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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Hard Cheddared (Normally Stacked & Milled) => Topic started by: bbracken677 on October 02, 2012, 12:20:32 PM

Title: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: bbracken677 on October 02, 2012, 12:20:32 PM
This recipe has been adapted from a professional source. I had to make some "conversions" in technique and quantities to better suit myself. Changes include methodology regarding such things as cheddaring...I wont be making too many 9 inch blocks of curds  :) .  With regards to ingredients, they use 2 metho strains L. Lactis and L. Cremoris...for my purposes I will likely use Kazu or MM100.

If I have omitted something, or am unclear in some aspect, please let me know. I will be making some cheddar during the upcoming week and will be fine-tuning this recipe to become my permanent cheddar recipe.



Cheddar
Standards: 39% moisture, 30% fat.


Ingredients

2 gallons whole milk
Cream as needed
¼ tsp. MM100 or Kazu
3/8 tsp. CaCl2 if using pasteurized-homogenized milk
¼ tsp. single strength veal rennet
1.2 oz. salt for raw milk, .8 oz. for HP milk


Procedure

1. Standardize milk to P/F = 0.91, pasteurize and cool to 88F before adding starter.

2. Add MM100 or Kazu  starter. Ripen until acidity increases by 0.01% or until pH decreases by 0.05 units (about 1 h.).

3. Measure 70 ml cheese colour per 1,000 kg milk (optional). Dilute the colour with 10 volumes of water and add the mixture to the milk

4. Measure ¼ tsp. single strength veal rennet. Dilute the rennet with 1/4 cup of water and add the mixture to the milk.

5. Cut, using 3/8 inch (95 mm) knives when curd is firm. Agitate gently.

6. Start cooking 15 min after cutting. Increase temperature 102F during 30 minutes. Heat slowly at first - no more than 2F every 5 min.

7. Hold at 102F until pH is 6.1 (about 75 min from the time the temperature reaches 102F or 2 h from the time of cutting). If the acidity is increasing too quickly, the temperature may be raised slightly (maximum 104F) to retard the culture.

8. When curd pH is 6.0-6.1 (whey pH 6.2-6.3) remove the whey. After the bulk of the whey is removed stir out the curd two or three times to facilitate maximum whey drainage.

9. Drain curds in cloth/colander, applying pressure to form curd mass in pot, maintaining some warmth. Turn the block every 15 min until the pH is 5.4-5.3, pouring off whey as needed (about 2 h after dipping).

10. Mill the curds into ½ inch x 2 inch pieces.  Stir the cheese curds every ten min or so until the cut edges become round and smooth (about 30 min after milling).

11. Distribute the salt uniformly over the curd and mix well. The final salt content of the cheese should be about 1.7%. Calculate the required amount of salt as follows:

(a) Estimate cheese yield as: Yield = (% fat + % protein) k where k is a factor dependent on cheese moisture. K values corresponding to 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39% moisture are 1.40, 1.42, 1.44, 1.46 and 1.48, respectively.

(b) The required amount of salt is 2.5% of the estimated yield. This value is higher than the final 1.7% content because considerable whey drainage occurs after salting.

12. After the salt is well absorbed and the flow of whey has stopped, the curd is ready for hooping.

13. Press overnight at 10-20 psi. Start with low pressure (2-5 psi) and gradually increase to 10-20 psi.

14. Vacuum pack the cheese blocks and age at 50F for curing. Cold curing (41-46F) produces the best cheese but ripening is slow. Warm cured cheese (50-60F) develops flavour rapidly but quality control is more difficult.


(edited: step 9)
(edited: step 13)
.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: bbracken677 on October 02, 2012, 12:41:07 PM
I believe the pressures listed exceed the capability of my dutch press. They, apparently, vacuum pack the cheese immediately after pressing at those pressures. I am relatively sure I will need to press at lesser pressure and then allow the cheese to dry a few days before vacuum packing.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: iratherfly on October 07, 2012, 07:30:09 PM
Since the temperature range is past the mesophilic and into the thermophilic phase, Kazu may work better than MM100 culture.

As for the press; this is probably the pressure for very tall industrial wheels. Knowing the form factor is important because you are not going to use the same KPA/PSI for a cheese that's 4" tall as you would for a cheese that's 20" tall.

