Hello all
Well, Tomorrow I am going to start again on another cheddar to see if I can repeat my process from last week. The goal is to distill the recipe and process from last week into a verifiable repeatable process.
List of Ingredients:- 6gal whole pasteurized/homogenized off the shelf milk (1.99/gall at SAMS Club)
- 3/8 tsp Choozit MA11 (.9g)
- 36 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 repeat the process from last week
- To make a cheddar that is a bit more yellow.
- To bandage cheese in muslin and lard
Here is what I am gonna try.- increase Annatto from 4 drops/gal to 6 drops/gal
- use 6oz of salt
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 43 min then add CaCl2
- Wait 2 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
- Stir Occainsionally at 100def for 30 min. or until pH 6.15
- 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 |
6:35am | Added Milk to Vat | 120 | 37 | 6.90 |
6:50am | Added Annatto | 112 | 60 | 6.99 |
6:52am | Heat On | 112 | 60 | 6.99 |
7:13am | Heat Off | 120 | 77 | 6.77 |
7:23am | heating | 115 | 83 | 6.73 |
7:29am | Heat On | 114 | 86 | 6.71 |
7:33am | Heat Off | 116 | 88 | 6.71 |
7:39am | Culture Added | 116 | 90 | 6.75 (odd) |
8:25am | CaCL2 added | 104 | 91 | 6.66 |
8:29am | Rennet Added | 104 | 91 | 6.59 |
8:53am | Heat On | 99.5 | 90 | Not taken |
9:15am | curd Cut Heat Off 15min rest | 124 | 90 | 6.59 |
9:31am | Start scald | 125 | 87 | 6.56 |
9:56am | scald | 129 | 96 | 6.45 |
10:01am | scald | 130 | 98 | 6.42 |
10:07am | scald Done Heating | 133 | 100 | 6.40 |
10:22am | Holding temp @ 100 | 133 | 100 | 6.30 |
10:25am | Holding temp @ 100 | 133 | 101 | 6.27 |
10:41am | Fished hold temp @ 100 | 133 | 101 | 6.15 |
11:01am | added 3 tbls salt | 117 | 100 | NA |
11:14am | added 3 tbls salt | 115 | 100 | NA |
11:31am | Data Point 16 min left in stir | 115 | 100 | 5.92 |
Notes:Rennet Time:
pH was .09 too low. (when compared to last week) at rennet time
End of cooking/scalding Phase:
pH was .12 too low. (when compared to last week) at end of scald time. The 30 hold at 100 deg period will end when pH reaches 6.15. This took 52 min last week. I anticipate this taking less than 30 this week. My concern is that the curd will not have enough time to release enough whey. May end up with curds too moist. This took 34 min this week 18 min less time than last week.
pH during Stir phase:
pH is righ on schedule for stirring and should be same as last week when curds go into mould. (this is due to time adjustment above.)
Wrap upOVerall I am satisfied that the operational process is repeatable.
Since my "cooking/scalding" phase was 18 min shorter this time, I think my curds are a bit more moist than last week.
The key here is using the pH meter to guage where I am in the process.
I have also decided that in the past I have used too much culture and I let it acidify without validation of where it was.
This was from one of my previous posts and it is work repeating:
"The manufacture of Cheddar cheese is more dependent on uniform starter activity than that of washed curd cheeses, such as Gouda. The proper rate of acid development, particularly before the whey is drained from the curd, is essential if the required chemical composition of the cheese is to be obtained. However, the curd is’ cooked’ to expel moisture at a temperature that normally adversely affects the starter bacteria. The cheesemaker must therefore exert judgment to ensure that the desired acid development in the curd is reached at about the same time as the required moisture content."I don't know if I hit the correct required moisture content. I know it was different from last week. Given that my pH was "ahead" of schedule I quit the cooking/scalding phase a bit early and the curd was noticably more moist than before. Its hard to say if it was too moist. So far, I am not overy concerned.