So today is my first attempt at a Colby.
Going to use the GLA(Green Living Australia) recipe today with the addition of saffron for colouring and the Floc Method for determining the curd cutting time with a Floc Multiplier of 3 – 3.5 testing at 3 and adjusting to 3.5.
Chilling the water as a start. The Saffron and the Calcium Chloride will be added at the end of the ripening just before the rennet add.
8 Litres of store bought milk.
1/8 tsp of Calcium Chloride diluted in ¼ cup Water.
Dose of MO-030 Mesophilic
½ tsp of Mad Millies Liquid Rennet.
10-12 saffron threads in ¼ boiling water – cooled.
2 tabs of Cheese Salt.
The milk is the 3.6 fat content from Woolies.
11:20 heating milk 20C
11:35 26C
Found a nice temp converter
http://www.digitaldutch.com/unitconverter/Added Culture 11:45. Added the CaCl and the saffron at the 50 minute mark still @ 30OC.
Rennet diluted in ¼ cup of de-chlorinated water added at 12:47
The floc time was a bit off @ 16 minutes which gives a cut time @ 3X of 48 minutes.
I think the late add of the CaCl caused this as last week I was 14 with the same rennet and milk. The milk in both cases was as fresh in store as possible, but no guarantees there.
Check times are by the recipe @1:17 (30 minutes)
13:35 for 3x
13:43 for 3.5x
Time to check the Curds @ 1:17 - They won't be ready but thats Ok need to check anyway.
As suspect not ready - Nearly but not quite.
The floc Multiplier looks to be around 3x so I'll check in an other 15 minutes.