So this was my first shot at making a cheese with some raw Jersey milk. Got a discount for buying 6 gallons so it was day 1 of 3 for raw-milk-cheese-fun. Figured this is a pretty basic cheese and since this is my first time working with this milk it would be a good whey to get my feet wet because I have already made similar cheeses before only from P&H milk. Since it was a raw milk make I adjusted the rennet and culture amount and I must say this is the smoothest make I have ever had thus far. The yield was amazing compared to the P&H milk too. Not only did I drink a cup, but I lost about a pint of it due to one of the jars being too close to the fan in the fridge(it froze a large chunk which tasted like water after being thawed), but I still got more out of this make than I ever got from a 2 gallon P&H tomme. The make basically went as follows:
Just under 2 gallons raw jersey milk starting pH=6.60
0.2g MA4001
1/4 tsp CaCl
0.60 mL double strength rennet
Heavy Brine
Heated to 84F, added cultures
Ripened 15 minutes
Add CaCl
Added rennet, flocculation occurred @ 12m 45s, 3.5 X flocculation factor
Cut into 3/8" cubes, pH-whey=6.50
Stir and increase to 100F over 30 minutes
It took 30 more minutes of stirring at 100F to get a springy texture
pH-whey-off=6.37
After 3h 45m of pressing pH=5.23
Notes:
The book suggested it should take 4-8 hours with a goal of 5.2-5.4, but this seems pretty close to what was expected so I am happy. I am learning my Extech can be kind of fussy as I had to keep cleaning it all the time with soap and warm water(Thanks Kern AC4U). There was one instance where this did not even help and I couldn't get a reading that made any sense(I know my whey would never have a pH of 7.1 in the middle of the make) until I recalibrated. I am thinking I should invest in much larger containers of buffer solution so I don't have to feel so stingy, I would have liked to have recalibrated again around the end of pressing because I was having a hard time getting a good reading again and am wondering if maybe the pH, although it seems relatively accurate, may have actually been a little higher yet.
I really love how nice and yellow the milk and cheese are, if I remember this is probably because these cows are grass fed and it is summer milk? I cannot wait to start my 2nd make tomorrow.... Ooooo.... If only I did not need to sleep I would just start it now.
And I am thinking of skimming some of that cream off the top of a jar or so to make some cultured butter too. There seems to be around a pint, sometimes a bit more, in every 1/2 gallon jar. Yummy...