Make Your Own Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese
Farmhouse cheddar is a hard cheese made using a few shortcuts to produce a cheese that’s rustic in appearance but similar in flavor to cheddar. It’s a good choice for the first-time hard cheesemaker since it won’t take as much time as traditional cheddar.
Equipment
Following is the equipment you will need. Remember: all vessels and utensils that come in contact with milk or curds must be made of stainless steel, enamel-lined steel, high-quality food-grade plastic, or glass. Since cheese making involves the acidification of milk, the use of aluminum or cast-iron utensils is not appropriate. Also, never use wooden spoons.
Thermometer
The most important kitchen tool for cheese making is a high-quality thermometer with an accurate temperature range of at least 32°F to 212°F. When selecting a thermometer, the most important traits to look for are accuracy and readability. (The thermometer should be able to clearly note changes as small as 1°F.) It should also be able to attach securely to a vessel, so that your hands are free and you can continuously monitor its readings.
The Cheese Pot
Look for a stainless steel (preferred) or enamel-lined pot with a capacity of at least 16 quarts for recipes using 3 gallons of milk. A 20-quart stock pot is ideal and will be required when making a 4-gallon batch of cheese. Your pot will need a fitted lid but it is not necessary for it to seal tightly.
Note: The best kitchenware for cooking may not be the best for cheese making. Stock pots with heavy-clad bottoms are designed to diffuse heat evenly and avoid burning, but the additional mass in the bottom also retains heat for a longer period of time. This increases the time it will take for milk or curds to heat and to cool. If you have this type of cookware, you can use it, but you should experiment to determine how quickly it heats and cools. You can then adjust your procedures as needed. All of the procedures in this guide assume that you are using basic kitchen kettles made of stainless or enameled steel with single-layer bottoms.
Curd Knife
You will need to be able to cut curds into uniform smaller pieces. The curd will be much like Jell-O, so a sharp edge is not required. Your curd knife must be long enough to reach the bottom of the cheese pot without the handle touching the cheese. A long-bladed carving or bread knife can be used. A better choice is a 12-inch stainless steel icing spatula.
Cheesecloth
Coarse cheesecloth is rated as #10 with about 20 threads per square inch. Have enough of each to allow you to increase the thread count by using double or triple layers as needed.
Drying Mats
Drying mats are simple platforms that hold resting cheeses as they dry and/or ripen. Look for ones with grooves or gaps on the surface that allow air to keep the bottom of the cheese dry. Kitchen cooling racks with wide gaps between thin metal wires are not suitable for this, because the weight of the cheese may cause the wires to cut into the bottom surface. Bamboo sushi rolling mats work perfectly well.
Cheese Press
All you will need for home cheese making is a 7×4-inch classic Tomme cheese basket with a matching follower. The Tomme (pronounced tum) is a basket-style mold with small holes in the sides and bottom to allow the draining of excess whey. The follower (sometimes referred to as a top or lid) fits inside the basket with just enough clearance to prevent binding against the sides and has a flat surface on one side with a support structure on the other. The supports distribute weight evenly over the surface on the flat side. The Tomme press forms cheese into the classic wheel shape.
A visit to your local used sporting goods store or flea market will net you the perfect set of operating weights for the Tomme press. All you will need are a few old style barbell weight disks. Look for ones that have flat surfaces and clear heaviness markings.
Farmhouse Cheddar Recipe
- Yield: 3 to 3 ¼ pounds
- Prep time: 3 ½ hours
- Rest time: 3 days to 3 months
- 3 gallons whole milk
- 1 pint heavy cream
- 1 ½ tsp. prepared liquid calcium chloride
- ¼ tsp. mesophilic culture
- ½ prepared rennet tablet
- 4 TB. flaked salt
- ½ cup distilled water
- Cheese pot
- Slotted spoon
- Curd knife
- Colander or strainer
- Coarse cheesecloth
- Tomme press with weights
- Bamboo drying mat
- Cheese wax (optional)
Ingredients:
Equipment:
- Combine milk, cream, and calcium chloride in a cheese pot or double boiler. Gently heat mixture to 90°F. Stir with an easy push-pull action to prevent milk from scorching.
- Turn off heat and sprinkle culture onto milk surface. Allow culture to rehydrate for 3 minutes before stirring into milk. Cover the pot and allow milk to rest at 90°F for 45 minutes.
- Note the time and add rennet by mixing into milk with an up-and-down motion for about 1 minute. Monitor between 30 and 40 minutes. After the set time has elapsed, check curds for a clean break.
- Use a curd knife to cut gel into ½-inch cubes. Allow curds to heal for 5 minutes.
- Indirectly heat curds to 100°F by increasing the temperature no faster than 2°F every 5 minutes. It should take 30 minutes to reach 100°F. This is best achieved in a double boiler on the stove top or in a sink full of 100°F to 110°F water. Stir frequently but gently to prevent matting.
- Hold curds and whey at 100°F for 1 hour, stirring every 5 minutes to keep curds from matting together. Adjust the temperature of your double boiler or sink water as needed to maintain this temperature.
- Place a large colander in the sink. (Note that no cheesecloth is used here.) Carefully pour curds and whey into the colander and allow to drain. Gently sift through curds with clean hands to facilitate draining. This will unblock the draining holes and keep curds from matting. Once whey has drained, sprinkle 1 tablespoon salt over curds and gently mix it in using your hands. Wait 1 minute and repeat with 1 tablespoon salt. Wait 1 minute and repeat with 1 tablespoon salt.
- Place curds into a cloth-lined press basket. Press with 4 to 5 pounds of weight for 15 minutes.
- Remove cheese from the press and take it out of the cheesecloth. Place the cheesecloth back in the mold and return cheese to the mold upside down. This time, press the cheese with 8 to 10 pounds of pressure for 12 hours.
- Remove cheese from the press as before and unwrap the cloth. Prepare brine solution with 1 tablespoon salt in distilled water. Using a corner of the cheesecloth, lightly apply saltwater wash to cheese. Paint the solution on; do not rub it in.
- Place cheese on a bamboo mat to air dry for 1 to 3 days. Cheese must be turned over twice a day. Cheese is ready to eat when yellowish rind (similar to the color of butter) starts to develop and cheese is dry to the touch. Left unwaxed, cheese should be refrigerated and consumed within 2 weeks.
- You can age cheese for up to 3 months by vacuum packing it. Cheese will benefit from storage in a constant temperature between 45°F and 60°F. It will mature more quickly at the warmer end of the range.
Congratulations on making your first wheel of cheese! Once you get the hang of it, you’ll never use store-bought cheese again. Happy cheese-making!
From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Cheese Making by James R. Leverentz
