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1. The Divine Bubba Blue

   Cheddar cheese is a very difficult cheese to make, but I’ve made it a few times. It does require a lot of equipment and time, though.
   Before starting, all equipment must be sanitized or sterilized. Clean is not good enough; wet all hard surfaces with a potassium metabisulfite solution and let dry. Boil cheesecloth, tea towel, and bamboo mats for fifteen minutes at a rolling boil.
   Ingredients:
   2 gallons whole homogenized milk
   1/4 tsp calcium chloride solution, from winemaking store
   1/2 tablet vegetable rennet
   1 package mesophilic starter, or 1/4 cup freshest possible buttermilk
   2 tbsp non-iodized salt (preferably kosher salt)
   Equipment:
   1 yard 36″ wide or wider fine cheesecloth, boiled 15 minutes and set aside
   1 14″ square piece of cheesecloth, ditto
   1 tea towel, ditto
   2 bamboo sushi mats, never used for sushi, ditto
   1 12-quart or larger heavy-bottomed stainless steel pot with lid
   1 long spoon
   1 long knife
   2 or 3 teaspoons
   1 or two small bowls
   Measuring spoons
   1 thermometer that shows temperatures between 80 and 100F (cheap digital works just fine)
   1 large metal colander
   1 large pot or bowl that can hold 2 gallons of whey
   Sink and stove
   1 cheese mold with follower
   1 cheese press with weights
   Making the cheese:
   1. Heat milk to 88F in a large stainless steel pot. This must be done on the stovetop, not in the microwave or elsewhere.
   2. Prepare a water bath in your kitchen sink at 88F and place the pot in it. Adjust the temperature to keep the milk at 88F throughout the next two steps.
   3. Add calcium chloride solution and either rennet or buttermilk. Stir very, very well, cover, and wait 15 minutes.
   4. Dissolve rennet in 1/4 cup cool water. Dribble into milk and stir thoroughly for 2 minutes. Cover and let sit for one hour or until you can put a (very well-washed) finger into the curd, lift it up, and the curd breaks around it.
   5. Using a long knife, cut the curd into 1/4 inch strips. Turn the pot 90 degrees and do it again. Then tilt your knife and cut the curd strips at a 45 degree angle so the strips are cut up. Stir extremely slowly and carefully, and cut any pieces of curd that are larger than this.
   6. Return the milk to the stove and heat ***very slowly*** to 100F. The rate of temperature increase should be as close to 2 degrees F every five minutes as possible. If you hurry it your cheese will be bitter; if you do it too slowly your cheese will be chewy. This should take about half an hour; stir gently but constantly during this time. If any large curds emerge from the depths, cut them with the knife or with the end of your thermometer.
   At the end of this period, you should have a mass of curds floating (but tending to sink when you’re not stirring them) in yellow-greenish whey.
   7. Drain the curd in a large colander lined with the larger piece of cheesecloth. Don’t throw out the whey – it has numerous uses. Cover the curds with a sanitized pot lid and let them set for 20 minutes.
   8. Adjust the water bath in your sink so that it’s at 100F.
   9. After the curds have set, move the mass of curds carefully to a sanitized cutting board. Cut the curds into long 1 1/2 inch strips. Place your damp tea towel in the bottom of the pot, then place the curd slices on the tea towel. Place the pot in the water so that it keeps the curd slices warm and keep covered. Turn the curds every 15 minutes for the next two hours, keeping the water bath at 100F. You might have to pour off some whey from time to time. (This is cheddaring – drying out the curd while keeping it warm.)
   10. After two hours, remove the curds and place them into another bowl. Break them up into pieces the size of a small marble – they should have the texture of cooked chicken breast. Add the salt and stir with your hands until it’s been absorbed.
   11. Put the smaller piece of cheesecloth in the cheese mold, add the cheese curds, press them in, shake the cheesecloth to get rid of any big folds or bunches, and fold the top of the cheesecloth over the curds.
   12. Place the sushi mat on the base of the cheese press, put the mold containing the curds on top of that, place the follower on top of the curds, and press for 15 minutes using 15 pounds weight.
   12. Press for three hours using 30 pounds weight.
   13. Press for 24 hours using 50 pounds weight.
   14. Remove from press, remove cheesecloth, trim off any rough edges, and let sit on a sushi mat for two weeks, either in the crisper of your fridge or somewhere with a temperature of 50F that’s completely secure from mildew and bugs. Turn the cheese every day. If the mat starts to look dirty, replace it with a new one and wash and boil the old one. If any mold shows up on the cheese, wipe it off with a paper towel soaked in white vinegar.
   15. Once cheese is perfectly dry and free of mold, you can cover it with food-grade wax.
   The longer you store the cheese at 50F, the more character it’ll have.
   PS Mozzarella is a LOT easier,