Montgomery's Cheddar

Montgomery's Cheddar

Montgomery's Cheddar is a traditional, clothbound, raw-milk farmhouse cheddar from Somerset, England, aged for at least a year. Because authentic farmhouse wheels require months of cave aging, this recipe focuses on a quality home-cook approach using aged raw-milk cheddar finished with traditional cheesecloth and wax. Raw-milk cheese is a food-safety-sensitive project: start with fresh milk from a farm you trust, keep it cool at every stage, and age the wheel well past the two-month mark.

Prep

180 min

Cook

480 min

Total

660 min

Serves

Makes one ~1.8 kg wheel

Difficulty

Hard

Recipe ingredients

• •8 L (2 gallons) whole raw cow's milk, must be high-quality, raw, unstandardized; pasteurized will yield inferior cheese (substitution noted)
• •1 g (1/4 tsp) mesophilic starter culture, MM series or equivalent farmhouse culture, or null
• •2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) calcium chloride solution, 30% solution, only if using pasteurized milk, or null
• •2 ml (1/2 tsp) liquid rennet, single-strength animal rennet, or null
• •20 g (1 oz) cheese salt, non-iodized, or null
• •1 sheet cheesecloth, food-grade cotton, or null
• •200 g (7 oz) cheese wax, yellow or red wax for sealing the aged wheel, or null
• •30 g (2 tbsp) cheese salt for brine, dissolved in 1 L cool water, or null

Steps

1. 1 Heat milk to 32°C (90°F) over a double boiler. Stir gently to avoid scorching; remove from heat. If using pasteurized milk, add calcium chloride first. Raw milk should be fresh, chilled, and from a clean, reputable dairy; keep it cold until you begin.
2. 2 Sprinkle mesophilic starter culture over the milk surface, wait 2 minutes, then stir in with gentle top-down strokes for 1 minute. Cover and ripen for 45 minutes at 32°C. The starter culture and the salt are what help keep unwelcome bacteria in check, so use the amounts stated.
3. 3 Dilute rennet in 60 ml (1/4 cup) cool non-chlorinated water, stir into milk with figure-eight motion for 30 seconds, then stop stirring. Cover and let set undisturbed for 45 minutes, or until a clean break is achieved.
4. 4 Test for clean break: insert a knife at a 45° angle; if the curd splits cleanly with clear whey, proceed. Cut the curd into 1 cm (1/2 in) cubes using a long knife, then let the curd heal for 5 minutes.
5. 5 Slowly raise temperature by 1°C every 5 minutes until reaching 38°C (100°F) over ~40 minutes, stirring gently. The curd will shrink and release whey.
6. 6 Maintain 38°C for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Curds should be firm enough that two pressed together spring apart. Let curds settle for 20 minutes without stirring.
7. 7 Pour off the whey to the level of the curd surface. Add prepared brine (20 g salt per 1 L cool water) until curds are just submerged. Soak for 1 hour, stirring gently every 15 minutes. Never skip the salt: it is part of what makes raw-milk cheese keep.
8. 8 Line a cheese mold with cheesecloth. Ladle curds in, folding cloth over the top. Press at 4 kg (9 lb) for 15 minutes.
9. 9 Flip the wheel, re-fold the cloth, and press at 9 kg (20 lb) for 12 hours. Room temperature should be 20-22°C (68-72°F).
10. 10 Unmold the wheel; it should feel firm and hold its shape. Air-dry at 13-15°C (55-59°F) with 80-85% humidity for 3-5 days, turning twice daily, until the rind is dry to the touch. Work with clean hands and utensils, and keep the wheel away from raw meat and other kitchen contamination.
11. 11 Bandage the wheel with fresh cheesecloth, pressing out any wrinkles. Air-dry the bandaged wheel for another 2-3 days until the cloth is fully dry and adhered.
12. 12 Melt cheese wax over a double boiler to 90°C (195°F). Dip the bandaged wheel or brush melted wax on evenly to fully seal. Cool the sealed wheel. Work in a well-ventilated space away from any heat source, and keep water out of the hot wax.
13. 13 Age the waxed wheel at 11-15°C (52-59°F) with 85% humidity for a minimum of 12 months. Traditional Montgomery's is aged 12-18 months; longer aging (up to 24 months) develops more crystalline crunch and deeper flavor. For raw-milk cheese, do not begin eating it before 60 days of aging at cool cellar temperature (2-4°C / 36-39°F for the first two months is the usual guideline): this time and temperature is what reduces the risk from Listeria and E. coli in unpasteurised milk.
14. 14 Check the wheel weekly for the first month, then monthly. Look for cracks, mold, or rind damage; discard the wheel if it develops soft, sticky or off-smelling patches, or if the wax lifts and lets air in. Keep raw-milk cheese away from pregnant women, young children, the elderly and anyone immunocompromised unless it has been pasteurised, and tell guests it is made with raw milk.