In other words... say you use a Tomme mould with 7.5" diameter. Your surface area is 44²".  At 75KPA (about 11 PSI, let's just move to that so you can use Lbs. instead of Kg), that's about 480 Lbs. press.  However, say their recipe is for a 20" tall wheel, then this is the weight needed to press 5x the amount of curd under each square inch, right?  So then, your pressing weight should be 480 / 5 = 96 Lbs.  Put 24 lbs on your dutch press at the x4 setting and there you go.

Makes sense?

I wouldn't vacuum right away. Will wait 2-3 days for the surface to dry first. You don't want drops of moisture all over the rind making it all mushy.  It may seem like the cheese may be dry but it really isn't. It's just the outside.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: bbracken677 on October 07, 2012, 07:49:56 PM
Yeah...sounds correct! I was already planning on taking a 2 or 3 drying phase after pressing. All my pressed cheeses are still moist on the outside and it would give me the willies to vacuum seal it right off.

Kazu it will be   :)  soon as I get around to making it, that is...am hoping tuesday or wednesday. If not then I will probably have to wait another week or 2. Thursday through the weekend are going to be mad busy for me .... I have picked up quite a bit from the book I am currently reading..."American Farmstead Cheese"....Cheese making is becoming more than just "do this..wait x amount of time then do that"...knowing why things are done are so helpful with regards to knowing what to look for as well as the why and what options you may have. For instance: a couple weeks ago I never would have thought to bump the temp up a bit during the curd cooking phase to slow down the rate of acidification if things seem to be moving along too fast. My response then would have been to take less time on each step until I got back onto the curve. Not a good solution...
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: iratherfly on October 07, 2012, 08:15:37 PM
Huh... what page is that in the book? I missed that one.
Cheesemaking does not borrow any common sense from our lifetime of cooking experience. You have to think of it as gardening.... cultivating life forms to create things. You are becoming sort of a director who switch up/down on or off the different life forms at different stages in order to get the harmonious development you seek.  It takes a while to master the common sense in this realm because it's really nothing like what we know from any other aspect of daily routines.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: Sailor Con Queso on October 07, 2012, 08:16:52 PM
IRF - I have to disagree with the use of Kazu. 102F is not beyond a meso range and many cheddar makers heat to 102F. The recipe is correct that 104F is a maximum so be sure your thermometer is accurate. Heating to 102F actually slows down the acidification and gives the curds time to develop acid and texture in a slower but more desireable way. Kazu certainly brings S. themophillus into the mix. While this is definitely acceptable (but trendy) as an adjunct for faster flavor development and aging, I prefer to add tiny quantities so my cheddars don't take on the characteristics of Italian cheeses. If you let ST become the driving force, the cheese will start to take on the flavor & texture of Parm or Asiago. It will lose the nuances of a nice cheddar. ST is an aggressive acidifier, but it's pH curve is well behind the primary meso acidifiers. ST doesn't really kick in until 5-1/2 to 6 hours into a make. In fact thermo cheeses develop a lot of their acidity while pressing. So you want to be sure that the meso is the dominant force in the early stages of a make.

bbracken - There are 2 ways to skin a cat when pressing. They are pressing hard to achieve a desired final moisture content and then immediately vac packing. As you said, you can press and then air dry (in the cave) to achieve the same or better results. FYI, I never press at more than 5 psi.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: bbracken677 on October 07, 2012, 08:28:21 PM
Awesome...I can do 5 psi no problem. Sounds like a plan coming together!
Perhaps the MM100 and a pinch of ST ...on the other hand, I do not believe I have made a cheddar with just meso, so maybe this one should be just meso, and the next one have a tad of thermo in it for comparison.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: iratherfly on October 07, 2012, 08:37:08 PM
How tall are your cheddars Sailor?  Just trying to figure out the PSI.  I don't actually know what is the correct pressing for it, I just formulated an answer based on the recipe that was posted.

As for your culture assessment, while I don't think that 104°F will kill the MM100, it is on its top end and the acidity slows down indeed but once the curd cools the acidity curve turns sharply and it needs to be controlled. (I would opt for Probat222 or Aroma B in such case because they are slower). This isn't about proper/improper temperature for culture, it's about having comfortable control over acidity later.
If only MM100 and KAZU are available I would opt for the KAZU because it's a Dutch style starter that is meant to work at exactly that temperature range with the typical curd cooking/washing at 100°F-120°F of the Dutch cheeses.  You are right that Helveticus brings upon these dutch/Italian/Swiss properties that don't belong there and too much of it may cause the texture to become rubbery.  But with all of that said, I think neither of these are ideal for cheddar (shouldn't you use RA26 or MA19 for that?)  What would you use ideally and at what temp?

