Any amateur home cheese maker will tell you that the most delicate part of the whole cheese making process is the pressing of the curd into a solid even block of cheese. This is why a good cheese press is essential if you want to have good looking cheese, and edible at that. Read more
If you’re making hard cheeses like Cheddar or Gouda, chances are you either already waxing them, or have been looking into how to do so.
Cheese wax is a pliable, paraffin based wax that is usually coloured red, yellow or black. You can also get green and blue wax.
On a side note, ever wondered why there are different colours? Read more
Dry, pasty, crumbly cheese.
It’s the curse of any cheese that you hoped would turn out smooth and soft.
There are cheeses that we expect to have a slightly drier or crumblier texture, but when it isn’t planned, it’s a real disappointment, and the worst part is that you usually don’t know your cheese has gone that way until after you’ve waited weeks, or months, and then cut it open to find less than desirable results. Read more
Once upon a time there was only cling film, and sandwich bags.
Then someone found a way to take the concept of those two items and invented a product which didn’t just cover your food in plastic, but it actually sucked out all the air first, creating a air-tight, vacuum sealed wrapper.
Welcome to the Vacuum Sealer!
So you’ve made a great looking round of cheese and now it’s time to wax it.
But once it’s waxed and stored away for aging, how do you ever remember which cheese is which, when it was made and when it will be ready?
Obviously the answer is to label the cheese, but how?
Don’t worry cheese labels are extremely simple. Read more
There have been a few changes around the Curd-Nerd household lately. One of which has allowed me to spend a little more time on my home cheese making.
I recently left my full time job and have been spending the last few weeks settling into a new routine. I have to say it has been quite strange after 20 years in the corporate world, aiming for the top of the ladder but it’s also exciting to be following a shift in priorities. Read more
If you’ve ever pressed a cheese and ended up with curd that has failed to knit together, you’ll know how disappointing this dilemma is. I certainly do!
The point of pressing your cheese is to not only expel the whey but it is also how the small curds are knitted together to form the smooth shape, texture and density of the cheese.
When the curds don’t knit properly you will get a range of results from creases, cracks and crevices throughout the cheese, or a complete catastrophe of curd that doesn’t form any kind of shape or mass and just falls apart.
So what causes a lack of knit with cheese curds? Read more
If you feel so inclined to play with some older, traditional methods of preserving cheese, ‘bandaging’ is an interesting and fun technique to try out.
It is also a more natural method that will appeal to those not wanting to preserve their cheese with colored waxes.
Bandaging involves wrapping your cheese in cheese cloth bandage and then sealing it with a fat based product like lard. And while it is still a slightly messy preserving technique much like waxing, it looks pretty neat when it’s done.
It also produces a better flavored cheese due to the molds that form around the bandage and contribute to the aging of the cheese. Bandaging also allows your cheese to breathe as compared to wax or vacuum sealing.