Little Green Cheese

Cheese making at home with Gavin Webber the Cheeseman

Pepper Jack, Son of Monterey

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Pepper Jack cheese is a variation on Monterey Jack which hails from the Monterey area in California.  It was bought over by the Spanish via Mexico and was originally known as Queso del Pais.

I made this cheese quite some time ago and here it is fresh out of the press around the 25th May 2009.  I waxed it after it had been touch dried.

Anyway, we cracked it open on the 1st August, after having left it to ripen for a good couple of months.  The recipe stated that it should ripen for one to three months, so I thought that two was a safe bet.  And a safe bet it was.  The end result was a crumbly, white cheese with a decent kick due to the organic chili flakes.  Both Kim and I agreed that it was well worth making and that it tasted divine.

Kim, kids and friends believe that my signature cheeses so far are Wensleydale, Caerphilly and Pepper Jack.  I tend to agree, but since then they have sampled my Emmental, Stilton and Parmesan.  They love them all!So where’s the recipe I hear you all asking?  Well, hold your horses, here it is.

Pepper Jack Cheese

Makes about 850 gm (2 pounds)

  • 8 litres (2 gallons) whole milk
  • 1/8 teaspoon Direct set Mesophilic culture
  • 5 ml Rennet mixed with 60 ml non-chlorinated water
  • 1 ml Calcium Chloride if using homogenised milk
  • 1 Tablespoon non-ionised salt
  • 1 teaspoon hot chili flakes
  • ½ cup (125 ml) water

Boil the chilli flakes in the water for 15 minutes.  I bought to the boil and just simmered and when it looked like it was going to boil dry, I added another 60 ml of water at about the 10 minute mark.  Strain and remove the chilli flakes and set aside the chili water.  I used my home-grown birds eye chilli that were sun-dried on the bush.

Add the chili water to the milk and stir well.  Using a double boiler, heat the milk to 31°C (88°F). If using homogenised milk, add calcium chloride to ¼ cup of unchlorinated water and mix into the milk gently.   Add Mesophilic starter, mix well for a minute, raise the temperature to 32°C (90ºF), cover and allow milk to ripen for 30 minutes.

Keeping the temp at 32°C, add the diluted rennet and stir for one minute.  Cover and let sit for forty-five minutes.  Check for a clean break and cut the curds into 6mm (¼”) cubes.  Maintain the target temp and stir the curds for forty minutes.

Gradually raise the temp to 38°C (100°F) which should take about thirty-five minutes.  Stir frequently to keep the curds from matting.  Once the target temp is reached, maintain for 30 minutes and continue stirring (your arms should be sore by now ;-)).  Let the curds rest for five minutes.

Pour off the whey to the level of the curds, taking care not to lose any of the curds.  Let the curds rest for an additional thirty minutes, however stir every 5 minutes to prevent the curds from matting.  While the curds are resting ensure that the target temp of 38°C (100°F) is maintained.  Line a colander with a sterilised cheese cloth and spoon the curds into the colander and toss through the salt and the boiled chili flakes.  Blend well with your clean hands, then let the curds drain for five minutes.

Line a 900g 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 5kg (10lb) for fifteen minutes.  Remove the cheese from the press, and slowly, carefully unwrap it.  Turn the cheese over, rewrap it in the cloth and press at 15kg (30lb) for thirty minutes.  Repeat the unwrapping and turning process, this time pressing at 20kg (40lb) for 12 hours.

Remove the cheese from the press, and take it out of the mould and unwrap the cheesecloth.  Place the cheese on a cheese mat and board and let air dry at room temperature until it is dry to touch (usually 2-5 days).  Mine took 4 days to dry in Autumn.  Turn twice daily to allow for even drying.

Wax the cheese and allow it to ripen for one to three months in a humid cheese cave at 13ºC (55ºF) at 80-85% humidity.  Don’t forget to turn weekly to evenly distribute the fats and flavour.

We have managed to make the cheese last for three weeks, eating a little every few days.  I have learnt that if I cut the wheel into quarters and rewax three-quarters, then Kim and I are just a little more hesitant to scoff the whole lot in one weekend.  Once I rewax, I place them in the normal fridge at 4ºC to inhibit the ripening process.  As Dorothy, my cheese instructor once told me, “Cheese is a living organism and you should treat it with the respect it deserves”.

I highly recommend this cheese.  It takes a bit of stirring, however if you are new to the process of making cheese, then give it a go if you like a bitey yet mild cheese.  It is very satisfying to make and to finally eat.

