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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Derbyshire, England

Derby / Sage DerbyDerby

Derby is a hard English cow-milk cheese made like Cheddar but moister and quicker to ripen. In the 1953 USDA account, milk is set at 80–85 °F, the curd is cooked to 96 °F, matted, milled, pressed, dipped in hot water and cured 3–4 months; Sage Derby is the same cheese marbled green with sage. Made in 6 steps over 31 days – 4 months. The longest step, cure, takes 30 days – 4 months (Sanders G.P. 1953) and runs at 16 °C (Sanders G.P. 1953). Lactic starter does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step30 days – 4 monthsReported[usda-hb54]Cure
Temperature16 °CReported[usda-hb54][usda-608]Cure

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceHistorical accounts with no fixed batch. A 1953 Derby was a cylinder about 15 inches across, 5 inches thick and about 30 pounds.
Whole cow milk · Evening and morning milk mixed[usda-hb54]
Lactic starter and rennet[usda-hb54]
Colour (for some markets)[usda-hb54]
1 pound per 1,000 pounds of milk (1928 account)Salt[usda-608]
Starterlactic starter

Total time across the recorded steps: 31 days – 4 months

Start
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27–29 °C

What changes: Starter and rennet go into warm milk and it sets firm in about an hour

Step 1 of 6
Set the milk
Time
1 h
Reported
Temperature
27–29 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: firm curd.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Derby is close to Cheddar but holds more moisture, is less firm, breaks into flakes and ripens faster. The pressed cheese is dipped in hot water to close the rind.

Milk
Whole cow milk
Ripening
At least a month, usually 3–4 months (1953)
Composition
Moisture 35–39 %, fat 28–30.5 %, salt 2 % (1953 analysis)

Related ferments

Variants

  • Sage DerbyDerby marbled green with sage. No sourced recipe for it was found; a 1953 USDA account of American sage cheese says green sage leaves were once mixed into the curd and later sage extract plus green-coloured curd.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Factory cheesemaking in England began in 1870 with two factories built to make Derby cheese, so it could be made more evenly than on farms. Gloucester, Leicester, Warwickshire and Wiltshire cheeses were counted as the same type.

  1. [usda-hb54] Sanders G.P. 1953, Cheese varieties and descriptions, USDA Agriculture Handbook 54 (Derby; Sage)archive
  2. [usda-608] Doane C.F., Lawson H.W., revised by Matheson K.J. 1928, Varieties of cheese, descriptions and analyses, USDA Bulletin 608 (Derbyshire)archive