Author Topic: best cheese types for raw jersey milk  (Read 5266 times)

WisconsinDan

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best cheese types for raw jersey milk
« on: July 06, 2015, 01:28:03 AM »
So I seem to have found a way to get my hands on raw Jersey milk. It is pretty expensive, but I am very excited about it. However, I know that some kinds of milk work better for some kinds of cheese than others.  Just curious what some others around here think.  If you got your hands on a few gallons of raw Jersey milk what sort of cheese would you make?

Kern

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Re: best cheese types for raw jersey milk
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2015, 01:57:06 AM »
I routinely use raw Jersey milk to make all my long aged cheeses:  cheddar, Cheshire, Gouda, etc and will continue to do so as long as I can get it.  Cut back about 25-30%, some say up to 50%,  on the starter culture with raw milk or you'll really start chasing a rapidly falling pH once the curds have been separated from the whey.   I'll use it to make some alpine type cheeses and a Parm as soon as the summer starts to wind down.  It is legal to sell raw milk in Washington State (big chains won't as the lawyers run the dairy department) and prices vary from about $7 per gallon up to $13 depending upon the source.

WisconsinDan

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Re: best cheese types for raw jersey milk
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2015, 02:43:57 AM »
I guess it is not so terribly expensive here considering that you really cannot buy it legally. I found a cow share sort of thing and this is the only way to get it legally here. It is going to run me $12 a gallon, but they actually make a delivery not too far from me once a week so at least I don't have to drive for an hour or so like I hear so many people do. I am still waiting for my membership to be finalized so it may be a week or so before I can get any of it, but I am just trying to decide what to make with it ahead of time so I can plan it out. I think I am going to get 6 gallons because if I get 5 the 6th one is free.  Usually my 2 gallon makes seem to go smoother than my 4, but I have not yet tried a 3 gallon make. I am trying to pick out 2 or maybe 3 cheeses to make with it over the course of a couple of days. I imagine that what doesn't go into the pot the first day should be okay in the fridge for a couple of days right?

qdog1955

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Re: best cheese types for raw jersey milk
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2015, 10:44:52 AM »
Kern has it right. Interesting ----I find the larger makes work better for me-----but if you do have a failure---it's a much more costly one.
  Qdog

Kern

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Re: best cheese types for raw jersey milk
« Reply #4 on: July 06, 2015, 11:22:55 PM »
I imagine that what doesn't go into the pot the first day should be okay in the fridge for a couple of days right?

You can imagine all you want but that won't change the facts!   ;)  The reason raw milk is alleged to be better than pasteurized milk is because it contains native microorganisms.  Some of these work at low (refrigerator) temperatures so they are going to slowly change the milk during storage.  Although perhaps not harmful over a couple of days I'd surmise that cheese made from fresh raw milk will be different than the same cheese made from two day old raw milk - different, not necessary harmful.

The raw milk I use on Friday to make cheese comes from Jersey cows milked on Wednesday.  I'd feel OK about one more day (Saturday) but not Sunday.  I might add that I always use Lysozyme in my raw milk cheeses to help prevent late blowing.  One thing I always do is heat the raw milk as fast as I can without scorching it to get it up to culture adding temperature.  My goal is to have the culture added within 30-45 minutes after removing it from the refrigerator.  I use a 6-gallon vat with a griddle heater and can't achieve this unless I immerse the milk jugs in a sink of hot water.  Then they go into the vat at about 75F and heat another 10 degrees in the next 30 minutes.  Heating it fast like this helps prevent the bad guys from getting a toehold before the good guys overwhelm them and start knocking the pH down to levels where the bad guys perish.

Sometime in late August/early September I am going to make a six gallon cheddar with raw milk straight from the cows (immediately at a friends commercial dairy with no cooling).)  It will be interesting to see if this behaves differently or produces a better cheese. 

WisconsinDan

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Re: best cheese types for raw jersey milk
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2015, 04:23:59 AM »
@Kern I would really like to hear/see how that cheddar straight from the cow turns out. I would love to hear if it tastes much different than your 2 day milk.

@qdog I think that I really just have not done enough of the larger makes. When I wrote that I was mostly thinking of the 4 gallon cheddar I made, milling and salting the curd I think I let it cool off too much and just never got a good knit. To be fair it was my 1st attempt at a cheddar and I think I have picked up a couple of tricks since then like milling and salting in a pot in a water bath. When I think about it harder though I did do a 4 gallon washed curd where the rind closed real nicely and I am thinking that something like a tomme would probably turn out well too.

