QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
As I am always passing on your questions to Chris Ashby I thought a 'Questions and Answers' page would be a good idea. So please, if you have any technical questions, email them to info@cheesemaking.co.uk ; I will then pass them on to Chris who will probably reply direct to you with the advice and finally the information will appear on this page to help other budding cheese makers.
UPDATED: 26th August 2010
Q. Could you tell me how I can achieve the correct humidity when maturing hard cheddar type cheese. I am a complete beginner and have read that a % humidity is required. How can I get this and how can I measure it? From Jayne
A. Humidity control is difficult on a small scale. Hard rinded cheese need about 80% humidity, in a fridge the humidity is probably less than 50%. An additional issue is the air movement, firdges tend to have rapid air movement, because of the fan, and this tends to crack the cheese. Probably best to put the cheese on a plate, standing in a larger dish. Put water in the dish, and drape a damp teatowel over the cheese so the ends are in the water. Turn the cheese twice weekly, and wipe off any mould which forms. A thermohygrometer measures temperature and humidity, a small battery operated one is about £25 from laboratory suppliers.
Q. I've had about three goes at making a stilton cheese at around 4lbs per go and used two recipes. I've avoided pressing the curd at any stage and followed each recipe closely, filling in the gaps left after milling the curds and filling the mould with a knife. After maturing for 5-6 months, although the taste of the cheese is stilton, the curd is hard and not soft and creamy as you would expect from silton. Please can you give me any pointers where things might be going wrong? From Keith
A. A large (7kg) stilton is only 8-10 weeks old at point of sale, the smaller (2kg) stiltons probably 6 weeks, and they will continue to dry out. A 5-6 months (20-26 weeks) stilton is 3/4 times older and is bound to be dry, particularly since it is only 4lbs to start with. Good news in a way, as you wont need to wait so long before you can eat it!
Q. I have just made my first batch of hard cheese using the recipe and equipment you sent. It is a modest 800g thing but mine own. I have nowhere falling in the 8-12C range where I can mature it. What are the extreme tolerances I can reasonably use? I currently have it in the top of a fridge, as high as risk of food poisoning for the rest of the family's food will tolerate! From Bill
A. Top of fridge is probably around 8/10C, so thats fine, but it is drying in a fridge, so the cheese needs to be kept dampish.
Q. I am a novice to cheese making and was wondering if I will be able to use UTH skimmed milk? Also do you have to use rennet to achieve a hard cheese? If so will vegetarian rennet work with the skimmed milk? From Sian
A. Rennet won't work with any UHT milk, but will with any non homogenised pasteurised milk, including skimmed. Skimmed milk does not make a decent hard cheese, neither does semi-skimmed, there needs to be a reasonable amount of fat in the cheese to make the cheese palatable, and to mature properly. A curd cheese can be dried out to make a hard cheese, not using rennet, but it is not a normal way to make hard cheese. Starters and rennet together are necessary for all well known hard cheeses.
* A Moorlands customer has found a web site where you can buy double boilers at competitive prices, and as if that wasn't enough, has very kindly shared the information with everyone. www.easyequipment.com and search 'double boilers'. Thank you very much Ian *
Q. I am just about to embark into the world of home cheese making, so please excuse my ignorance when I ask about the term 'risk of phage', that I came across whilst reading through your listings. I would like to know what it is please? From Simon
A. Fast acid cheesemakes, such as cheddar and related types require the starter bacteria to grow quickly to produce acid. If bacteriophage (known as phage, a virus which attacks bacteria) is present, then the rate of acidification can be severely reduced, producing poor quality cheeses. Home cheese makers, making a cheese weekly, for example, will not be at risk. Factories making several vats a day will be at risk. Starter rotation is a mechanism for reducing the risk.
Q. I am a home cheese maker. I recently made some curds for a hard cheese. After letting the curds drain overnight at 22-25C I noticed the curds had develpoed an internal honeycomb structure, not noticed before. Does this happen occasionally or is there the possibility of a yeast or coliform bacteria contamination. There was no unusual odor to the curds. I bake my own sourdough bread and keep my own sourdough culture in the fridge in a sealed container and the utensils used for cheese making are different from those used in my bread making. I had not recently made bread in the kitchen. Will the cheese be safe to eat? From Keith
A. This texture means gas production in quantity, which could be yeasts or coliforms. Testing is the only way to tell, and incase it is the latter, I would not eat the curd.
Q. I am looking forward to entering this years Cheese Awards. As an amateur home cheese maker can you define more clearly what the following categories mean please. 'Fresh Cheese'? Using Katie Thear's book, 'Cheesemaking and Dairying', would a Caerphilly cheese be in the 'Semi-Soft' category and the Lancashire cheese in the 'Hard Cheese' category? Also, what happens to the cheese after they have been judged. Are they disposed of or can they be returned? I would have to post my entries to you. Do you accept items sent by Royal Mail Special delivery? From Keith
A. 'Fresh Cheese' is cheese which is made and eaten without any ripening, usually within a few days of making, and kept in the fridge at low temperature until eaten. 'Semi-Soft' are generally at the firm end of soft, things like Port Salut. Caerphilly and Lancashire, under this classification are both hard cheeses. They sometimes are called 'Semi-Soft' but lets not go down that route, makes things far too complicated. Its not worth returning fresh cheese and by the time your entries have been thoroughly ironed, and in bits, returning them isn't really viable. Sorry. Actually, most of the entries last year arrived by 'Standard' first or second class Royal Mail.
