Little Green Cheese

Cheese making at home with Gavin Webber the Cheeseman

Caerphilly Video Tutorial

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Of late, I have been cheesing up a storm.  Every Friday night for the last month, I have made large (14 litre) batches of a single recipe.   It seems to definitely be the way to go, because with all the same equipment, I can make two rounds of cheese instead of one!

Tomorrow night, I intend on making Caerphilly.  Caerphilly is one of my favourite cheeses to make.  It is relatively quick to make, only takes 3 and a half hours from milk to mould, and you can eat it in only three short weeks.  I wrote about the method in the last post, so I thought I would follow that up with the Caerphilly video tutorial due to the fact that I said I would, and that Melinda asked this question;

Hi Gavin, could you clarify a couple of things for me please?

How do you “Let mixture sit for forty minutes at the target temperature” Is that a constant reheating to keep it at that temp? If this is the case, that would mean that the mix is constantly dropping a couple of degrees, then being warmed up again. Or is there an easy way to do this? I’m assuming that you can’t just walk away from the cheesemaking while it’s resting?

“until you get a clean break” What is a clean break? Would you be able to show this in a photo or video please?

To specifically answer your first question, you will find that if you use my double boiler method the milk stays a constant temperature when at rest.  It takes a little practice, but as soon as the milk reaches the target temp, turn the heat off, and keep the cheese pot on the smaller saucepan.  The heat from the water in the lower pan keeps the milk at about 30-33°C.

You can definitely walk away, as I do when I make long ripening cheeses like Camembert (90 minute wait for the curd to set), however I check with the thermometer at about the halfway mark just to make sure.  You should get a better idea from the video.

The second question will be answered in the video as well.  May I also recommend that you purchase one of the cheese books that I reviewed recently?  It has all of the introduction to cheesemaking info you will ever need.  The authors do a much better job of describing the ins and outs of the methodology than I could do justice to.


Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the Caerphilly video tutorial, but I must warn you that it was the first one I ever made.  The photography was a bit wobbly, and I invested in a tripod very soon after (and have cleaned up and rebranded the video since)!

If you have any questions please leave a comment and I will endeavour to answer it.  The recipe for this cheese is located at this post titled, “Caerphilly” if you are interested in trying to make it.  It is relatively quick to make and only takes 3 and a half hours from milk to mould, and you can eat it in only three short weeks.  Also, and most importantly, it tastes divine.  Unless you live in the UK, it would be very rare to find this cheese in the shops.

Enjoy!  Blessed are the Cheese Makers, or so Monty Python says!

Caerphilly Cheese

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Yearning for a cheese that would be on the table quickly? Caerphilly cheese is the cheese that you are after. It has Welsh/English origins, and is a lightly pressed cheese that ripens in just 3 weeks.
Here is a bit of history about Caerphilly from Wikipedia;

Caerphilly cheese is a hard, white cheese that originates in the area around the town of Caerphilly in Wales, although it is now also made in England, particularly in the South West and on the English border with Wales. It was not originally made in Caerphilly, but was sold at the market there, hence taking the town’s name.

Caerphilly is a light-coloured (almost white), crumbly cheese made from cow’s milk, and generally has a fat content of around 48%. It has a mild taste, with its most noticeable feature being a not unpleasant slightly sour tang.

It is rumoured that the cheese was developed over time to provide the coal miners of the area with a convenient way of replenishing the salt lost through hard work over ten-hour shifts underground and so was a staple of the diet of the coal miners.

So here is my method for making it. I used the recipe out of Making Artisan Cheese by Tim Smith and modified it a little.

Caerphilly Cheese

  • 7.6 litres whole milk (2 gallons)
  • 1 quarter teaspoon (about 2 ml) mesophilic culture
  • 1 eighth teaspoon (about 1 ml) calcium chloride diluted in 60ml cool unchlorinated water
  • 1 teaspoon (about 3 ml) liquid rennet diluted in 60ml cool unchlorinated water
  • 2 tablespoons non-iodized salt

Heat milk to 32°C user double boiler (I use a smaller saucepan under the large pot).

Add the calcium chloride if you are using homogenised milk. Stir for a minute. Then add the starter culture and stir for another minute. Cover and let rest for thirty minutes at target temperature.

Maintaining the temp of 32°C (90°F), add the rennet to the milk, stir for two minutes, then cover. Let mixture sit for forty minutes at the target temperature, or until you get a clean break.

Cut the curds into 6mm (¼ inch) cubes, keeping the size as uniform as possible.

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

Drain the curds into a cheesecloth lined colander, and let whey drain for a 5 minutes. Cut the curds into 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick slabs, and stack on top of one another. Turn the stack over, top to bottom, two times in ten minutes. This will assist in draining a lot of whey from the curd.

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

Fill a cheesecloth-lined 1kg cheese mould with the salted curds.

Cover the curd with one corner of the cheese cloth, lay the follower on top, and press at 5kg (10 pounds) for ten minutes.

Remove the cheese from the press, take it out of the mould, and unwrap the cheesecloth. Turn the cheese, and rub a layer of salt on both top and bottom before rewrapping with cheese cloth. Press at 5kg (10 pounds) for ten minutes. Repeat the same procedure (salt), pressing at 7.5 kg (15 pounds) for twenty minutes. Repeat the same procedure, pressing at 7.5 kg (15 pounds) for sixteen hours. I finished this stage at 6 pm on Saturday evening, so I had to wait until 10 am Sunday morning for the next part.

