This country is famous for its Cheddar and
because of its popularity for both taste and keeping qualities
it is now made the world over. At we also make a Cheddar,
using milk, which is called ‘Packwood’.
The basic process for making a cheddar
is as follows:-
Milk is warmed and a starter culture
added in order to speed up the process of converting the lactose
to lactic acid.
Next, rennet is added which will coagulate
the milk and for cheddar it usually takes 30 – 40 minutes
for a firm curd to form.
Throughout the process the acidity
of the cheese will be measured as in the later stages this should
be rising at a steady rate which indicates that the cheese is
behaving as it should and will be safe to eat. It also allows
the cheesemaker to achieve consistency with each batch of cheese
made.
When the curd breaks cleanly it is
ready to cut with special curd knives. These cut the curd into
small particles and help release the whey from the curd. The
curd is then stirred and heated – this is called scalding
the curd and this helps to release more whey from the curd particles.
The curd is then allowed to settle
to the bottom of the vat – this is called pitching and
when ready the whey is drained off the vat leaving a mass of
curd on the bottom.
The curd is then cut into blocks and
stacked at the side of the vat. This process – called cheddaring – and
is repeated until the right texture and acidity are reached.
The curd is then ready for milling
where it is chopped into tiny pieces, the salt is then added
and mixed in well and the curd is ready for putting into molds
and pressing in a cheese press.
The next stage will be storing the
cheese and many of the traditional modern hard cheeses are clothbound
in cheese cloth at this stage before being put into the store.
This protects the cheese from losing too much of its moisture
as it matures for weeks, months or years.
Whilst in store the various moulds
will grow on the exposed rind or cheesecloth and this all adds
to the final taste and texture of the cheese.
Our ‘Packwood’ is handmade,
stored and matured using these methods and the result is a natural,
tasty cheese made how it used to be made hundreds of years ago.
