Cheddar - pH Markers?

[akhalpin]

I have read the other threads dealing with PH, raw milk, old milk, goat milk and I am confused and need some guidance.   I am going to make cheddar (first attempt, have made lots of chevre and some feta).  I am trying to merge two recipes...the recipe for cow cheddar found in the Wiki and a recipe for goat cheddar that was posted by Smokey Mountain Girl (over my head at this point but I would like to use PH to help me). I understand that the PH of raw and/or older milk can vary alot.  I also am unsure about how milling and salting affects PH.  I also understand that Nubian milk has a higher fat content and that this needs to be adjusted for.  The milk I will be using is 1/2 Nubian, 1/2 LaMancha (LaMancha's have a higher average fat percentage than Alpines but not as high as Nubians).

Here are my questions:
1. According to the Smokey Mountain Girl (SMG) recipe, my starting PH should be 6.7.   If it is not, how does this change later steps?  For example, the SMG recipe target for ripening is 6.6.  What if the milk is already at 6.6 (or lower) when I add the culture?  What if is is higher than 6.7?  How would I then be able to use PH to guide me?  Am I just looking for a drop of .1??  or what??
2.  I am trying to adjust for my 1/2 Nubian, 1/2 LaMancha milk.  I am planning to cut the curds to 3/8"  Does that sound good?  How does the curd size affect the dryness/rubberiness later?
3. From the two recipes, it looks like my target PH prior to draining and cooking the curds should be 6.2  Does this sound right?
3. I am going to mill the curds as explained in the Wiki recipe instead of stacking them as in the SMG recipe (I don't understand how to "cheddar").  What should my target PH be after cooking the drained and salted curds....when should I press it?  5.55??

Thank you!
Allyson

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

Don't know much about the goat's milk usage but the principles should be same.

If your starting pH is low, look for .1 drop and go from there. At least make sure bacteria is active and working.

If your starting pH is high, wait till you get 6.6 during the ripening with culture. You may also increase the amount of culture.

Start with 2% culture and if you don't hit the 15minutes mark for floc, increase it slightly.

If you cut the curds smaller, the surface area will increase therefore it will loose whey faster resulting a drier, crumblier cheese. Try the floc time between 3 and 4 and aim for a size of curd between pea and walnut. Also Goat's milk curd is a very delicate curd and should be handled gently like a bride as French says. Otherwise it will loose butterfats which needed for aroma development later on.

pH6.2 prior to drain is OK I think. You can adjust and compensate during the cheddaring or milling. Watch the temps during milling or cheddaring.

pH5.5 is what I would target with cheddaring using cow's milk. You are doing milling but I am guessing same principle applies.