Clothbound cheddar cheese — Photo: Sarah_Ackerman from New York, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A%E2%80%9CCabot%20Clothbound%20Cheddar%E2%80%9D%20(13042182775).jpg

American Dairy Age - Clothbound cheddar

Bandaged American Cheddar

Name: Bandaged American Cheddar
Prep time: 2 h
Cook time: 8 h
Yield: About 1 small home batch
Ingredients: 2 gallons pasteurized whole cow milk; 1/4 teaspoon direct-set mesophilic starter culture; 1/2 teaspoon calcium chloride diluted in 1/4 cup cool non-chlorinated water; 1/2 teaspoon single-strength liquid rennet diluted in 1/4 cup cool non-chlorinated water; 2 tablespoons non-iodized cheese salt; Clean butter muslin; 2 tablespoons lard or clarified butter for cloth binding

Bandaged American Cheddar is a home-scale American cheddar with measured culture, rennet setting, cheddaring, pressing, salting, and controlled aging.

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Difficulty

Advanced

Prep time

1 to 2 hours active

Cook time

4 to 8 hours make day

Total time

6 to 18 months under cloth in controlled aging conditions

Servings

About 1 small home batch

Region

New England, Midwest, and artisan dairy regions

Era introduced

American Dairy Age

Introduced by

Clothbound cheddar

Recipe tools

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The Story

Bandaged cheddar preserves an older Anglo-American method in which cloth, fat, and cellar care protect the wheel while allowing a living rind to develop. The recipe below keeps that history practical for a home cheesemaking setup: use pasteurized milk, sanitized tools, measured culture, controlled temperature, controlled humidity, and refrigerated aging rather than casual countertop ripening. It is a learning recipe for the American style, not a commercial standard of identity or raw-milk guidance.

Ingredients

2 gallons pasteurized whole cow milk
1/4 teaspoon direct-set mesophilic starter culture
1/2 teaspoon calcium chloride diluted in 1/4 cup cool non-chlorinated water
1/2 teaspoon single-strength liquid rennet diluted in 1/4 cup cool non-chlorinated water
2 tablespoons non-iodized cheese salt
Clean butter muslin
2 tablespoons lard or clarified butter for cloth binding

Equipment

Large stainless steel pot
Accurate dairy thermometer
Long curd knife
Slotted spoon
Colander
Butter muslin or cheesecloth
Cheese mold
Cheese press
pH strips or pH meter
Aging refrigerator or cheese cave

Directions

Read the safety notes before starting. Use pasteurized milk only, sanitize every tool that touches milk or curd, wash hands well, and discard the batch if it smells rotten, turns slimy, grows black or pink mold, or shows swelling that does not match the style.
Warm the milk to 88 F in a nonreactive pot. Sprinkle the mesophilic culture over the surface, let it hydrate for 3 minutes, stir for 1 minute, cover, and ripen for 45 minutes.
Stir in diluted calcium chloride for 30 seconds. Stir in diluted rennet with an up-and-down motion for 30 seconds, then hold the milk still at 88 F for 45 minutes, or until a knife lifted through the curd gives a clean break.

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