Take the cheese out of the cheese mould, and let it air dry on a cheese mat and cheese board for about 3-4 days. Make sure you turn the cheese several times a day to ensure even drying and fat distribution.

When the cheese is dry to touch, it is ready to be ripened. Place in your cheese cave at 13ºC (55ºF) at 80-85% humidity for three weeks, turning several times a week. No need to wax this cheese. It will form a rind, and if any mould develops, simply rub the cheese with cloth dipped in some brine. The salt in this cheese retards mould growth anyway.

At this time of the year in Australia, you could find a cold cupboard to ripen your cheese in if you don’t have a fridge that you can get warm enough.

This cheese has been profiled on Cheesemaking Help, which is the blog of Ricki Carroll’s New England Cheesemaking Co.  I was very pleased when they asked my permission to repost my recipe!

I have been making this cheese every two months for the past two years, and it never fails to please family and friends.  Any easy, quick, and tasty cheese to make at home.

Parmesan Cheese

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This well-known Italian cheese is one of my favourites and I have made it about 8 times, with each wheel being a success.  In fact, I try to make one about every 3 months to keep up with the constant supply necessary for our appetite for this strong, flavoursome cheese.  Parmesan cheese.

Parmesan cheese  is really called Parmigiano Reggiano, named after the two regions in Italy where it is made.  It is one of the world’s most famous grating cheeses.  Normal sized wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano weigh about 46 kg each, but this recipe is modified to make about 1 kg of this delicious cheese.

It certainly beats the crappy, smelly, powered cheese you can buy in those green containers!  Everyone in my family gives it a massive two thumbs up, and we eat it shaved or grated on many types of pasta dishes.

I have made a video tutorial for this cheese in two parts, so to get a feel for how I made it, sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

Part 1

Part 2

Parmesan Cheese

Ingredients:

  • Brine solution (1 litre water plus 2 tablespoons non-iodized salt, boiled for 5 minutes)
  • 4 litres full cream milk, at least 3.4% fat
  • 4 litres lite or semi skimmed milk, no more than 1.4% fat.
  • 1 quarter teaspoon direct set Thermophilic starter culture
  • 1 quarter teaspoon Lipase powder, mixed with 20 ml of unchlorinated water
  • 2.5 ml rennet mixed with 60 ml unchlorinated water
  • 2.5 ml Calcium Chloride mixed with 60 ml unchlorinated water

As usual I set up all the utensils and ingredients before I begin, then I sterilise everything in water in the 8 litre pot for 15 minutes.  People are often surprised to discover that it is made with low-fat milk (no more than 2.5% fat), because it has such an intense flavour.

Once sterilised, I put the big pot on a small saucepan of water to act as a double boiler.

Add the milk and alternate a litre of each type to so that it mixes well, and then bring the temperature up to 35°C.  Once at temperature, add the Thermophilic culture and mix well.  Cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes.

Add the Calcium Chloride and mix well.  Then add the Lipase mixture and stir for a minute.  Keeping the mixture at 35°C, add the Rennet mix and stir for at least 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Cover and allow to set for 45 minutes.

When you get a clean break, cut the curd by using a balloon whisk.  Push the whisk all the way to the bottom of the pot and lift back out.  Do this all the way around all over the surface for 3 times.  This will ensure that you have cut the majority of the curd to about 4mm.  Let stand for 5 minutes, then stir at 35°C for 10 minutes

Increase the temperature to 42°C over half an hour and hold this temperature for 15 minutes continuously stirring with the whisk to prevent matting.  You will notice that the curd will start to shrink into smaller grain sized pieces.

Increase the temperature to 52°C over half an hour stirring regularly.  When the temperature has been reached you should notice that the curd will have a very small grain size and that it will be dry to touch and squeaky when you chew them to test for doneness.  Let the curds rest for 5 minutes off the heat

Drain the curds and whey into a cheese cloth lined colander.  Be careful as the whey is quite hot.  Gather up the cheesecloth and form a ball of curd big enough to fit into your 900 gm mold.  Cover one of the corners of the curd with the cheese cloth and top with the follower then press at 2.5 kg for 15 minutes.

Remove the cheese from the press, and slowly unwrap the cloth.  Turn the cheese over, rewrap it in the cloth, and press at 5 kg for 30 minutes.  Repeat this procedure, press at 7.5 kg for 2 hours.  Repeat again, pressing at 10 kg for 12 hours.

Remove the cheese from the mould and unwrap.  Immerse the cheese in the brine solution.  I use a 2 litre ice-cream container, add the cheese first then pour over the brine.  The brine should be at room temperature and not hot or the cheese will begin to break up and absorb too much salt.

Leave it at room temperature (21°C) for 24 hours, and flip the cheese occasionally.

Take the cheese out of the brine solution and pat it dry with paper towel.  Here is your chance to smooth the cheese with your hands if there are any rough bits.  Then place on a sushi mat and put it into the cheese cave at 13°C/80% humidity for 10 months.  Turn the cheese daily for the first week, then weekly after that.  Remove any mould that forms on the exterior with some leftover brine and a bit of cheese cloth.  This also helps to harden the cheese as it ages.

I usually wax this cheese at about the three-week mark, because otherwise, even if rubbed with olive oil the wheel is just too small to hold the required amount of moisture and it will dry out.  The first wheel of Parmesan made in May 2009 turned out very well and had that sharp flavour that Grana cheeses are well-known for.

The trademark texture and flavour of this cheese is obtained through the lengthy maturation process which results in a cheese with a hard, gritty texture.  I guarantee that this cheese is well worth the wait.

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