Tim and I hold a special place in our hearts for all things fermented. So for Tim’s birthday this year, I decided to give him the gift of cheese.

We had never made cheese before, so I got the Basic Hard Cheese Kit from Austin Homebrew Supply, which has everything you need to make about 30 lbs of a variety of hard cheeses (it includes everything besides the milk of course). The kit contains a cheese mold, a dairy thermometer, cheesecloth, various packets of cheesemaking necessities, plus a nice introductory cheesemaking recipe booklet. In addition to the kit, you might want to get a large stock pot and some cheese wax.

The type of milk you use is obviously going to have an effect on the final product. The booklet in this kit recommends using store-bought, pasteurized and homogenized milk (not ultra-pasteurized). They suggest using 15 pints (1 pint shy of 2 gallons) of skim or 1% milk, plus 1 pint of heavy cream. They claim that this gives a richer, creamier taste to your hard cheese.

We chose to make the farmhouse cheddar from the recipe booklet for our first cheese. The process was pretty simple, though it took around 4-4 ½ hours to complete. Here are the instructions we followed.

Start by heating the milk to 90° F. Stir in 1 packet of Mesophilic direct set culture, cover the pot, and let it sit for 45 minutes, maintaining the 90° F temperature.

Meanwhile, dilute ¼ tsp liquid calcium chloride in ¼ cup water. In a separate container, dissolve 1 rennet tablet in ½ cup of filtered water.

After the 45 minutes are up, first add the calcium chloride and mix thoroughly. Next, add the rennet mixture and gently stir for 1 minute. Then stir the top only, down only about ½ inch, for 1 minute. Cover the pot and leave it for another 45 minutes while the curd forms.

Next, test the curd to see if it’s ready to be cut. To do this, insert your finger into the curd at a 45° angle and then lift it towards the surface. If the curd breaks in a clean slit around your finger, it’s ready for cutting.

Cut the curd into ½-inch blocks using a long knife that reaches all the way to the bottom of the pot. Cutting in this fashion allows the whey to drain out of the curd.

Then, place the pot in a sink full of hot water to slowly bring the temperature up to 100° F, stirring gently, for about 30 minutes. During this time, the curd pieces shrink as the whey drains out.

Cover the pot and let the curds settle for 5 minutes, then pour the curds into a cheesecloth-lined colander. Tie up the bag and let it hang and drain for 1 hour.

Pour the drained curds into a large bowl and break them up into small pieces. Mix in 1 tbsp of cheese salt.

Line the cheese mold with a 12X18 inch piece of cheesecloth, allowing one end to overlap the mold by 6 inches. Pack the curds into the lined mold and fold the cheesecloth over the top. Apply 10 lbs of pressure to the cheese for 15 minutes. (To do this, Tim fashioned a little circle of wood covered in foil that fits inside the cheese mold so that we could place a 10 lb weight on top.)

Turn the cheese over and increase the weight to 20 lbs for 12 hours. Flip it again and apply 20 lbs of pressure for another 12 hours.

Remove the cheese from the mold and peel away the cheesecloth. Place the cheese on a wooden board and let it air dry at room temperature for 3-5 days, until a rind has developed and the surface is dry. Turn the cheese several times so the moisture doesn’t collect on the bottom. If any mold developes, wipe it off or cut it out.

Once it’s ready, it’s time for waxing. This is somewhat tricky. We melted the cheese wax in a double boiler and then brushed it on with a natural bristle brush. This was fairly messy. If you get enough wax, you can dip the cheese, though this sounds pretty difficult as well. Either way, coat the cheese twice, and check that there are no holes.

Next, age the cheddar for at least 2 months.

This is the stage we’re at now, so I can’t say how it turned out. The instructions say that the taste will improve even more if you age it over 6 months. We are impatient and would like to try the cheese as soon as possible, so we made a second cheddar, which we’ll age for longer. I’m pretty excited to see how this turns out, so I’ll be sure to update you all in 2 months!