Cheddar Cheese Recipe

Steps

1. Warm milk to 88F. Remove the pot from the heat.
2. Add in the mesophilic culture and annatto. Stir 2 minutes.
3. Cover and maintain the temperature for 1 hour.
4. Stir in the rennet 30 seconds. You do not need to dilute the rennet in water for small batch cheese. Stir slowly, but throughly. Stop the motion of the milk with your ladle.
5. Coagulate the milk for about 40-50 minutes. If you are using a flocculation cap place it on the milk and begin checking for flocculation after 12 minutes. Mark the time elapsed. Multiply that number by 3 then subtract the flocculation time from the product. (Example: Flocculation time of 15 minutes; 15x3=45; 45-15=30 more minutes of coagulation.)
6. Check for a clean break.
7. Cut the curds to ¼”. Cut in a grid then on the diagonal the depth of the pot in all 4 directions.
8. Allow the curds to rest and heal for 5 minutes to lock in moisture. Skip this step if you want a dry cheddar.
9. Return the pot to the heat and warm to 95F over the course of 30 minutes. Stir continuously, beginning with slow stirring and increase speed as the curds toughen up.
10. Heat the curds to 102F in 15 minutes, stirring fairly rapidly.
11. Maintain the temperature and stir for a final 15 minutes. Stir as quickly as you can.
12. Test the curds by squeezing them in the palm of your hand. They should hold together in a clump yet break apart when rubbing them with your thumb.
13. Pitch the curds for 5 minutes and allow them to sink to the bottom.
14. Meanwhile, prepare a waterbath to keep your curd warm during the cheddaring process. I use my kitchen sink filled with hot water & 2- half gallon mason jars filled with water to weigh the pot down.
15. Remove the whey from the pot.
16. NOTE: Try to maintain a 102F temperature for the cheddaring process.
17. Cut the curd mass in the bottom of the pot into 4 blocks and stack them on top of each other.
18. Place the covered pot in the water bath & weigh it down.
19. Stack and flip every 15 minutes for 1 hour until the curds have the consistency of cooked chicken breast. Drain any whey in the bottom when flipping the curds. (This is a total of 4- 15 minutes with 3 flip/stacks.)
20. Weigh & make a note of the curd mass.
21. Quickly cut the curds into 1” cubes so you don't lose too much temperature.
22. Using a micro digital scale, weigh out 2.6% of the curd mass in salt.
23. Add the salt to the cubed curds in 2 phases with 5 minutes between additions. Place the pot back in the waterbath between saltings.
24. Prepare your cheese press between saltings.
25. Quickly transfer salted curds to a cheesecloth lined hoop.
26. Press at 20 pounds pressure for 15 minutes.
27. Remove the cheese from the hoop, flip, and redress in the cheesecloth.
28. Return the cheese to the press and apply 60 pounds of pressure overnight.
29. In the morning, remove the cheese, flip, and redress a final time. Return it to the press and apply 80 pounds of pressure until the cheese has been in the press for a total of 24 hours.
30. Transfer the cheese to a cheese mat and air dry for 2-3 days, flipping twice daily.
31. Was the cheese for the aging or apply a cloth bandage rind using clean cotton fabric and melted butter.
32. Age the cheese in a cheese fridge at 55F and 80% humidity for 4-6 weeks for mild cheddar and 3 months or more for sharp cheddar.