Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
five minutes or so. Keep the curds covered while not stirring
or checking the temperature. You'll notice the curds shrinking
and the volume of whey increasing. Hold this temperature for
another 30 minutes while stirring periodically to prevent
matting or clumping. During the last five minutes, don't stir
so the curds can settle on the bottom.
Line a colander with boiled cheesecloth and put the colander
over a large pot to collect the whey. Pour the contents of your
double-boiler into the colander and put a lid on top to retain
heat, and allow to sit for one hour. (Make sure that the level
of the whey in the pot isn't high enough to actually touch the
curds. Any excess whey can be drained or put in your
compost pile.)
Here is the distinctive process that makes cheddar cheese and
it is called “cheddaring.” At the end of an hour you'll notice
that the curds have amalgamated into a solid mass. Cut the
mass of curd into slabs about ¼ inch thick. Stack the curds
like dominoes and cover with the cheesecloth. Every fifteen
minutes, rearrange the stack so the slabs that were outside are
now inside, and those that were on the top are now at the
bottom. After four or five rounds of this, the texture should
resemble very firm tofu or turkey breast.
The cut curds are starting to release whey.
