any good cheddar cheese recipes out there ?

We are finally in a good spot with our milk cow an are getting plenty milk. We have played around with some soft cheese making an are starting to make ice cream too. But I would like to start making cheddar cheese now an so any recipes you may have....an that you would like to share would be greatly appreciated!

We've made the farmhouse cheddar in Ricki Carroll's book. So far all the cheeses we've made from that book have turned out great. Montasio was the best. She has goat cheese recipes too if you have access to that milk.

After a few frustrations with DIY hacks, we made this cheese press out of some pipe, scrap wood and bar bell weights. Cost nearly nothing since DH had the weights already.

PS Canning/pickling salt is the same as cheese salt, only way cheaper and you can get it at a grocery store.

Greetings, We have a few Mini Jerseys, I made Chedder for the first time, it's ageing as we speak. I'll let you know if the method works well.
let's see if the pictures come up. These two rings are small batches from a couple weeks ago.\

Richard

The recipes here are quite good but there isn't an actual cheddar recipe. http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/CHEESE.html

I do trust cheese recipes from a biologist, just makes sense to me he knows what he's doing!

I've been pleased with all of them but the hard cheese recipe. I didn't press it properly (not enough weight) and grew mold in the nooks and crannies. My press is only 4" in diameter which is sized ok for a one gallon batch but I want to step up to a 2-5 gallon batch with a larger press and a lot more weight . The parts I was willing to eat after 3 months were tangy and flavorful but crumbly and I had a lot of waste do to the mold. Normally I don't sweat mold on commercial cheese but it's easily defined, mine was a bit more like blue cheese in appearance but I didn't make blue cheese so I didn't trust it.

True Cheddaring requires monitoring the PH of the curd and more expression of whey prior to salting and pressing. I think maintaining heat near 100 degrees might be important as well but it's not always stated.

A solid press finishing at 50 lbs minimum sounds very consistent in small batches.

Good luck!

In America's dairyland it is illegal to sell a block of raw cheese before it is aged 60 days (which is one reason it is hard to find people going through the trouble of selling quality raw cheeses).

Here is my recipe/method, I've only done it twice but plan on doing it more often this summer now that I have all equipment and a good plan.

Ingredients:
2 gallons raw milk
1/8 tsp (1 packet) mesophilic culture
1 tablet Rennet, dissolved in 1/2 cup cool water (or 1/2 tsp liquid-1/4 tsp double strength)
2 tablespoons sea salt

or

9 GALS MILK
4 PACKETS (1/2 TSP) MESOPHILIC CULTURE
2-1/2 TABLETS RENNET DISSOLVED IN 1 C COOL WATER
.17LB SEA SALT



Equipment:
Large pot
Thermometer
Long knife (curd knife; does not need to be sharp)
Colander
Cheesecloth
Cheese press/mold/weights


1.Clean all equipment

2 In a large pot, slowly heat the milk to 85°F, stirring frequently.

3.When the milk gets to 85°F, add culture, stir in with an up-and-down motion, cover, and ferment for 1 hour. Dilute rennet.

4.Stir to homogenize the milk, and slowly fold in the diluted rennet. Using an up-and-down motion with your spoon will ensure that the rennet works its way through all the

milk, so you can get the highest possible yield.

5.Allow the cheese to set for 1 hour, or until the whey begins to separate from the curd. You should see a layer of mostly clear whey floating on top of the curd, and the curd

should be pulling away from the sides of the pot.

6.Using the knife, carefully cut the curds into roughly ¼-inch cubes and allow to set for 5 minutes. Do not stir.

7.Over the next 30 minutes, slowly heat the curds to 100°F, stirring frequently. As you stir, the curds will shrink.

8.Once the curds are at 100°F, maintain the temperature and continue stirring for the next 30 minutes. If the curds get too hot, remove from heat.

9.After 30 minutes, stop stirring and allow the curds to settle to the bottom of the pot. This will take about 20 minutes.

10.Pour the curds into a colander. Place the colander and curds back into the cheese pot and allow to drain for 15 minutes.

11.Remove the colander from the pot and turn the curds out onto a sheet of parchment paper. You should have a semi-solid mass that looks like jelly. Pour the whey out of the

pot, cut the mass into five slices, and place back into the pot. Cover.

12.Fill a sink or basin with 102°F water and place the pot and curds into it. Keeping the temperature of the curds right around 100°F, turn the slices every 15 minutes for the

next 2 hours. This is the cheddaring process and will give your cheese its unique flavor texture and deliciousness.

13.After 2 hours, the curds will be shiny and very firm. Remove them from the pot and cut into ½-inch cubes. Place back in the pot, cover, and place in the sink filled with

102°F water.

14.In 10 minutes, stir gently with your fingers or a wooden spoon. Repeat twice more.

15.Remove the pot from the sink and add salt. Stir gently once more.

16.Line the cheese press with a piece of cheesecloth and carefully place the curds into the press. Wrap the cloth around the cheese and press at 10 pounds of pressure for 15

minutes.

17.Remove the cheese from the press, unwrap, and flip the cheese. Re-wrap using a fresh piece of cheesecloth, and press at 40 pounds of pressure for 12 hours.

18.Remove the cheese from the press, unwrap, and flip the cheese. Re-wrap using a fresh piece of cheesecloth, and press at 50 pounds of pressure for 24 hours.

19.Remove the cheese from the press and air-dry for 2 to 3 days, until smooth and dry to the touch.

20.Wax the cheese and age at 55° to 60°F for at least 60 days.

***I have also wrapped in plastic wrap and aged in fridge for 2 weeks and it taste great as well, I didn't want to get into long aging of cheese as I am not set-up for that***

http://dairyfoodsconsulting.com/resources-1/ Peter Dixon is a great resource.


These recipes really helped me get consistently great cheeses with traditional taste and textures.

These look like good cheddar cheese recipes!