Today I decided to crack open one of the two Farmhouse Cheddars with Peppercorns that I made back in June after 12 weeks of aging.  It was time for a Farmhouse Cheddar taste test!

One point of note with this batch was that after I removed both wheels from their presses, I dried them out for a full week until there was a yellow rind all over the cheese.  I waited until they were totally dry and then I waxed them which you can see in this post.

Here is the cheese label.  It has been maturing in the cheese cave since about 2nd July 2011.

First thing I noticed was that unlike the first Farmhouse cheddar I made there was no liquid under the wax.  I believe that it was the long drying period before waxing that helped prevent liquid build up.

Once the wax was removed, the smell was promising.  It smelt like a mature cheddar.

It cut well and was not crumbly.  The texture was firm, creamy, peppery, and yummy, with no pockets of air within the cheese.

The final verdict from Ben was that it was delicious!  It had a nice creamy peppery flavour, in fact it is one of the best cheddar type cheeses that I have made for a very long time.

I would almost go as far as saying that it was as good as Wensleydale with sage, which is my all time favourite creation.  Especially seeing that it took half the time to make Farmhouse Cheddar (4.5 hours) as it does for Wensleydale (9 hours) and so much less complicated.

No guesses for what I am making on this Friday nights cheese making session!  This cheese has me salivating just writing about it.  I believe I am on a winner here.