The more I think about it my 1st time using the milk I am going to make a gouda-like washed curd and a tomme just because I have the most experience making those styles and it will give me a chance to get used to the milk (i.e. figure out how much culture and rennet I am going to need).  At some point I really want to make raw milk camembert and reblochon, but I am not really comfortable with the process for the camembert yet and haven't yet made a good washed rind cheese.

qdog1955

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Re: best cheese types for raw jersey milk
« Reply #6 on: July 07, 2015, 10:41:03 AM »
Should have been more clear---I think one should have all the basics down first, before trying larger makes---I'm referring to small errors in measuring some of the tiny amounts used in smaller makes.
Qdog

Offline awakephd

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Re: best cheese types for raw jersey milk
« Reply #7 on: July 07, 2015, 01:39:16 PM »
If the primary "failure" that you had with the 4-gallon make was a problem with getting cheddar to knit ... and that was your first cheddar ... that may not reflect a problem in your techniques. Cheddar is inherently challenging to get a good knit, due to the cheddaring/milling/salting that it undergoes. By the time you get through all of that, the curds are tired and just want to be left alone, not forced to bond with their neighbors. :)

How much pressure are you able to apply with your press? Cheddar will require higher pressures -- and this is a place where make size can make a difference, simply because the larger mold used to hold a larger make has larger surface area. For example, 100 lbs applied to a 4.5" diameter mold may be more than enough to close the rind, but 100 lbs applied to a 7" diameter mold may be not nearly enough. In the former case, you are getting 6.29 psi, but the in latter, only 2.60 psi (assuming I have done my math correctly).

Bottom line is, if you want to make cheddars (other than something like a Lancashire or Caerphilly) in larger quantities, you will need a press that is capable of giving you the pressure that you need. Keeping the curds warm will help, some, but you'll still need plenty of psi. Note that a make that is not milled -- such as a gouda or a parma -- could be pressed initially while under whey, which will help even more with the knit. But with cheddar, that is not really an option, since you have already salted and milled the curds.
-- Andy

IllinoisCheeseHead

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Re: best cheese types for raw jersey milk
« Reply #8 on: July 07, 2015, 03:36:56 PM »
I make Gouda, Monterey, Colby and Baby Swiss with it.  The farm that sells me this milk, and they only have Jersey milk, sells mostly cheddar.

Thanks

qdog1955

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Re: best cheese types for raw jersey milk
« Reply #9 on: July 07, 2015, 07:26:24 PM »
 Caldwells method when they refuse to knit, is to place the cheese in 160 degree water or whey and then press-----worked great for me and didn't need a lot of extra weight.
Qdog

WisconsinDan

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Re: best cheese types for raw jersey milk
« Reply #10 on: July 17, 2015, 05:17:41 AM »
So I picked up 6 gallons of the Jersey milk and am going to have a 3 day cheese-a-palooza. Three days of 2 gallon makes.

Here was day 1 : http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,14831.0.html Just a basic tomme to get to know my milk.

Offline Boofer

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Re: best cheese types for raw jersey milk
« Reply #11 on: July 18, 2015, 02:16:18 AM »
Three days of 2 gallon makes.
Let me throw down the challenge;)

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

WisconsinDan

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Re: best cheese types for raw jersey milk
« Reply #12 on: July 18, 2015, 02:32:02 AM »
Nice looking hat trick Boofer. I think if I really wanted do a hat trick like that I might need a second press. I had been thinking it would be kind of nice to have one just for experimental purposes. It would be easy to keep all the other variables the same by simply making a larger batch and splitting that into several cheeses while treating them differently. I could age try pressing for different times and with different PSI or else keep that the same and just age them out differently. Oh what fun that would be  :D. Anyhow day 2 of the 3-day Cheese-a-Palooza is coming to a close and the results of that make can be followed here:

http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,14835.0.html

WisconsinDan

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Re: best cheese types for raw jersey milk
« Reply #13 on: July 18, 2015, 02:32:45 AM »
Also, AC4U for that nice hat trick.

WisconsinDan

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Re: best cheese types for raw jersey milk
« Reply #14 on: July 19, 2015, 12:03:40 AM »
Here is the 3rd and final cheesehttp://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,14838.0.html for awhile as my cave is at capacity until and nothing in it is scheduled to be ready for at least another week or so. I would have had more room but the space between the shelves is not really tall enough and I discovered that this one http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,14749.0.html seemed to need to come back out of the vacuum bag for awhile (where it had been sitting on the bottom of the fridge with my other vacuumed and waxed creations and not hogging all the real estate), to dry some more.