We are bringing back old traditions! Cheesemaking was once a common thing. Each spring pioneers would make cheese. Bovine Rennet would provide enough rennet to make nearly one hundred pounds of cheese – that’s enough for three families!
We are using a microbial vegetable rennet which works great although sometimes vegetable rennet can be a bit finicky compared to animal rennet.
Cheese making was one of the things I wanted to learn this year. In January, we made Cheese Curds which taste amazing, but I wanted to try making cheddar cheese which is definitely a lengthy process!
We began making a round of cheddar cheese Sunday afternoon. Today, we finally could wax it. Now it’s time for it to age! For a mild to medium cheddar, it’ll age 1 to 4 months. For a medium cheddar, it’ll age 4 to 8 months and for a proper aged cheddar, it’ll need to age 1+ years. I’m not sure how long we’ll let it age for… I guess we’ll just wait and see how it goes! I’ll be sure to update through the process!
Being on a city homestead has limited us in a way, but that’s ok because what we can’t grow or make ourselves, we can get it from local farmers and I am grateful for that. We are getting good quality milk from Alberta farmers which is important to me – I’m glad we can support local.
Let’s get started!
Pour 4L/1 gallon of whole milk into large pot. We are using non-homogenized which simply means the cream was not completely separated from the milk and the milk was not blended. But it has still been pasteurized.
Let the milk sit out for about 4 hours, so it is closer to room temperature.
If you are NOT using non-homogenized milk, add 1/4 tsp calcium chloride. We are skipping this.
Warm it between 88F to 90F. Stir using the cheese-stirring motion (which is an up and down scooping motion).
Once warmed, sprinkle with 1/4 tsp of culture. Let sit 2 minutes.
Stir with the cheese-stirring method – like you are scooping – down and up.
Cover, let rest undisturbed, for 1 hour, keeping milk warm at 88F while the milk ripens. The “ripening” is the process of converting the lactose (milk sugars) into lactic acid. Place a towel around the pot or place in the sink with warm water around the pot.
After the milk has been resting for one hour, it is time for the rennet. We are using half a tablet of vegetable rennet.
Rennet is an enzyme that coagulates the milk fat into a solid, separating from the liquid whey. Traditional rennet is animal based. This is microbial or plant based rennet. It comes in pill form and only a 1/4 tablet is needed per batch (of 4 litres of milk). Microbial means that it is made with plants (usually green leafy plants and fungi).
Since our milk got a bit warm while it was resting (warmer than 90F), we are adding extra rennet. Add half a tablet of rennet to 1/2 cup cold water. Let sit 15 minutes. Pour into milk, scooping milk to be sure all rennet is out of the cup. This rennet will not fully dissolve in the water.
Cover. Let it sit undisturbed for 1 hour, maintaining the temperature of 88F to 90F.
Test the milk. If you can place the side of your knife in and it makes a clean break, it’s ready. The milk fat has coagulated. This is our cheese curd.
If you do not get a clean break, let sit another 30 minutes.
Slice. Make multiple knife cuts in the curd.
Here’s the curd after slicing in both directions.
Use a wire, shaped in a square C (shape like |_|) make 360° cuts horizontally from the top to the bottom of the pot.
Let rest 10 minutes.
Slowly heat to 102F, stirring occasionally using the cheese-stirring method. The cheese will begin to come together.
Remove from heat. Let rest 30 minutes.
Remove whey until you get to the curds. Save the whey. The whey can be used in smoothies, pancakes or waffles, biscuits and so on.
Stir for 10 minutes. Test cheese by seeing if it will clump together. If not, stir for another 10 minutes. Our curd sticks together.
Time to strain! Prepare colander with double layer of cheesecloth. We are using a produce bag. Strain for 10 minutes.
Toss back into the pot. Sprinkle with salt – 1 tsp per half pound of cheese. We have 1.4 pounds so we will sprinkle with 1-1/2 tsp of salt
Spoon into cheese strainer or colander.
Now we will place a damp piece of cheesecloth over the curd then the inner piece of the strainer and then we will press for one hour. It should have 20 pounds of pressure on the cheese.
Since we do not have a proper cheese press, we stacked a bowl, board and a heavy can. Not exactly ideal, but it will have to do this time!
We poured the whey into the jar – there was actually quite a bit. Here’s the cheese after one hour. Looks pretty good already.
Flip. Dampen the cloths and press again at 20 pounds. I stacked the same contraption and it’ll press for another hour. I am no longer saving the whey – I want the cheese to drain so it can begin to dry.
Here is the cheese after the second hour. It is already holding its shape so much better.
Flip, rinse cloths and squeeze excess water out. Wrap cheese as before. Now, it should have 40 pounds for 4 hours.
Here is the cheese after the 4 hours.
Flip, rinse cloths and squeeze excess water out. Wrap cheese as before. Press with 50 pounds for 24 hours. Cheese can stay on the counter or go in the fridge.
Here’s the cheese after 24 hours.
The cheese is ready to eat. But we want an aged cheddar. Next it’s all about the ripening and fermenting stage.
I left it to dry which took about 3 days. Here’s the cheese in the third day.
We are going to wax the cheese. Melt the cheese wax and evenly coat the cheese. We did half at a time as suggested. I would suggest do the whole cheese twice before the wax has a chance to set. Melt in a pot or in the microwave. Do not use a double boiler – that adds too much moisture.
For a mild to medium cheddar, it’ll age 1 to 4 months. For a medium cheddar, it’ll age 4 to 8 months and for a proper aged cheddar, it’ll need to age 1+ years. I’m not sure how long we’ll let it age for…guess we’ll just wait and see!!
February 23 update:
We discovered mold on the cheese! I had the cheese in a glass container, without the lid but within a few weeks, there’s mold growing. We removed the wax and cut off the mold. The cheese tastes a bit like a medium cheddar cheese. It’s really good! It’s amazing to see in just a few weeks how much the cheese has changed!
We discovered some holes in the wax, and some very thin spots, so moisture probably got in and caused mold to grow. This time, we microwaved the wax which made it quite hot but it spread over the cheese a lot better! We covered both pieces quickly in thick wax and in a couple of layers. I think it’s better this time. We will leave one piece for a month or so and the other piece as long as we can. Then we’ll taste it again at a later time.
Be sure to save the whey. There’s so many uses for whey.
We have tons of whey from making yogurt and cheese. We are using the whey in all sorts of things like pancakes/waffles, muffins, bread and biscuits, and overnight oats. Everything is just so much more fluffy using whey compared to milk.
We’ll update this post about the cheddar cheese as needed!
