September Farm Gourmet Cheddar Cheese

Great cheddar cheese starts with really good milk. Fortunately, our local cows right here in Honey Brook provide ample supplies of some the best milk you can get. The first step in making gourmet cheddar cheese is to gently pasteurize the whole milk in our large vat. Treating the milk gently is key to preserving natural enzymes and complex flavors that are otherwise lost in large scale industrial operations.  

At September Farm, the milk is slowly heated to the required pasteurization temperature and then dropped down to proper fermentation temperature for the next phase. 

The curd is “set” by adding natural cheese culture enzymes and microbial rennet to the milk.  Overtime these good and healthy bacteria will transform the fluid pasteurized milk into a somewhat solid gelatinous mixture.

Once the curd is firmly set, we cut it into cubes in place in the vat. At this point the curd cubes will begin to release excess water known as whey.  The curd is then gently cooked to encourage it to continue releasing whey. Cooking the curd is a delicate process where the temperature is increased from 90 degrees to 102 at a rate of 2 degrees every 5 minutes.

Once the slabs of cheddar have released the correct amount of whey and have reached the proper ph level, the slabs are milled into fresh cheddar cheese curds. Salt is then added and the curds are ready to be pressed into large blocks. These large blocks are then sealed in special bags and placed in our aging rooms. The blocks are carefully monitored over the months and years of aging.

Did you know the longer cheddar cheese ages, the sharper it gets?