English Style Aged Cheese

• 5 gallons (18.9 litres) unpasteurized cow's milk
• 1½ tsp commercial rennet (or vegetable rennet)
• ¼ cup lukewarm water
• Butter
• 2–3 tbsp salt

Ingredients for 44 servings (19.6 kg) · the original recipeShow how each ingredient was counted

Method

1. 1

   Gently heat milk and bring it to blood temperature (80 °F/27 °C).

   Stovetop
2. 2

   Combine rennet and water, then add to milk. Stir for 1 minute.

3. 3

   Cover and let it rest or 1½ hours, preferably near a fire where it can stay warm. Maintain a temperature of 80 °F (27 °C) while milk is left to coagulate under a gentle heat.

4. 4

   When it reaches the right consistency, stir and then separate the curds from the whey.

5. 5

   Cut the curds in a crisscross configuration with a long and flat wooden stick, so as to release the whey from the milk (separate the liquid part of the milk from the solid part of the milk). Do not remove curds from pot.

6. 6

   Cover the curds once again and let rest for 1–1½ hour. Gently stir again, and then slowly heat it all again to 100 F; if heated too fast, the heat will create a film or thin skin on the curds and the cheese will remain wet and not age properly.

7. 7

   Break up the curds very slowly with your hands. Strain through a fine mesh cloth, separating the curds from the whey.

8. 8

   Squeeze out excess water. Open up the cloth, break apart the curds, and add the salt.

9. 9

   Put curds into a wooden press (vice) lined with butter and a mesh-like cloth. Press to extract more of the whey from the curds.

10. 10

    Leave in the press for 2–3 days; in the interim, flip it over.

11. 11

    Remove the curd from the press.

12. 12

    Sprinkle a clean shelf in a cool place with a good amount salt. Set the cheese down upside-down. Leave it to age for a minimum of 60 days, flipping over every day to allow for complete drying. The longer it ages, the drier and sharper the cheese becomes.