I realised I haven't had any caerphilly for quite some time now, so it was time to rectify that issue. Also, I realised I've got a bunch of cheeses for long agine, but I'm in short supply of nibbles. A caerphilly, and maybe a butterkase next weekend, and that problem will be solved.
Things got a bit hectic around the place as I was doing the pressing, so the time recording went by the whey side (sorry, couldn't resist, even if good society dictates I should have). Still, those aren't critical steps, and it's more "flip when the moment grabs you".
Anyway, by my records this is my 48th cheese, not counting riccotta's. The make went really well, though the temperature did go a bit high during the cooking phase. I'm not sure that's really such a bad thing with this make though, but the results will tell. The curds seemed really good by the end of it all, and the knit was looking good during the flips, so I'm hoping it will be a good one when it comes out in the morning. I've upped my makes to 11 litres as I realised my pot will hold 11, so it's that little bit extra.
Caerphilly (Aug 18th, 2012); Saturday, sunny, 19 C
11L Home Brand Standard milk
½ tsp 50% CaCl.
2 ice cubes flora danica
2 ice cubes buttermilk
0.66 ml microbial rennet IMCU 750 in egg cup of water
2.5 tlbs salt (and more for salting during pressing)
1) Warm to 320C, 3 ice cubes mesophillic culture (Flora Dancia) : 11:40 (right on)
2) Ripen 60 min (target time 12:40) Time: 12:40
3) add ½ tsp CaCl in egg cup water
4) Time 12:44:00 Temp 31.0 0C, add rennet (0.66 ml, in water), stir
5) Floc time 12:56:30 so 12 min 30 sec, 3x floc so wait 37 min 30 sec (40 min by recipe) Target cut time: 1:21:30
6) 1:21:30 Cut into 6mm cubes. v.good curd
7) Rest 10 minutes to heal (start 1:29-1:39)
8) Raise temp to 33 over 10 minutes (reached 33 at 1:55, starting temp was 30.0 ish)
9) Stir for 40 min with curds at 330C (Start time: 1:55-2:35; temp continued up to 35.5C)
2:35-2:40 : Pitch and drain after 5 minutes (temp is 34.0? 0C)
10) 2:40 drain in cheese cloth for 5-10 minutes to form curd cake (press lightly if necessary; ie 2 litre milk jug filled with water placed on top of follower on top of cheese cloth “bag” of curds in colander)
11) 3:10 : cut into 1 inch slices, stacked (in the pot; in sink with warm water)
12) Flipped stack every 10 minutes over 30 minutes (so flip at 3:20 and 3:30)
13) Milled into thumbnail size bits (start ?:??)
14) Added 2.5 tbls of salt
15) Pressing in the pot under 10 kg (4:10-4:20). (10 minutes; warm water in sink; 0.72 PSI)
16) Flip, salt, and re-dress
17) Press in the pot under 15Kg (4:20-4:40) (10 minutes; 1.08 PSI – went 20 minutes)
18) Flip, salt, and re-dress
19) Press in the pot under 25.0 kg (20 min) (?:??-?:?? 1.79 PSI) didn’t record time
20) Flip, salt, and re-dress
21) Press overnight under 35.2 kg. (starting at ?:??pm; 2.53 PSI – 7:13 am) didn’t record start time
Knit very good. Cheese a bit lopsided (6.5 on one side, and 7.5 on the other). Weight out of press, 1640g. 15.5x7.0 = 1320 cm3 = 1.24g/cm3