It has a rind that is about 5mm thick and it tastes divine. There is a little white and blue mould bloom on the surface which I think is a bit of cross contamination from when I was making 2 cheeses at once or from the cheese cave, but no matter because it adds to the exquisite flavour of the rind.
The middle is white, contains a little moisture, and is slightly crumbly. I cracked open the wheel on Saturday night, but then realised that it was only 15 days old, and should have matured for until 21 days. The damage was done, but I put half of the wheel back into the cheese cave for to see what it tastes like at full maturity.
Kim believes that the rind tastes like Edam, and the middle has is similar flavour but not as strong. More crumbly than Edam though, but really, really nice with a plain water cracker biscuit.
The top and sides were a bit swollen, but that was just from natural ‘eye’ development as the cheese matured. You can see small eyes in the second photo.
It is so good that I will be making some more tonight. With only three weeks maturation and very edible at 15 days, I highly recommend it if you are into cheese making and want a quick result. So far we have eaten a quarter of the wheel already, with Ben, Kim, Amy and I sampling and loving it. I was so generous that I gifted a small wedge to my friend David last night. He thinks it is a great cheese as well!
I think I must be almost as excited about the results of your cheese making as you are 🙂 It just gives hope to all of us who wish someday (in the not too distant future) to join you in this culinary art. Meanwhile I had best go check my Melon, Ginger and Lemon Jam. Keep up the good work!
Excited, I am ecstatic! The taste was exceeded my expectations. Kim thinks that it should be one of my signature cheeses, and should focus on just Wensleydale and Caerphilly!
Gav
Hi Margo well done. One step I may have left out, now that i think about it, is that I wipe the mould off with a cloth dipped in brine solution every couple of days. This probably thickens the rinds as well. Sorry about that omission.
I made a second Caerphilly 3 weeks ago and it came out the same as the first, just delish. I have yet another one in the cheese cave ripening as well. I just can’t get enough of the stuff!
I made this cheese following your excellent instructions and it was a huge hit! It did go mouldier than yours, and didn’t have as thick a rind but hey, it wasn’t bad for my first cheese. Last night I made some Derbyshire cheese, and I’m looking forward to trying your wensleydale recipe.
Hi Gavin, congratulations on your cheesemaking- I’m encouraged to hear of you excellent results. I’ve just made a bunch of cheeses this past weekend- 4 Camembert, 7 feta- of which 2 were on goat’s milk. I’ve just ordered a cheese press, so can’t wait to make some larger pressed cheeses.
One question- when you leave your large pressed cheeses out to dry, do you cover them? I imagine that they would get all kinds of contamination by micro-organisms if I left them on the bench and uncovered- but maybe that’s OK?
I did a cheesemaking course here in Bundaberg in November with Graham Redhead from Brisbane. He’s a fantastic teacher!
best wishes,
Ruth in Bundaberg.
Hi Ruth,
Thanks, and good on you for getting into cheese making. I hope your Camembert turn out better than mine did. They were very runny, but had a great bloom rind.
I cover the cheese when it is drying lightly with a dry but sterilised chux cloth or old cheese cloth. The only reason is because we get the occasional fly or cockroach and I need to leave the larger cheeses on the side for at least 3 days to dry. Don’t want any bugs in my cheese!
Gav