Personally I use a farmstead culture and start my Cantal like a Tomme; I know this isn't cheddar but the process has a lot in common. Haven't made a proper cheddar in probably 3 years...
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: bbracken677 on October 07, 2012, 08:48:31 PM
Brings an idea..what if I used 1/4 tsp total of culture, composed of 75% MM100 and 25% Kazu? Or perhaps 50/50?
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: Sailor Con Queso on October 08, 2012, 04:25:30 PM
My cheeses are 8" diameter x about 6.5" high (finished). PSI is not dependent on the height. That's why you can stack hoops when pressing and not alter the pressure used.

The recipe above calls for 102F as a baseline for cooking, not 104F (unless necessary). There is definitely meso mortality happening at 104F, so that should be a last ditch effort. I agree, this is about "comfortable" acid control. That's exactly why you heat to 102F in the first place. That will seriously slow down reproduction, metabolism, and acid production so that pH doesn't get out of control too quickly. Aroma B would be slower, but unnecessay. It does however bring sweet notes in if that's what you want. I use a little Aroma B in my Wensleydales for example to make them a little sweeter that my other cheddars.

I use RA-21 as suggested by Francois many months ago and am very happy with the flavor profile. The RA-21 has a MUCH slower pH curve in the beginning and then comes on hard and fast about 4-1/2 hours into a make. That's exactly where the 102F comes in, to slow things down at the right time so the acid builds more slowly. I ripen at 88F for 15 minutes using mother cultures of RA-21 and a tiny bit of TA-61 (thermo).
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: iratherfly on October 08, 2012, 06:00:02 PM
If using a dutch press and converting psi to weights, I my feeling is that if you calculate pressing weight based on surface area alone, you would squish a 1" tall pile of curd at the same weight that you would need to properly knot a 5" tall pile of the same surface area. I have seen double-tall Reblochons for example that get pressed in double weight and then sliced into two properly sized cheeses before salting. The logic was explained to me by the recipe's reliance upon a certain height of curds under the same surface area. Am I missing something? 

I think we are in agreement on the culture about comfort and acidity curves. It's just easier to control. My suggestion of Aroma B was when comparing with the MM100 that Bruce was using because these two cultures have much of the same stuff but different speed.  My guess was RA culture and it seems I was right. You can tell I don't do Cheddars. I do however have a Cantal style that I make by milling the curd of a lightly pressed (overnight) Tomme. This one has Helveticus and Proprionic in it so it it super nutty sweet at 4 months but even though the texture is Cheddar-ish, the flavor tastes nothing like it. No Diacytels on that one, and I am washing the curd at 100°F so it's just on the lower thermo and upper meso so my end texture is neither rubbery nor chalky/brittle. I am going to actually make a blue version of it next week.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: bbracken677 on October 08, 2012, 06:58:37 PM
Given that kazu is LLL, LLC, LLD and LH, whereas MM100 is LLL, LLC and LLD I think the thing to do is to go with the kazu, or perhaps some combination of MM100 and Kazu to reduce the % of LH in the mix. I need to get a few cultures that are singles in order to have more flexibility. I have too many mixes in my inventory.
Perhaps once I have settled on a few cheeses to "specialize" in (right now I am primarily into cheddars and blues) I will be able to narrow down what cultures I need to keep in stock.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: FRANCOIS on October 08, 2012, 11:29:55 PM
I am guessing, from your adaptation, that the recipe was originally designed for casomatic pressing.  Blocks are formed under intense pressure in 2 story towers and sealed in bags right away.  I would caution you against cold curing.  Cold curing works best if you are using flavour adjunct cultures.  We have some factories that use them, some that don't.  All of our short aged cheddars don't use them and as such, develop flavour and texture defects if aged too long.  The adjunct cheeses are much more robust and can age longer, although that is just a guide line.  We constantly grade and move cheeses around in age profiles, the milk and even process parameters can make them somewhat unpredictable.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: bbracken677 on October 09, 2012, 12:22:14 AM
I have my cheddars aging in my cave at roughly 52ish F.  What comes of this make will also age at that temp.
I need to find a local artisan cheese maker and see if I can observe some of his makes   :)
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: FRANCOIS on October 09, 2012, 01:37:29 AM
We cold cure anywhere from -2C to 4C, depending on the cheese and cultures.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: bbracken677 on October 14, 2012, 08:09:46 PM
I made a change to the above procedure: Step 9.  I removed the slicing of the curd mass into slices. In a professional artisan cheddar make, the batches are much larger than my 2 gallon make...their cheddar blocks are at least as large as my entire curd mass or larger.
It makes no sense for me to slice mine up into 1/2 or 1 inch slices...if I want to duplicate their make as much as possible then I should treat my entire curd mass as though it is a single one of their blocks.
Hence I will create a single curd mass and then turn it in the pot (pouring out expelled whey as needed) until it reaches the appropriate pH, at which time I will mill the mass (or as close as I can come).
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: Tomer1 on October 14, 2012, 09:29:00 PM
Well... It depends on the moisture content you aiming for.   Your method will exert less moisture from the curds during cheddaring.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: bbracken677 on October 15, 2012, 01:25:56 AM
Seems like it would result in exactly the same moisture being drained as an artisan cheesemaker with a 100 gallon make who cuts his curd into 2 or 3 pound bricks, no?

