Hello all
Well, today I am gonna tackle the Acidity issue with my Cheddars. This will be a "stirred curd" cheddar varietal.
List of Ingredients:- 6gal whole pasteurized/homogenized off the shelf milk (1.99/gall at SAMS Club)
- 3/8 tsp Choozit MA11
- 24 drops double strength Annatto (diluted in 2/3 cup distilled water)
- 3tsp CaCl2
- 1.5tsp veal rennet (diluted in 3/4 cup distilled water)
- 3.3oz of flaked salt
My Goals:- To make a cheddar that is has a final pH of no lower than 5.1
- To make a cheddar whose consistency is significantly more plastic in nature than the crumblier mess that I normally get
Here is what I am gonna try.- Use the minimum amount of DVI starter. (less than half of what was used in the past)
- Get to temperature on time. No messing around.
- Use a bit more salt at the end to stop any more lactic acid creation by any surviving Lactococcus lactis critters
- Like to see a pH of 6.1-6.2 at the end of cooking.
- Like to see a pH of 5.1-5.2 at when its time to add put in moulds.
Basic Process:- Add milk to vat, start heating to 90degF
- Add Annatto
- When milk is at 90, add Culture. Stir in for 1 min
- Wait 30 min then add CaCl2
- Wait 15 min then add Rennet Solution
- Wait 45 min or until clean break, cut curd, then let rest for 15min
- Stir curd and begin heating protocol from 90-100 degF That is 2 deg/5min
- Let sit at 100def for 30 min.
- Drain curd, not too long to avoid matting
- place in pan, stir curds with fingers, avoid mashing
- Add salt in two phases, allowing for slower absorption
- Stir every 5 min for 1 hour
- place in 8"mould
- Press@.2PSI for 15 min
- Remove from mould/flip/redress/re-mould
- Press@.5PSI for 30 min
- Remove from mould/flip/redress/re-mould
- Press@2.5PSI for 2hours
- Remove from mould/flip/redress/re-mould
- Press@6.5PSI for 24 Hours
Here is how it is playing out in real-life:Time | Task | Water Temp | Milk Temp | pH |
8:31am | Add Color | 93 | 38 | 7.02 |
8:49am | Heating | 100 | 53 | 7.00 |
9:45am | Heating | 103 | 86 | 6.83* |
10:05am | Added the MA11 Culture | 107 | 90 | 6.79 |
10:21am | acidification | 113 | 91 | 6.81 |
10:34am | added CaCl2 | 109 | 92 | 6.76 |
10:50am | added the rennet solution | 108 | 92 | 6.68 |
11:35am | Cut Curd | 102 | 90 | 6.63 |
11:53am | Started Cooking | 102 | 90 | 6.59 |
12:18pm | Finished raising temp to 100 | 131 | 100 | 6.52** |
12:48pm | Middle of Cooking @ 100degF | N/A | 101 | 6.37** |
1:11pm | Middle of Cooking @ 100degF | N/A | 99 | 6.15 |
1:25pm | Stirring curd - Add 1/2 ofsalt | N/A | 99 | ? |
1:29pm | Stirring curd - Add last 1/2 of salt*** | N/A | 99 | ? |
1:45pm | Stirring curd | N/A | 99 | 5.92 |
2:01pm | Added 2 more tbls salt | N/A | 99 | 5.83 |
2:01pm | Stirring curd | N/A | 99 | 5.83 |
5:30pm | Placed into press for final pressing at 6.54PSI | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Notes:*Am a bit concerned about that pH drop when I have added nothing more than Annatto
** Need to drop .4 pH before end of next phase of cooking. I Will end the next phase when whey has a pH of 6.15, not based on the time.
*** The curd looks WAY different than previous batches.**** Am concerned now that I added salt too soon in stir process I may have killed it and it may not ever get to desired pH of 5.1
Wrap upThe Cheese is still in the press. I am pressing at 6.54PSI for 24 hours. My final press will not include any muslin. I am trying to avoid the wringles associated with the cloth. This morning, after 12 hours at max pressure, I notices little 1/8th in long bits of cheese that have been extruded through the drainholes in my 8" Tome mould. I am not really worried about that.
However I am not particularly hopeful for this batch because of the salt. I believe that I added the salt too early in the process and I may have stopped acid production too early. In my quest to make cheese that was not as acidic as normal, I may have over corrected.
The last pH reading i was able to get was not low enough, and the rate of decrease in pH seemed to be leveling off too soon.
The curd this time around was MUCH different than that of prior batches. The curd was better defined, and springy to the touch. In previous attempts, my curd was mushier to the touch. The curds this time around, just prior to pressing, were much tougher, almost like little bits of chicken breast
Lastly, and I do not know what this is worth, when I got to the last hour of my stirring effort, very little whey was left in my pan. At the VERY end, when I went to drain the whey before stirring, there was no whey left. That was a change from before. So, we shall see how well this batch knits together after 24 hours of pressure. I will not age this batch as it is a process test batch. I will age this no more than 3 weeks.