Caerphilly - a good cheese to start back in with

[scasnerkay]

Starting to make cheese again after more than 2 months. My father's illness and death took priority. But making cheese feels like a kind of healing. Today I am making caerphilly. I brought home 27# of raw Jersey, and 4.5# raw Nubian Goat. When I weighed the curd for salting, I had about 5.5 # of curd - I was expecting closer to 4 # of curd! The cow is 10 months into lactation - I guess the solids must be very high!
Pictures to follow...

[JeffHamm]

My condolences to you and your family on the death of your father.  Making cheese is a good activity for slowing the world down and taking the time to remind ourselves that there are still good things to eat and drink in this world and that we can share them with others.  And, by the sounds of it, you've got a good lot of cheese to share.  Nice work.

[scasnerkay]

This make went pretty much as anticipated with two exceptions: The time to flocculation was 20 mins, and the cheese weight was much more than I expected!
I used liquid paste rennet for this make; the 4th time I have used it. One time it was exactly the same time to flocculation as the standard calf rennet, the other 3 times it has been longer. I have yet to taste a cheese made from this rennet to know how that might be different. I do not know the answer to this, but I wonder if higher solids in the milk is part of the longer coagulation time.
I started with about 3.75 gallons of milk (Jersey and a little Nubian). Historically I would expect a caerphilly weighing about 3.5#. This baby was 4# 10oz! That is some kind of yield!! The knit was very good. Form is 7.5 inches inside diameter and I used up to 120# to press.
Actual make notes spread sheet by the image.

[JeffHamm]

Nice looking caerphilly there.  Try upping your rennet amount a wee bit next time.  Milk temp and acidity both influence rennet effectiveness.  I often find that thermo cheeses will require less rennet than a meso cheese, for example.  Was your normal floc time a higher temp or maybe longer ripening time (higher acidity)?

[awakephd]

Susan, that IS a lot of yield! I'd be curious to hear how much weight it loses over the new few weeks ...