Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Cheesy Tidbits


Hi Everyone :)

With the success of my last Cheddar, I made some more! But this time I tried a different bacterial culture. Check out the difference in colour! Isn't that amazing? The cheeses that I made in July are still quite pale compared to the one I made last weekend! 


I used this culture: MA4002. It's a new one for me. It's a blend of mesophilic and thermophilic cultures. Simply put, a mesophilic culture is used for cheeses that don't require any cooking time above 102 F or so; the mesophilic culture ripens at its best at lower temperatures. 

Thermophilic cultures can withstand higher heat and ripen better at higher heat. A mix of the two is supposed to stabilize a softer cheese and slow down the ripening process. The ripening process gives the cheese its taste and texture. I read that the ripening process also affects acidity and the final result of the cheese's flavour - so we'll see if using this culture leads to a milder Cheddar. There is already a visual difference, I can't wait to see if there is a taste difference!


I also made a Farmhouse Cheddar cheese. It's made similarly to the aged Cheddar, but the method after draining the curds is different to give it a more moist texture. NONE of my photos turned out during the process of making this because the shutter on my phone's camera had some kind of crud on it - for lack of a better word! Lesson: wipe your phone and camera shutter before taking photos!!! This is supposed to be ready to eat after one month of aging, so if it turns out well, I'll make it again and do a photo tutorial to post with the recipe!


12 comments:

Leanna said...

I wish I was your neighbor then I could be a taste tester. ahahahaaahahaha!

Martha said...

You are becoming a pro at this! The cheese looks so delicious!

Rain said...

LOL Leanna! That would be very cool!

Rain said...

Thanks Martha :) I'm so pleased that this time around I'm having such success!!

Connie said...

The fact that you make your own cheese is amazing to me . . . and the fact that it looks incredible is even more amazing. I've just never been around anyone that did this . . . I would love to sit down with you and have a taste; I could show up with some of Steve's homemade summer sausage and crackers :)

Rain said...

Thanks so much Connie :)) Oh my goodness...homemade sausages and crackers would be a treat with a nice wheel of homemade Cheddar!!!

Connie said...

I would love to be there for a tasting test. Your cheeses look amazing and the fact that you make them yourself and know exactly what goes into them is wonderful. You are a very talented gal!
Wishing you a lovely day.
Your blogging sister,
Connie :)

Rain said...

Thanks Connie! :)

Geraldine said...

Looks and sounds yummy! How cool that you make cheese.🧀🧀

Rain said...

Thanks Geraldine :) Cheese making is a lot of fun and it's become a bit of an obsession for me!! :)

The Happy Whisk said...

I do mock cheeses and they are so fun to make. Love seeing what you're up to. Cheers and boogie boogie.

Rain said...

Thanks Ivy :) It's fun! I have 5 cheeses to open and taste in the next month!!! Woo hoo!