I got to make a new cheese today. Caerphilly is one of my favourites to eat, but I hadn't had the opportunity to make it yet, and it went quite well. Caerphilly is a Welsh cheddar-type, somewhat quicker than English cheddar but just as delicious. Or even more so...
The interesting part of this is, of course, the cheddaring. This takes place after the cooking of the curds, right before they are put into the molds. The whey is drained off, and the curds are piled to one side and left to drain for another 20-30 minutes. During this time they begin to matt together and form one big blob. When you are ready to mold them, the blob is broken into smallish pieces by stirring vigourously with your hands, and this is what gives the cheese a more crumbly structure.
The curds have already started to bond, and the bond that forms during cheddaring remains slightly stronger than what happens during pressing, simply because it has been in existence longer. Therefore, when the cheese is broken apart, those bonds will be stronger and it will break along the edges of the curd pieces.
Proper cheddaring takes this all one step further. Instead of breaking the curd mass apart, it is cut into slabs, which are then stacked on top of each other and left to drain some more before being molded. This creates parallel layers in the curd, giving it the characteristic flaky texture of English cheddar.
I had a lot of fun making this cheese and seeing the whole process in action. Everything I've read about starts to make sense when I see it happening in front of me. And when things go well I feel like a real live cheesemaker.
The interesting part of this is, of course, the cheddaring. This takes place after the cooking of the curds, right before they are put into the molds. The whey is drained off, and the curds are piled to one side and left to drain for another 20-30 minutes. During this time they begin to matt together and form one big blob. When you are ready to mold them, the blob is broken into smallish pieces by stirring vigourously with your hands, and this is what gives the cheese a more crumbly structure.
The curds have already started to bond, and the bond that forms during cheddaring remains slightly stronger than what happens during pressing, simply because it has been in existence longer. Therefore, when the cheese is broken apart, those bonds will be stronger and it will break along the edges of the curd pieces.
Proper cheddaring takes this all one step further. Instead of breaking the curd mass apart, it is cut into slabs, which are then stacked on top of each other and left to drain some more before being molded. This creates parallel layers in the curd, giving it the characteristic flaky texture of English cheddar.
I had a lot of fun making this cheese and seeing the whole process in action. Everything I've read about starts to make sense when I see it happening in front of me. And when things go well I feel like a real live cheesemaker.