Quick floc on Swiss

[janij]

Today I made the traditional swiss recipe from Ricki Carroll's book.  This is the second time I have made this cheese.  I decided to test the floc instead of just using the 30 minute guideline in the recipe.  After reading a posting on here I used 3.5 as my multiplier.
I have 2 questions.
1.  It took less than 4 minutes for the bowl to be stuck.  I use raw jersey milk.  That seems really fast.  Should I cut back on the rennet?  I used double strength and used the amount listed on the bottle, 1/2 t per 2 gallons.  I cut at 14 minutes and had a clean break and got a nice curd.
2.  Should have I used a a shorter floc multiplier?  I read on the cheeseforum's main site that alpine cheeses should use a 2- 2.5 multiplier.
I guess learning about ph is next.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

A cheese for moving to the floc side!

And yes, if you had floc at 4 minutes then cut way back on your rennet.  The amounts on the bottle do not know your milk.  I would cut back to about 1/2 what you used, or even to a 1/3 of what you used for next time.  If the recipe said 30 minutes, that's around a 2x to 2.5x floc multiplier.  I convert recipe times to floc multipliers like this, you're aiming for a floc in the 10 to 15 minute range, so 30 minutes is around 2 x 15, and 2.4x if you use the middle time of that range. I find converting recipe times using the short end, i.e. 3x 10 minutes, tends to over estimate the floc multiplier found in most tables, hence I tend to covert based on assuming the recipe is based on a 12.5 to 15 minute floc time.  It won't ruin your cheese though.  It will just retain more moisture, ripen faster, and not be an ideal one for long term storage. 

Anyway, well done.  Do post photos.

- Jeff

[janij]

Thanks JeffHamm.
So next time cut the rennet in half.  I think I will start using floc for cutting the curds.  I have been making cheese for about 1 1/2 yrs now.  I make decent cheese, but they are all kind of the same unless it is different starters.  So now that I have a cave and can control temp I am wondering if I can make my decent cheeses better.
Here is the first cheese out of the press.  I take it out tomorrow to let it start swelling.

[H-K-J]

this is nice I wish the one I made would have turned out like this
a cheese for you

[Boofer]

I take it out tomorrow to let it start swelling.

You realize it should have a week or so in the cool cave to firm up the rind before going out for the warm, eye-growing phase, right?

Good looking cheese. 

Is that the same recipe (page 122) that calls for 1 tsp Propioni shermanii in 2 gallons of milk? If so, that's way too much.

-Boofer-

[janij]

Boofer I made a swiss last Fri.  So that one has been in the cave for a week tomorrow.  So I guess it comes out tomorrow and this one will go in the cave tonight.
And yes I did read on here about the misprint.  She has ALOT of them.  I used 1/8 t for 4 gallons.  I am wondering if I can reduce that.  I guess we will see how the eyes form.  I am going to make one more probably Sun. 

[Boofer]

Great! I'm glad you caught Ricki's error. Should be a tasty cheese.

-Boofer-

[Sailor Con Queso]

Boof - FYI, Peter Dixon's recipe online for Baby Swiss calls for

Pressing
Overnight at cave temp
Brine
Then straight to room temp for 3 weeks

I too normally ripen for a while to let a rind start developing before going to room temp. However, I have a vac bagged Baby (that was not ripened first) going at room temp right now to see how Dixon's technique works. My guess is that a softer rind may leak some CO2, but won't crack the same way as my traditional make.

[Boofer]

I've got two Maasdams in progress. Slight differences in milk and cultures used. The first was cooled in the cave for a week post-pressing, then into a loose vacuum bag and out for 4 weeks Warm Phase. During that stretch in the Warm Phase, the cheese was protected from nasty molds attacking the rind, but a couple 1/8 inch fissures appeared. That of course released gas and the bag swelled a little because of it.

After the Warm Phase, I rebagged with a new vacuum bag and sucked the vacuum down a little tighter for long-term affinage. The rind is milky colored, malleable, and should be totally edible.

The second Maasdam had its week in the cave post-pressing and has been out in its minicave at room temperature for the past two weeks. It is a natural rind and I have been dueling with blue and white molds every other day. The rind is harder and more durable compared to #1. It is golden, translucent, and compares favorably to a classic alpine rind. There is some swelling apparent in the flat surfaces of the cheese. The form factor has changed just like #1. So far, cross my fingers, no fissures have appeared.

It should be interesting to compare the two.

-Boofer-

[DeejayDebi]

I've done both Peter's and Ed's swiss makes and I think there must be something in the middle. Ed's begets bigger eyes for me but always cracks at some point. Peter's doesn't crack but had tiny eyes. Peter's is a baby swiss I can't remember what Ed's was.

[linuxboy]

With a good enough pre-press (high PSI) and a day rest, can make baby swiss with good eye development. Ideal approach for a rindless swiss is to coat. Beyond that, humidity control that is very fine tuned will produce a swiss that blows but does not crack. It's a precise bit of cheese engineering to hit it exactly right.

[DeejayDebi]

Also a good bit of remembering which cheese you are making this week! I have forgotten several times to bring it out of the cave after a week.

[Boofer]

It does get crazy sometimes! Let's see...what am I doing to which cheese? 

-Boofer-

[DeejayDebi]

My last swiss was a Queso Colonia (Uraguay) I forgot it was supposed to be treated with warmth until a month later I went to move it the the basement cave - AH CRAP! Tastes good bit just little tiny holes!  LOL

Oh well more coverage on my cheese toast sammie!