Cheddar cheese, the most widely purchased and eaten cheese in the world, is always made from cow’s milk.
It is a hard and natural cheese that has a slightly crumbly texture if properly cured and if it is too young, the texture is smooth. It gets a sharper taste as it matures, over a period of time between 9 to 24 months.
Shaped like a drum, 15 inches in diameter, Cheddar cheese is natural rind bound in cloth while its colour generally ranges from white to pale yellow. However, some Cheddars may have a manually added yellow-orange colour (like mine).
Cheddar Cheese
Makes about 1 kg of cheese
Ingredients
- 10 L (10 qt) Full Cream Milk, preferably pasteurised/unhomogenised
- 1/8th Teaspoon (Dash) Mesophilic Culture MO30
- 2.5 ml (½ tsp) Calcium Chloride in ¼ cup water
- 2.5 ml (½tsp) Liquid Rennet in ¼ cup water
- 12 drops of Annatto in 1/4 cup water
- 1 & ½ Tablespoons Cheese Salt
- Loose weave Cheese Cloth
- Butter, Lard or Coconut oil for banding
Equipment
- Cheese Press
- 165 mm Cheese basket with follower
- Cheese drying mat or Bamboo mat
- Dairy Thermometer
- Stainless Steel Stirring Spoon
- Mini measuring spoons (for cultures)
Method
Adding Ingredients
- Sanitise all equipment.
- Warm your milk to 31°C (88°F), stirring gently whilst bringing up to temperature. Turn off the heat.
- Sprinkle culture over the surface of the milk and allow to rehydrate for 5 minutes. Stir thoroughly in an up and down motion without breaking the surface of the milk. Cover and allow to rest for 40 minutes at the target temperature.
- Add the Annatto solution and mix well.
- Add the Calcium Chloride solution and mix well.
- Add the rennet solution to the milk and mix thoroughly using the same up and down motion for no more than 2 minutes. Cover and allow to set for 40 minutes.
- Check for a clean break. If necessary, leave for another 10 minutes then check again.
CUTTING THE CURD
- Check for a clean break and cut the curds into 1.25 cm (½ inch) cubes.
- Rest for 5 minutes to allow curds to heal.
- Return to a low heat and gradually raise the temp to 39°C (102°F), stirring gently and continuously, during the period of 45 minutes. Don’t heat too fast. This slow process allows more whey to be expelled and avoids bitterness in the fully aged cheese.
- Once the target temperature is reached, turn off the heat. Let the curds rest for 40 minutes maintaining the temp at 39°C (102°F) .
Cheddaring, Milling, and PRESSING
- Drain curds and whey through cheesecloth lined colander. Return the curd slab back to the pot for cheddaring, place pot back into the double boiler to keep the curd slab at 39°C (102°F).
- Cut the slab in half and cover pot and allow curds to stand for 10 minutes.
- After 1o minutes, turn each slab over. Let stand for another 10 minutes.
- After 1o minutes, turn each slab over. Let stand for another 10 minutes.
- After 1o minutes, turn each slab over. Let stand for another 15 minutes. That’s 45 minutes cheddaring time in total.
- Drain the two slabs through cheesecloth lined colander, then place the slabs onto a chopping board.
- Cut the curd into 5 by 1.25 cm (2 by ½ inch) fingers.
- Using your pot as a container, break each finger in half and then toss the salt through the curds. This is called Milling
- Line a 165 mm cheese mould with cheesecloth and fill with the curds. Cover the curds with the corner of the cheese cloth, top with a follower, and press at 11 kg (24 lbs) for 1 hour.
- Remove the cheese from the press, and slowly and carefully unwrap it. Turn the cheese over, rewrap it in the cloth and press at 22 kg (50 lb) for 12 hours.
AIR DRYING AND WAXING
- Then place on a cheese mat and board and let air dry at room temperature until it is dry to touch (usually 2-5 days). Turn twice daily to allow for even drying.
- Cloth band or wax the cheese and allow it to age for 3 months for mild, 6 months for Tasty, 12+ months for Vintage Cheddar. Ripen in a humid cheese fridge at 10-12ºC (50-54ºF) at 80-85% humidity. Don’t forget to turn weekly, to allow for even distribution of the fats and flavour.
I have tasted this cheese at 3 months and it is quite mild. I recommend that this Cheddar Cheese is aged for 6 months or more for a sharper flavour.
If you are interested in making Cheddar cheese at home, I highly recommend the Hard Cheese Kit, as it contains most things you need to make this cheese.
What’s the shelf life on this cheese? Does it need refrigeration?
