

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Posted: 16 February 2008 01:25 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 9 ]
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I have a basic cheese press. I followed Rick’s procedure:

Pressing: 15# for 10 minutes, redress. 30# for 10 minutes, redress. 40# for 2 hours, redress. 50# for 24 hours

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Posted: 16 February 2008 05:32 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 10 ]
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Your curds may have been a bit tight and wasn’t flexible enough to properly press. How salty is it? if theirs a salt taste then it might survive any mold problems. Take the wax off, let the surface dry and Rewax the whole thing real good would be what I would do. Dif to say really.

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Posted: 16 February 2008 09:09 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 11 ]
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Ive got it out of the wax, drying some more, its pretty crumbly. Is that because it was cooked to long, or pressed too much/little?  What causes the curds to be too tight? Where did I go wrong?

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Posted: 16 February 2008 10:23 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 12 ]
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Hard to tell unless u documented everything (times temps) cooking too long maybe or also too much salt. Realy hard to tell with out knowing what u exactly did.
My swiss turned out wrong because it was over cooked and too much salt leaked into it from the brine solution (was crumbly and didnt stick together well)

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