Not sure if this should be here or GQ. It’s technological, sort of, but it also closely involves nummy cheese.
I have seen at the supermarket cheddar cheese for sale. The cheese comes in several different grades of sharpness, from the abomination known as “mild” to “extra sharp”.
What is the technological aspect of the cheesemaking process that makes it possible for such divergent results to come out of the cheesemaker’s mold? Are different proportions of ingredients added at the beginning of the process? Does the difference lie in how much time the cheese is allowed to age before packaging? Is there a difference in the environments in which the cheeses age?
Or is it some combination of the three, perhaps augmented by other factors?
I really want to know the answer (for my own purposes of course), but I thought it would have been disingenuous to add (Need Answer FAST) to the thread title.
I’ve made a few different cheeses but I wouldn’t call myself a cheesemaker. My understanding is that the sharpness comes primarily from aging but there are other factors that affect it as well, like the kind of milk you use, which enzymes you choose to add and the original acidity of your milk(cheesemakers regularly adjust pH).
I’ll ask my local cheesemeister the next time I see him.
(Of course I know a cheesemeister!)
Last time I spoke with him, he told me that aged cheddars really don’t get much sharper once they’ve reached 8 or so years of age. He elaborated on the process at the time, but I was unable to retain all the technical details. He was giving me a tour of his design center that also serves as his cheese factory. (Beechwood Cheese if you want to see what he makes: http://www.beechwoodcheese.com/).
BTW, those delightful crunchy bits in aged cheddar are not salt or calcium, but rather crystallized cheese proteins. Or so says my cheesemeister.
I think you can successfully age it yourself. As long as it wasn’t opened, it probably won’t mold. That’s how I age my own cheddars. I buy 'em at 3 or 5 years of age, and keep up for another 3-5 years. When I can resist the temptation.
Despite what my cheesemeister says, I think 11 year old cheddar really is sharper than the 8 year old stuff.
BTW, what’s this ‘months’ stuff of which you speak?
