This cheese came together quite painlessly and the make was smooth.
Started on February 26, 2015.
Initial cow pH: 6.79
Initial goat pH: 6.73
3.75 gallons Dungeness Valley whole raw milk
.5 gallon Lucky Hook Farm whole raw goat milk
8 cubes TA-61
1/8 tsp LH-100 (2011)
1/32 tsp Propioni shermanii (2011)
1/32 tsp dry calf rennet, dissolved in 1/4 c cold distilled water
Added cubes to milk (68F).
Raised milk to 95F.
Added cultures to milk to rehydrate.
Stirred in cultures.
Checked for pH 6.55-6.60.
Stirred in rennet.
Checked for floc'ing.
Floc'd in 28 minutes (should have used 1/16 tsp).
Using a 3X factor, cut & whisked after 56 min.
Cooked and stirred curds to 110F in 35 min. pH is 6.57.
Filled prepared Plyban-lined mould with curds.
Pressed with 16 lbs under warm whey for 20 min.
Flipped, rewrapped, continued pressing as before.
Removed whey, pressed with 1.9 psi for 60 min.
Flipped, rewrapped, continued pressing as before.
Again, flipped, rewrapped, continued pressing as before.
After 3.5 hours pressing, checked pH...5.30.
Into whey-brine for 9 hours.
Flipped, back into brine for another 9 hours.
Out to air-dry at room temp, in minicave.
After 15 hours, moved minicave to cave @ 51F.
March 20: After 3 weeks in cave, vacuum-sealed.
Six weeks later, checking the cheese found a lot of moisture in the bag.
May 5: Removed cheese from bag, gently scrubbed off linens, dried, and rebagged.
June 26: Cut cheese at 4 months. Lots of small holes, as Caldwell's recipe mentions.
Good, flexible texture that melts well; slightly sweet character; not excessively salty...maybe just shy of optimal. That's surprising because it brined for 18 hours.
Overall, the cheese is acceptable, but not particularly exceptional. The youngish (4 months) age lends an alpine character. Too bad this cheese style falls into the "Hard Grana" family because I prefer the cheese at
this stage rather than as a harder, drier, grating cheese. Melting the cheese develops more flavor and character as is possible with other cheeses. The presence of all those tiny holes at first made me think that the milk had been contaminated, but rereading the Caldwell description calmed my jitters.
-Boofer-