Little Green Cheese

Cheese making at home with Gavin Webber the Cheeseman

Emmental Cheese

By 12 Comments

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

By 3 Comments

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

By 15 Comments

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)
  • 1/4th teaspoon (about 2 ml) mesophilic culture
  • 1/8th teaspoon (about 1 ml) calcium chloride diluted in 60ml cool unchlorinated water
  • 5/8th 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.

Little Green Workshops