If you stop and think about it, the pro doesn't cheddar with 1" slices of curd mass...so if we do with a 2 lb make, then we will be expelling considerably more moisture per pound.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: Hovard on December 06, 2012, 08:57:42 AM
bbracken677, thank you for your recipe.

Step 13
Quote
13. Press overnight at 75 kPa (10 - 20 lbs/in2). Start with low pressure and gradually increase to 75 kPa.

Can you explain real pressure in your press? Because 10lbs/in2 equal 68kPa, but 20lbs/in2 is around 137kPa.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: bbracken677 on December 06, 2012, 02:11:30 PM
Those are not my conversion/numbers...I left those alone from the original notes. I cannot reach 20 psi on my press, so I settle for 10 psi.
Good point, in all honesty I didn't consider the metric side or how the conversion might compare...
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: Al Lewis on December 06, 2012, 03:11:55 PM
Could you just use the CH-19 culture instead?
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: bbracken677 on December 06, 2012, 03:22:54 PM
Sure! I listed MM100 or Kazu because that is what I have that fit. They actually just used a single strain meso.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: Jabber on December 06, 2012, 05:46:08 PM
The way they stack blocks during cheddaring is equivalent to a light pressing or thats how i interpreted the video's I watched.  When I do my three gallon batches I don't cut and stack as it doesn't seem practical given the amount of curd.  But I do lightly press my curd with 3-5 lbs and flip a few times to try to mimic block stacking and restacking. 
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: bbracken677 on December 06, 2012, 05:51:28 PM
Makes sense....that is why I also do not cut and stack...I just flip the curd mass periodically.
Pressing lightly does make some sense however. I may just include that in my process for my next make.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: JeffHamm on December 06, 2012, 07:12:08 PM
I think one of the differences, though, is that commercial makes end up with huge cheeses, while we're working with 1 - 2 kilo end products.  The slices may be more suitable for small makes, while when working on a larger scale the slabs need to be bigger as well (due to the final target size).  Will be interesting to hear how things turn out.  Do you have a "sliced" version for comparison?  Looking forward to the results.

- Jeff
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: bbracken677 on December 06, 2012, 07:29:16 PM
I don't for this particular recipe. I do have a couple of previously made cheddars in the cave though, where I did slice the mass, stack and flip.
They turned out drier....but no taste test or formal opening ceremony yet...they are all aging nicely.
I expect to open one in a few months when it hits 6 months. Until then it's all guess and feel....

My thoughts on the subject are fairly simple...since they slice and flip larger masses, in order to match moisture levels I would have to go with a larger curd mass....even though their final cheeses are much bigger, the avg moisture level should be similar (I would think anyway). If I were to slice the mass into smaller slices that are less than 1/10th the size of theirs my cheese would be losing much more moisture and the end product would be much drier.
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: Jabber on December 06, 2012, 11:24:33 PM

...If I were to slice the mass into smaller slices that are less than 1/10th the size of theirs my cheese would be losing much more moisture and the end product would be much drier.

That was my thought also.  If I were to try to cut my curd I'd end up with a bunch of tiny slabs a fraction of the size of their slabs leading to excess moisture loss (and a PITA to handle).  As it was I needed over 10 psi to get a good knit.  Maybe could have gotten away with a little less if I'd used more warmth during pressing.  I just don't think 5 psi would have been enough regardless.  Sailor what temp do you press at?  Are you making a fairly moist cheddar? 
Title: Re: Cheddar recipe (adapted from a professional source)
Post by: Al Lewis on December 11, 2012, 03:50:14 AM
I use a little Aroma B in my Wensleydales for example to make them a little sweeter that my other cheddars.

Any chance of getting a recipe for those?