Phiber's Guinness Cheddar

[Phiber_optikx2]

For my second cheese I decided to make something I knew my wife would love. This time I used raw milk from a local dairy so I am hoping for something amazing waiting for me this summer.

2 Gallons raw jersey milk
Mesophilic C101
Cheese coloring
1/4 tsp Vegetable Rennet double strength
2 Tbsp Cheese Salt

For this make I used the recipe for stirred curd cheddar from Ricki Carroll's book.
2:15 I began warming the milk. Starting temperature of milk was 46 degrees.

2:40 Get distracted watching how I met your mother and accidentally let the milk get to 92.5

2:51 Add meso culture

3:40 Add 40 drops of Anneto coloring diluted in 1/4 cup water. The bottle said 100 but that seemed insane.  Also, add rennet. Temp was 91.5 and dropping.

5:50 Curd finally set enough to cut. I am having issues with my cheeses setting up. On my first make I thought it was the store bought milk but apparently not. I cut the curds into 1/4" cubes

6:08 Gently stir curds and begin raising temp to 100

6:38 Temp is 100. Maintain temp and gently stir for 30 minutes. Let set 5 minutes.

7:15 Drain curds into colander and place back into pot and stir with fingers.  Add salt and gently mix

Keep curds at 100 for one hour. Stirring gently periodically.

8:15 Add room temperature Guinness to pot of curds just enough to cover. Let sit 45 minutes.

9:00 press at 15# for 10 minutes

9:10 Flip and press at 30# for 10 minutes

9:20 Flip and press at 40# for two hours

11:20 Flip and press at 50# for 24 hours

After stirring the curds I was convinced they wouldn't knit. They looked and felt exactly like overcooked scrambled eggs. I am very happy with the subtle marbling in the cheese and hope the flavors come through.

[DoctorCheese]

Very exciting! AC4U

[nccheesemike]

Very nice cheese my friend! I hope the make was as fun as it reads! Happy aging and I hope the cheese tastes fabulous. oh and AC4U

Mike

[awakephd]

Hi Phiber,

Looks good, and looking forward to the taste test.

A couple of comments on the recipe: even 40 drops of annatto in a 2 gallon make sounds like way too much to me - I use 10 drops for a 4 gallon make. That said, your result doesn't look over-colored as I would have expected ... maybe different formulations of annatto with different strength of coloring action??

But here's the other thing to be aware of: annatto can interfere with the coagulation. As a result, you want to leave some time between adding the annatto and adding the rennet - at least 10 minutes. I'm wondering if you put the rennet in right after the annatto, and that is what caused the problems you had with a good set - that, or the quantity of annatto, or both.

Of course, one variable that is always in play is the question of the rennet. I know there have been a couple of discussions recently, so we may already have asked you for details on the type of rennet you are using, and/or whether you have tried liquid rennet instead of the tablets - ?

[Phiber_optikx2]

Andy, I did not know that the annetto could effect it and did add it right before the renett.  I did have the same issue with some store bought milk that I did not add any coloring to. The coloring and rennet are both from new england cheesemaking supply.  The rennet is the liquid double strength vegetable. I would love to use the real thing but my sister in law is vegetarian so I would hate to exclude her. On the other hand, that would leave more cheese for me so.... One observation I have is that it is drying very quickly. After only 12 hours it is already very dry. I may be ready for wax tomorrow....