Thursday, January 19, 2012

My first cheddar.







Tonight my husband bought me home his dessert from work - a cheese platter. It reminded me that I had a cheese to check - my first hard cheese. My red-waxed beauty has finished aging in the refrigerator.  I've been a bit scared to check it actually; a heat wave in my storage cellar (garage cut into bank) killed off my blue cheese and I was concerned as to the impact on my cheddar.

While making generally unhelpful comments my husband caught the cutting of the cheese on video.  I was so pleased to cut through and see a beautiful cheese! I cut a slice and checked: smell - like cheddar; texture - like cheddar; colour - white.  I'm pleased to confirm online that cheddar is supposed to be white!  The taste - quite sharp.  Time passed quite quickly and the cheese aged for nearly three months.

There were a couple of drops of moisture that came out of the centre - too much moisture can apparently ruin the cheese and I will remember to dry the cheese for a bit longer next time.  I did dry it a little longer than the recommended time - but perhaps the temperature played a part in this?

I had the best time making this cheese.  It has been my most satisfying cheese to make to date.

5 comments:

  1. Well done! brava! I didn't know that cheddar could have a wax coating, is that common?

    Love cheese, especially home made, +1 to you!

    Ciao
    Alessandra

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  2. @giffy - thanks!

    @Alessandra - Cheddar can have a wax coating (quite common with homemade cheddar). Other options include EVA - a clearish coating that you paint on and the some professionals use a kind of cloth. The wax looks awesome though!

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  3. Yum!!! it looks so good!!

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  4. Thanks @Michelle! I feel happy every time I open the fridge and see it!

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