I am brand new to the cheese making world. I made goat cheese and ricotta a long time ago, but it never was really anything to write home about. It was a super easy, low-effort type cheese. I am now wanting to really deep dive into everything cheese related. This little orange gem is my first attempt at a “cheddar“. I pressed the heck out of the cheese curds for about three hours in different segments of weight. My only issue is it’s developing a rind and it doesn’t really have a whole lot of flavor. This is only about three days old and I’ve tasted it a few times. I didn’t use the traditional cheddaring method for this cheese. Again, just starting out. I used vinegar to separate the curds and whey, whole milk, calcium chloride, annatto, and a lot of patience. I prefer rennet but no local shops carried it. So I ordered it online last night and it just arrived in the mail today.
I’ve wrapped it in cheese cloth and put it in my vegetable crisper so it doesn’t develop moldy rind, but it barely has any flavor. Maybe because it’s so new? Texture is medium hard like a traditional cheddar. Would aging this help give it some flavor and since it has a rind, how would I go about aging this properly? Thanks!
by plateau1999