Annato/Achiote paste question

[mobius]

I purchased some annato paste from Amazon, and received it today. From the way it looks, I was thinking that rather than try to render the paste into a liquid, I could just use it as it, to color cheese, stirring well of course, or add it to a little water to rehydrate (it IS pasty, not a powder) a bit and stir that into the cheese. In the same amounts called for in recipe...i.e. if a dash of liquid, then use a dash of the paste instead.

Link to product: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000GHNV8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Any thoughts?

[AnnDee]

Hi Mobius,
Welcome to the forum! 
Anyway, if you are like me who likes to wing it once in a while, I will put the diluted achiote until I get the colour I like and keep a note of it for future reference. I just bought achiote powder myself, and I am planning to dilute a little until I get the colour. Just keep in mind that the colour will go darker after you drain and press the cheese. I've learnt to put it just until it look slightly cream colour to get a soft orange/yellow hue but of course more when I am making Red Leicester.

[mobius]

Haha AnnDee, you got my number about winging it! Just can't help fussing around with tried and true methods a bit here and there...but i can follow directions. And in cheesemaking it seems precision is key. of course then I think about other colorants, like tumeric and paprika and so forth...I guess I have to mess with the status quo!

And thank you for your response!