Author Topic: Stirred Curd Cheddar - 1 DEC 2012  (Read 1641 times)

Offline OzzieCheese

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Stirred Curd Cheddar - 1 DEC 2012
« on: December 01, 2012, 03:26:37 AM »
This cheese will be Cloth Banded and another cheese for the Brisbane Cheese Awards in 2013.
10 Litres Milk – This time using Melany Gold Top Milk – At least it is not Homogenised.
No Cream this time
Heaped ‘Drop’ of MO 030
5 mls Mad Millies Rennet. 4 Mls gave 15 min 5 should be closer to 9 Minutes.

Mo 030 culture as it is a Non Gas producer, so the cheese doesn’t swell or crack and I’ll use the flocculation method to determine curd cut.  A range of 3 – 3.5 seems to be the recommended.  Ricki uses ½ tsp of liquid rennet but my Mad Millie rennet states .2- .5 mls per litre therefor 10 litres = .5 X 10 =  5mls = 5 gms.
11:42 milk @22C
This time I’ll be using the rennet to .4 mls and with 10 litres of milk that should move the flocculation time to better than 9 minutes. 
I will be using the 3.5 multiplier today.
10 litres of milk – This time I have 10 litres of un-homogenised “Organic” milk from Melany, their Gold top is about the best ‘pasteurised’ -  un-homogenised milk at a reasonable price $5.00 for two litres.
12:10  @30 degrees started heating milk pulled of the stove in the double boiler to heat to the 32C mark.
32C @ 12:16  added Mo 030 Culture. For 10 litres I added a Heaped drop small measure of GLA Mo 030.
45 minutes to ripen @ 13:00
13:05  32C added 1/8 tsp of CaCl2 diluted in ¼ cup distilled water.  Also adding colouring from Annato although this time only 20 drops into 10 litres.

Adding 5 mls rennet in 13:10 @ 32C

Flocculation time @ 09:00 minutes at a flocculation multiplier X 3.5 therefore 31 minutes so curd cut @ 13:41. 

Test for a clean break, if still not set then leave a further 5 minutes and re-test. 
 
13:42 Cut curds to a ¼ inch cube and allow set for 15 minutes.
Time to stir.
Raising the temp to 38C over 30 minutes. Hit the temp with two minutes to spare.

Continue stirring for another 30 minutes at 38C.  And let rest for 5 minutes.
Drain in a colander for a few minutes but don’t let mat.

Add the curds back into the pot and brake up the matted pieces and added 2 Tbs salt.  Keep the curds warm for the next bit.  Place the pot back into double boiler and sit the pot in it.  Tip the pot so that the whey has somewhere to drain.
 Every 5 minutes for an hour, drain the whey, break the curds up by stirring with your hands but don’t squeeze them.   As I don’t have a ph meter I don’t know what the reading is but an hour seems enough to give the final cheese a nice flavour profile.  After 3 months this method produced a smooth and slightly tangy cheese.

The stirring is over and the pressing begins.   These are my pressing weights for my press

1.5kg @ 550 = 15 lbs for 10 minutes
1.5kg @ 800 = 20 lbs for 10 minutes
4.0Kg @ 700 = 40 lbs for 2 hours
4.0Kg @ 900 = 50 lbs for 24 hours
« Last Edit: December 01, 2012, 04:58:20 AM by OzzieCheese »
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Mighty Mouse

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Re: Stirred Curd Cheddar - 1 DEC 2012
« Reply #1 on: December 01, 2012, 06:04:03 AM »
Sounds like an upcoming weekend well spent to me! I'll be doing  some Jack cheese myself. How long are you going to age it? You mentioned three months down there.

Offline OzzieCheese

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Re: Stirred Curd Cheddar - 1 DEC 2012
« Reply #2 on: December 01, 2012, 10:09:51 PM »
I'm planning to leave this for a little longer this time.  Three months was a a good time for this cheese but I hoping that 4 - 6 months will produce a sharper cheese.  This cheddar is a stirred curd and not really 'cheddared' in the traditional way and I don't have a ph meter.  So I think between 4 and 6 might be the limit. 

Has anyone else had a stirred curd run to a longer maturing period ?

-- Mal
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george

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Re: Stirred Curd Cheddar - 1 DEC 2012
« Reply #3 on: December 02, 2012, 12:36:34 PM »
Mal - in my experience, stirred-curds benefit just as much from longer aging as traditional cheddared types.  I've never made an actual "cheddar", only stirred curds, and the soonest that I've felt they were right was about 8 months.  Of course, being the impatient one that I am, I ALWAYS tried them at 6 or 7 months and they were pretty good, but 8 seems to be the minimum, where the flavors have actually developed and mellowed together to produce truly great yumminess.  The 12-month ones are even better!