It Melted! Well, Almost, anyway....

[padams]

So I am experimenting with the annatto seeds I found in the mexican spice section.  I made a quart...yes, a QUART of Monterrey Jack.   It was fun, and after almost 90 minutes of cooking the curds at 120 degrees, I finally got bouncy, squeeky curds.

and, it almost melts!  So, this does not follow ANY reicpe, but a question....I live at 5500 ft.  How severely will that affect my cooking times or anything else?  If today is any indication, I am going to have to do alot of tinkering!

Here's picture of my quart sized, homemade annatto colored cute little cheese!

[DeejayDebi]

It's so cute! I don't know what to tell you about the affects of altitude on cheese making I only know that water boils at a higher temperaure and how it affects canning. That being said - I've done alot of research on cheese making in the alps and other mountainous regions in Europe and nothing is ever mentioned about the effects cooking the curds so I wouldn't suspect that to be an issue. The only area that I can see would be in question would be the release of gases in cheese. Do to a somewhat reduce air pressure you could perhaps see large eyes. Just a theory of course but a posibility.

[padams]

Hmmm....well, the Alps are alot higher than me, so I guess I will just keep on trucking!

It is cute, isn't it   It knit fairly well, too, except for the edges.  I just gathered it in a ball (in cloth) and put a plate over it with 10lbs on it, and that is what i got with about 1hr pressing. 

when I tried to melt it, it got very stretchey.  I think the ph was almost there.  Regardless, I was finally able to get a good feel for the bouncy, springy curds that are described in the recipe.  that was the most help!

[DeejayDebi]

Well then ot was a great learning experience as well - good job!

[MrsKK]

The coloring looks good, too.  Maybe I will try that when my annato liquid runs out.

[budgood]

How did you get the coloring out of the annatto seed?
Did you boil them and reduce it and did you grind them or process whole?

After a little research I found this http://cfr.vlex.com/vid/73-30-annatto-extract-19703674
"The color additive annatto extract is an extract prepared from annatto seed, Bixa orellana L., using any one or an appropriate combination of the food-grade extractants listed in paragraph (a)(1) (i) and (ii) of this section: (i) Alkaline aqueous solution, alkaline propylene glycol, ethyl alcohol or alkaline solutions thereof, edible vegetable oils or fats, mono- and diglycerides from the glycerolysis of edible vegetable oils or fats. The alkaline alcohol or aqueous extracts may be treated with food-grade acids to precipitate annatto pigments, which are separated from the liquid and dried, with or without intermediate recrystallization, using the solvents listed under paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of this section.
Food-grade alkalis or carbonates may be added to adjust alkalinity.
  (ii) Acetone, ethylene dichloride, hexane, isopropyl alcohol, methyl alcohol, methylene chloride, trichloroethylene"
and "Fruits are dried and seeds extracted from them are crushed. The seeds have a coating of an oily paste that contains bixin. Bixin is a yellow orange carotenoid. It is extracted using aqueous alkaline solution and vegetable oil solvent.
Vegetable oil solvent gives oil soluble bixin, Alkaline solution gives water soluble norbixin and Propyline Glycol yields a combination." here http://www.foodadditivesworld.com/annatto-extract.html

So now my question is Everclear or some kind of oil or fat? and how do I get that mixed into the cheese?

[padams]

Well, I just soaked the whole seeds in hot water and when it cooled, dumped the water thru a strainer....

I am in the process of following Linux' advice on natural dyes.  I boiled the lot of them for several minutes (the pan will be forever orange!)  dumped it in a glass jar, and now I'm in the process of evaporation.  I tried using some prior to evaporation, but 6 ml didn't do a thing, so it needs to concentrate more.  (you guys will get me hooked on metric yet!!)

[linuxboy]

Padams, an ethanol extraction would also help, but water, heat and pressure alone should do a decent job of getting that bixin out.