You certainly don’t need any fancy crackers to enjoy this cheese.  Just a plain water cracker or wafer will do fine.

Emmental Cheese

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This version of Swiss cheese is quite easy to make.  I have had good results with Emmental cheese so far, and have made it about 4 times now. This cheese has a fantastic nutty flavour, and each time I make it, I end up with different hole sizes.  So what makes the holes?  Well, Wikipedia states;
“The cheese originally comes from the Emme valley in the canton of Bern. Unlike some other cheese varieties, the denomination “Emmentaler” was not protected (“Emmentaler Switzerland” is, though). Hence, Emmentaler of other origin, especially from France and Bavaria, is widely available and even Finland is an exporter of Emmentaler cheese.
Emmentaler is a yellow, medium-hard cheese. Failure to remove CO2 bubbles during production, due to inconsistent pressing, results in the large holes (“eyes“) characteristic of this cheese. Historically, the holes were a sign of imperfection, and until modern times, cheese makers would try to avoid them. It has a piquant, but not very sharp, taste. Three types of bacteria are used in the production of Emmentaler: Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus, and Propionibacterium freudenreichii. In the late stage of cheese production, P. freudenreichii consumes the lactic acid excreted by the other bacteria, and releases carbon dioxide gas, which slowly forms the bubbles that make holes.”
 I didn’t take any pictures during any of the making sessions but be assured the procedure is not that dissimilar from other hard cheeses I have made.  The only real difference is that you add the Propionic Shermanii to the milk at the same time as the Thermophilic culture and let it ripen for the specified time.  Add Rennet, cut the curd, stir for a long, long time, then press.

Once pressed, you have to leave it in the cheese cave for a week, turning it daily, then remove and keep it at room temperature (21°-24°C) for two to three weeks.  This is to let the eyes develop and the cheese swells at the top, bottom and the sides begin to bulge.  This is unlike any other cheese I have made.  You also have to turn and wipe with a brine solution daily to help the rind form.  It even smells like Swiss cheese now after a week.  Here is a photo of a week old cheese.  Note the swelling sides.

After the eye formation is complete it gets returned back to the cheese cave for another three months for final ripening and is turned three times a week and wiped in the brine solution at the same time.  This cheese is not normally waxed.  I was looking forward to the day that I cracked open this cheese.
Well, the four months were up after a long wait.  When we cracked open the wheel and this is what we found.

 There was a 3cm split on the top and it was a little infected with Penicillium Roqueforti, however, the Propionic Shermanii culture did its work.  Well, some of the work in most part of the cheese.  I believe that even though I gave the wheel a wash of brine a couple of times a week as per the recipe after I let the eyes form, the rind is far too thick.  I think that because the cheese was not waxed, as stated in the recipe, it just hardened too much.

Since this time I have waxed it after about three weeks of eye development.  It makes for a more moist cheese however the eyes do not form as big.

Now, how did it taste I hear you ask?  Well, it tasted like a Swiss-type cheese as you can buy in the supermarket, however, there was an obvious difference due to the Penicillium Roqueforti culture.
It was very nice, and both Kim and Pam (Kim’s Mum) agreed that it was a very tasty cheese.  The rind had a very strong flavour and as you can see more eyes formed closer to the rind than in the centre.  Here is it sliced on a platter.

 The quarter I served up was very holy indeed.  Easy to cut and great flavour with a plain cracker.  I really liked the extra flavour in the blue vein part!

When made commercially this cheese is made in 60-80 kg wheels, which aids the uniformity of the eye formation.  Apparently, from what I have read, the bigger the Emmental, the larger and more frequent the eyes.
Now last week, I cracked open a wheel of Emmental that I made in February this year.  This is what it looked like.

After I took the wax off, I was pleased to note that it still had a nice yellow rind.  As you can see I used Jersey Milk, which was about 4.2% butterfat.

 It sliced well, and if you look closely, it has many hundreds of tiny holes.  I don’t think that I put in enough  Propionic Shermanii, or it may have been too hot in Summer when it was resting at room temperature during hole formation.

 Anyway, it still tasted nutty and smooth.  This is a fantastic cheese for anyone who has a little patience, and I recommend it after you have a few other kinds of cheese under your cheesemaking belt!

 Emmental cheese definitely sounds like a candidate for a video tutorial.  Maybe next Friday.  What do you think?

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!

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