Double Gloucester...
Hoping I doubled whatever it is that needed doubling
(wondering if mixing raw and P/H milk counts?) I believe that traditionally it is made with a mix of evening and morning milk. So...today's milk and who knows when's milk.
I have wanted to make one of these for a while, so here we are. I had rare time off today and along with some milk and a few other odds and ends I was all set!
I almost made a Caerphilly but with the cheese in my fridge (ready to eat) I figured something that aged longer would be better. I decided to base this loosely on Dulcelife's Double Gloucester recipe, but with a longer aging period.
1 gal. raw Jersey Milk and 1 gal. whole P/H milk.
1/8th tsp. MM100
1/8th tsp. Alp D
3/8th tsp. Calcium Chloride
1/4 tsp. Single Strength veal rennet
2 tbs. Canning salt.
pH targets:
Rennet at 6.5
Drain at 6.3
1) Prepped all the gear (steamed most equipment inside the "milk vat" for 10 minutes.
2) Heated milk to 86F and then added cultures (pre process pH of milk 6.68).
3) Allowed to ripen approximately 1 hour (added cacl).
4) Added 1/4 tsp rennet, single strength veal.
5) Flocculation was 13 minutes. 13x3=39 minutes.
6) Cut curd at 39 minutes after rennet addition (1/4-3/8").
7) Let rest 10 minutes.
8.) Stirred 10 minutes.
9) Increased heat to 100F over 20 minutes (took 30).
10) Drained at pH 6.31.
11) Formed curd mass in bottom of "vat".
12) Flipped every 10-15 minutes and drained whey as needed.
13) After 40 minutes milled the curd mass and added 2 tablespoons of salt.
14) Let "rest" for a few minutes (while I got the mold and cheesecloth ready) which would allow the curds to absorb the salt and shed a bit more whey.
15) Packed the mold (used a 2 LB gouda mold).
16) Pressed at 2 psi in warm environment for 15 minutes.
17) Re-wrapped cheesecloth, flipped and pressed at 4 psi for 30 minutes.
18) Re-wrapped cheesecloth, flipped and pressed at 6 psi for 60 minutes.
19) Re-wrapped cheesecloth, flipped and pressed at 6 psi for 120 minutes.
20) Out of mold and left to dry. pH = 5.67
I plan on aging this out at least 8 months. I will vac bag it in a couple days, and then stick in the "cave" at 55F.
Make went well although I felt like I was racing against acidification about midway through but it turned out fine, perhaps a bit higher pH at the end than what would be optimum.