Little Green Cheese

Cheese making at home with Gavin Webber the Cheeseman

Wensleydale Video Tutorial

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As promised, here is another of the cheese making tutorials.  This time it is a Wensleydale video tutorial.  I made it about a year ago, but the method is still the same as the last post. I hope you enjoy it and if you have any questions, please leave a comment and I will endeavour to answer it.

No wonder Wallace and Gromit like it so much!

Now for a little joke;

I was having lunch with my son Adam a year ago, and he asked, “Dad, what are you doing tonight?”

I replied, “I am waxing the Wensleydale”.

He retorted, “So that’s what the kids call it these days!”

I just could not stop laughing. He is a funny lad, and a chip of the old block. Cheese block that is!

wensleydale video tutorial - waxing the wensleydale

Feta Video Tutorial

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After a request from Annet who was looking for more information about Feta, I knew that I could fulfil the request easily. She was disappointed at the diminishing quality of commercially made cheese.  What better way to overcome that issue, by making your own Feta using our Feta video tutorial!

 Feta (Greek: φέτα) is a brined curd cheese traditionally made in Greece. Feta is an aged crumbly cheese, commonly produced in blocks, and has a slightly grainy texture. It is used as a table cheese, as well as in salads (e.g the Greek salad), pastries and in baking.

It can also be served cooked or grilled, as part of a sandwich or as a salty alternative to other cheeses in a variety of dishes.

Feta Video Tutorial - Feta in brine
Feta in a whey based brine

Now what are you waiting for?  Get some milk and get cracking!

Just so you know exactly what I put in it, here is the ingredient list that I used.

Feta

  • 4 litres full cream milk (1 gallon)
  • 1/4 teaspoon of lipase diluted in 60ml (quarter of a cup) of non-chlorinated water
  • 1 gm (1 heaped smidgen) direct set mesophilic culture
  • 2.5 ml rennet diluted in 60 ml of non-chlorinated water
  • 2.5 ml calcium chloride diluted in 60 ml of unchlorinated water (if milk is homogenised)
  • Brine:
    Follow these instructions.

Enjoy this wonderful cheese!

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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