Q. I came on your site to order rennet but was distracted by the various cultures. My boyfriend cannot eat yoghurt because the bacteria normally used upsets his stomach. He once was given a samlpe of yoghurt ice cream made using a different strain of bacteria, and this was ok - but he cannot, unfortunately, remember the name of the bacterium used. I've been trying to find out where I can get the un-common yoghurt cultures so I can make yoghurt that he can eat. I would be very grateful if you could help me with this, please. From Ailwyn
A. All yogurts, including the base for frozen yogurt, are made using the same base bacteria with additions for bio, propiotic, etc. What was the frozen yogurt made from? If the base has been UHT'd, then all the yogurt organisms have been killed prior to the making of the frozen yogurt. It is possible to buy yogurts where the product has been sterilised, and the yogurt bacteria killed. If the yogurt is in the chiller cabinet, then the yogurt bacteria are live. If the yogurt is not in the chiller cabinet, then the likelihood is the product is shelf stable, and sterile, and the organisms dead. These types are not made in the UK, but imported and are called pasteurised yogurts.
Q. Where can we buy non homogenised milk apart from Sainsbury's? 50% of existing customers.
A. Moorlands are very pleased to be able to offer a comprhensive list of licensed milk purchasers and suppliers in the UK. On the 'Approved Purchasers' page you will find suppliers more than happy to sell you milk, in any quantity, direct from their farm or smallholding. They appear in alphabetical order. Some of this milk may have been pasteurised but NONE will have been homogenised. We hope you find this information useful, as the demand for non homogenised milk increases.
Q. What is non-homogenised milk? From hundreds of people, worldwide!!
A. Homogenisation is a mechanical process that reduces the size of the fat globules in milk, so the cream does not rise to the top, as sold by supermarkets. Homogenised milk will not clot successfully with rennet. If using supermarket milk for cheese making, buy skimmed milk and double cream. Combine them in a ratio of 12 parts skimmed milk to 1 part double cream.Non-homogenised milk has not been through this process and would be equivalent to 'Gold Top' the milkman leaves and milk straight from the cow. *Sainsbury's do a Gold Top Guernsey milk*
Q. I am making a cheddar cheese, using very fresh milk (cow), after about two months mould spots appear in the cheese. Any ideas? From Mr Drew, France
A. Mould growth is perfectly normal, and the quantity will depend on the humidity and temperature of the storage conditions. The mould will be local to you and harmless. Oiling the cheese with vegetable oil on a regular basis, as required, can limit the mould growth but the vast majority of Farmhouse Cheddar in the UK have some mould growth on their rinds.
Q. I was wondering if you have any tips for washing cheese. I have made a small semi soft brie style cheese and would like to give it a wash, possibly in some beer?. From Ross
A. You can wash any cheese, though it is easier with harder rather than softer types, if too soft the cheeses are difficult to handle. Generally a washing solution contains the bacteria Brevibacteria Linens, which can be bought as a culture or used from a previously washed cheese, in a 3% salt solution. If you want to incorporate anything else, like the beer you mention, then use about 10%. Smear the cheese with the solution, using a sponge or cloth, and store the cheese on a rack in a sealed box with water in the base, so the cheese stays damp, in a temperature of about 12C. Wash the cheese twice a week for 3 weeks at least, putting the solution in the fridge between washes. Initially the cheese will go sticky, before the bacterial coat grows, that's perfectly normal. Once established, wrap the cheese in a camembert wrapping paper, to allow gas to exchange, and continue to ripen at 12C until ripe to your satisfaction.
Q.We have recently (1 week ago) had our first try at home made hard cheese. But we have a problem even though all the instructions were followed to the letter. During the first weeks drying process the cheese developed mould growing on the underside. When I cut it open it looked and smelled just like Stilton; problem is it was supposed to be a Double Gloucester !! Any ideas why this should have happened?. From Steve
A. When the cheese is pressed it needs to have a completely smooth coat, without any cracks or breaks. Mould will grow inside the cheese if oxygen gets inside. The cheese must be regularly turned to dry the surface out all over, if left on one end too long, that end becomes wet and will support mould growth.
Q. I wonder if you can answer a question for me about maturing cheese? I think I'm right in saying the main reason for waxing cheese is to keep away airborne moulds, if this is true, would it do the same thing by vacuum sealing in bags? I use a vacuum sealer to preserve other foods, such as meat and veg, and just wondered if it would do the same for cheese? From Brian
A. Yes, most cheeses are matured in vacuum bags, it does work for cheeses.