This cheddar has gone gouda!
So, on all the cheddars I made early in the year, I'm noticing a very gouda-esque flavor and texture profile. I think it's because there was too much whey left in the curds, and the wax trapped it inside the cheese, resulting in that slightly bitter and elastic gouda taste/texture instead of the sharp/dry combination I look for in a cheddar.
In an attempt to fix this problem, I have put down a 2 gallon cheddar wheel that was not waxed. This time, I used the "traditional" preservation method that involves coating the cheese in lard and then putting muslin over that. It's messy, and I don't think I did it quite right, but I'll put down a couple and see how they turn out.
Sorry... I haven't had a chance to get a picture of the wheel. I ended up doing the larding/dressing at about 2:00 AM after Emily's 1:30 AM feeding, and at that point I was only marginally coherent. Hopefully this afternoon, I'll have time to wax the havarti and figure out what the heck I'm going to do with the dying cheese cave...
In an attempt to fix this problem, I have put down a 2 gallon cheddar wheel that was not waxed. This time, I used the "traditional" preservation method that involves coating the cheese in lard and then putting muslin over that. It's messy, and I don't think I did it quite right, but I'll put down a couple and see how they turn out.
Sorry... I haven't had a chance to get a picture of the wheel. I ended up doing the larding/dressing at about 2:00 AM after Emily's 1:30 AM feeding, and at that point I was only marginally coherent. Hopefully this afternoon, I'll have time to wax the havarti and figure out what the heck I'm going to do with the dying cheese cave...