If you allow raw milk to sit in the refrigerator for 2 days, the cream should rise to the top. Carefully scoop out as much of this cream without dipping into the milk below and leave the cream in a covered container until it reaches room temperature (depending on how cold it is, it can take up 4 to 6 hours). Once ready, blend the cream on medium speed for up to 2 minutes until all the butter separates at the top. Pour it all through a strainer,this should leave the white butter in the strainer and buttermilk in the bowl below. You need to clean the butter in a pan using cold water until any residual buttermilk is poured out. To do this, pour in some cold water and using a wooden spoon, press and fold the butter until the water turns cloudy, then pour the water into the sink and repeat washing the butter in this way until the butter turns yellow. It normally takes 4 or 5 rounds. Sprinkle in some salt to taste and put it in the fridge, use for a week to 10 days.
The buttermilk that was left over from the butter, you need to mix that in sterilized milk. Take some whole fat raw milk (if you start out with two cups of cream, the resulting buttermilk should be enough for 3 cups of whole milk). To sterilize the milk, slowly bring it to 140F while stirring slowly so the cream remains evenly mixed. Once at 140, maintain at this temperature for 30 minutes. This will kill off any harmful bacteria and once the milk returns to room temperature, you can add in the buttermilk and mix well. Now leave this mixture in a jar and instead of a lid, place a cloth over the top and set it in place with a rubber band. The cloth should allow for the mixture to breathe without any dust particles falling in. Keep the jar at room temperature out of sunlight (or any UV light) for 24 hours. This will be your mother culture (mesophilc).
You can use a cup of this culture mixed in some raw milk for up to 2 gallons (just over 10L) of whole milk for the fermentation/acidification phase (leave the milk to ripen at 28C or 82-83F for 30 minutes before you add in your dye (annato) and 10-15 minutes after that, add in the rennet (diluted in cold, non-chlorinated water). Leave for 30-40 minutes, but check around the 25 minute mark in case the rennet worked faster. If you have a clean break (stick in a flat knife vertically and turn it 90 degrees, if the curd is set, it will break without sticking to the knife and whey should pour into the gap created) and the curd gel is separating from the sides, your curds are ready to be cut. Use a flat icing knife to do this, cut it into 1/4 inch cubes and leave to heal for 5 minutes. Then start raising the temperature (over a 30 minute period) to 39C (102F) while stirring slowly and gently so the curd cubes don’t break. Once at 39C/102F, maintain this temperature for another 30 minutes while continuing to stir. You’ll know you’re done when your curd cubes have shrunk to about peanut size.
Pour the curds into a colander so the whey is strained out, and let it drain for about 15 minutes.
Important: Leave the strained whey below the colander while draining and salting so the curds stay warm.
You can also place a cheese cloth in the colander first, and after straining the whey, close the cloth over the curds and place a slight weight on (place a flat surface e.g.over the cloth and place the weight on top). Once drained sufficiently, take the curds out of the cloth and place them back into the colander. Break the curds into thumbnail size pieces and sprinkle a tablespoon of salt and mix well and leave the curds for 10-15 minutes. Add 1/2 tablespoon of salt and leave for another 10-15 minutes. Now your curds are ready to be pressed.
Place a cheese cloth inside your mould and pack all your curds in and fold the rest of the cheese cloth over it before placing a flat surface on top and adding weights. Start with 5kg (11lbs) for an hour, flip the cheese and rewrap before pressing for another 1 hour. Then flip the cheese again, re-wrap the cheese and press at 50 lbs (22-23kg) for 12 hours. Now remove the cheese from the press and air dry for 2-3 days until the rind starts to harden and the cheese is dry to the touch. You should flip it 3-4 times a day during air drying. Once the cheese is dry, you can vacuum seal, wax or bandage wrap it (after coating in coconut or olive oil) and keep it to age in a cave or small fridge at 10-12C (50-55F) and 90% humidity. You can control this using an open container of water in the cave or fridge. If you used raw milk to start your cheese fermentation, you’ll need to age it from 30-60 days. Otherwise you can eat the cheese fresh without again. However, the best flavours are usually achieved after at least 20-30 days of aging.
Hi I made this cheddar following the recipe. When making this the fat seemed to just float on the top resembling butter until I heated to 39 then it melted to a liquid but still stayed separate. I used pasteurised unharmogonised milk as instructed.
I want to know how to make cheese n butter and also price for mashine
Thanks so much for the recipe. Can this recipe be halved or is there a way to make just a gallon? Love your cheese harp!
Hi
Thanks for sharing all your hard work and knowledge with us.
I have a question for you and I don’t think you cover it on your Q&A videos.
I will start to make cheese and I wish to know what is the deference between the wax and the sous-vide for aging cheese
I saw you unwrap your cheddar and it seem to mature in the plastic.
Did the sous-vide make aging slower?
Did the cheese cave humidity still realy important with plastic wrap?
I have a sous vide machine and I think it’s easier to use then the wax.
Thanks for your help
I wish you a great day! 🙂
Your little padawan/curd nerd