A Quick Question On Cheese Paste?

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Mole-Patrol
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Re: A Quick Question On Cheese Paste?

Post by Mole-Patrol »

The easy-peasy way to make cheese paste is to buy a roll of shortcrust pastry from the chiller cabinets of the supermarkets. Unroll the disc of pastry and scatter grated white cheese on top like you would a pizza, then crumble about 4oz of soft blue cheese onto it. Roll up the pastry into a sausage then knead it well until everything is mixed through. The best consistency of paste will vary dependent on the time of year. Add soft blue cheese if the paste is too hard, or more grated cheese if it is too soft.

What I do is to half the cheese paste after kneading it. One half is then mixed to the right consistency and frozen ready for use. The other half is mixed with something else; salmon cat food, Marmite or smoked paprika for example, then mixed to the right consistency using hard or soft cheese as explained above. With the salmon cat food which is quite wet I might add something like flour or powdered milk to compensate.

Personally, I prefer my cheese paste to be hard enough to stay on through the full cycle of casting, fishing and retrieving. Chub will take hard large, baits so a ball of cheese paste isn't going to put them off.

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Mick
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Re: A Quick Question On Cheese Paste?

Post by Mick »

I use shortcrust pastry, the frozen stuff. Defrost a slice, roll it out to make it a little thinner and add crumbled Danish Blue and grated mature Cheddar. Fold the pastry corner to corner until the cheese is covered and start kneading. It's hard work, but eventually you will end up with a soft, smooth paste that you can put directly on the hook. I don't use any additives, but I know that garlic salt works for some. I have Tony Miles to thank for the recipe and I think you can find how to put it together in his last book ''The End Of The Line''. Hope that helps.

Jeremy Croxall
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Re: A Quick Question On Cheese Paste?

Post by Jeremy Croxall »

Mick wrote: Sat Nov 21, 2020 8:24 pm I use shortcrust pastry, the frozen stuff. Defrost a slice, roll it out to make it a little thinner and add crumbled Danish Blue and grated mature Cheddar. Fold the pastry corner to corner until the cheese is covered and start kneading. It's hard work, but eventually you will end up with a soft, smooth paste that you can put directly on the hook. I don't use any additives, but I know that garlic salt works for some. I have Tony Miles to thank for the recipe and I think you can find how to put it together in his last book ''The End Of The Line''. Hope that helps.
Mick..... you forgot "bake in a hot oven for 20 mins and serve warm with a glass of claret" :cheers:
"Oh for want of rod and line I'd fish this stream serene, sublime".

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Olly
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Re: A Quick Question On Cheese Paste?

Post by Olly »

Not mentioned so far as I can see is the use of cork balls - ranging from 4mm up to 12 or even 14mm - and wrapping the paste, cheese or any in fact, around the cork. It can, subject to balancing like RW did with his crust, raise the bait upwards, counterbalancing the hook, making it easier for the fish to think is is real/edible.

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Silfield
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Re: A Quick Question On Cheese Paste?

Post by Silfield »

Well my inaugural cheese paste fishing trip didn't quite go to plan!
My wife requested a bit of peace and quiet so I offered to take both boys with me to the river, leaving her time and space to concentrate on an OU assignment she is working on. We arrived to find the river had grown in stature by a factor of 3, running fast, coloured and very high, so much so that the swim I had intended to fish was impossible to reach without waders. After multiple warnings not to try both boys got a welly full of cold water and this was before the reel was even on the rod :doh:
Unperturbed we soldiered on but after a couple of hours without a bite and trying a few different areas within gentle casting distance, decided that it was better to cut our loses and head back to the warmth of the car. On reeling in, a pike decided to take an interest in the paste and hit it twice before dislodging it from the hook-at least I finished the short session with a bit of interest in my bait.
Until next time.....
“There is certainly something in angling that tends to produce a serenity of the mind.”
Washington Irving

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Barbelseeker
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Re: A Quick Question On Cheese Paste?

Post by Barbelseeker »

This recipe caught a 15lb+ barbel many years ago, alas not by me, but a friend. I have never used it, but no doubt he would want others to emulate his catch. A true gentleman.

"Whopper Cheese Paste"

Ingredients: -
1 lb. of mature Cheddar Cheese,
6 oz. Gorgonzola (or Blue Stilton Cheese),
2-3 cups of dried breadcrumbs (or inside of stale loaf).
3 heaped teaspoons of Hot Madras Curry Power.
1 teaspoon of Turmeric Power.
1 teaspoon of Tikka Powder.
2 eggs.

Method.
Grate Cheddar cheese into mixing bowl.
Break up Gorgonzola (or Blue Stilton) into mixing bowl.
Add spices,
Break 2 eggs over mixture.
Add 3 cups of dried white bread crumbs (add more for stiffer mixture).
Switch on mixing machine at low speed, increasing, as mix becomes soft.
When mixed completely, turn out from bowl and knead into suitable sized balls. Wrap each ball in cling film and place in fridge or freezer as required.

Note - in warm weather it is advisable to keep paste firm in a cool box.

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Daltons
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Re: A Quick Question On Cheese Paste?

Post by Daltons »

Go on then - if we're talking cheesepaste - my two pen'orth...
A standard triangle of cheapest Stilton melted in the microwave;
4 slices of white sandwich stodge rough-crumbed in the blender, mixed into the bowl of said liquid cheese;
A generous spoon of squid/krill powder stirred in for luck.
Bag into session-sized portions - and most importantly - DON'T put in the fridge or freezer - leave in the garage/shed to - let's say - 'mature'...
Mine stays there all Winter....
(Which is fine, because my wife rarely goes into the garage...). :whistle: :Thumb:
"One thing we truly fish for is the occasion for self-congratulation" John Gierach - (The View From Rat Lake)

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RobGoodwin
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Re: A Quick Question On Cheese Paste?

Post by RobGoodwin »

I always use up any pastry left over after she-who-must-be-obeyed has been baking as a the base mix - and add any elderly blue cheese like stilton to it, plus a bit of grated cheddar. It works really well for chub and I have had the odd bonus barbel on it too. I have been thinking of trying drained tinned sardines to make a paste but haven't got round to it yet. Has anyone tried making a fish-based paste? Any good?

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Mole-Patrol
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Re: A Quick Question On Cheese Paste?

Post by Mole-Patrol »

When I make a batch of cheese paste using shop bought pastry I usually half the batch and add something else to one of the halves. In the past I have added salmon flavoured cat food. The type that comes in small, square foil packages. It adds a lot of moisture to the mix so has to be countered with additional flour or powdered milk. It works for me and I always take one of the specials along with my normal cheese paste as a change bait.

Incidentally, cheese is a popular bait for barbel over here in France and they have a novel way of groundbaiting. It involves large flat stones taken from the river bank. These are placed on a baking tray and sprinkled with a good helping of grated Emmental cheese before being placed in a hot oven until the cheese melts. Once cooled the stones complete with a cheese layer are thrown into the river where le pecheur intends to fish the following day. Hook bait is a simple cube of the same cheese and sometimes grated cheese is pressed around the lead.

For those men who are not masters of their own kitchen a 'blow lamp in the garage' technique could be the way forward.

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Martin James
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Re: A Quick Question On Cheese Paste?

Post by Martin James »

A question, why add other flavours to good old mature Danish blue and bread crumbs which has stood the test of time?

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