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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Semi-Hard "Sweet" Washed Curd => Topic started by: FarmerJd on October 23, 2009, 10:41:29 PM
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I am attempting a colby tomorrow. I tried it last year and it was just full of whey and drained forever. Finally wound up cheddaring it and it turned out ok. Are there any tips or ideas or links on making colby. I read the mainboard recipe and I am probably going to try to follow the University of Guelph web site process.
Gonna be about 24 gallons. Thanks1
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The recipe I use is very similar the only thing to remember is in the notes.
Colby Cheese - US
Colby is similar to cheddar, but does not undergo the cheddaring process. Colby is a softer, moister, and milder cheese than cheddar because it is produced through a washed-curd process. Colby is considered semi-hard. The washed-curd process means that during the cooking time, the whey is replaced by water; this reduces the curd's acidity, resulting in Colby's characteristically mild, gentle flavor. Longhorn is a Coby Cheese. Monterey Jack cheese is produced in an almost identical fashion as Colby, but is uncolored and softer.
Ingredients:
1 gallon pasteurized whole milk
1/4 teaspoon Mesophilic-A culture
1/4 teaspoons 30% calcium chloride in 2 tablespoons distilled water
6 drops Annatto Cheese Colorant (optional)
Rennet per manufactures instructions
1/4 teaspoon + 2 Tablespoons flaked cheese salt
Procedure:
Combine milk and calcium chloride and heat to 86°F stirring gently.
Add Mesophilic culture and mix completely.
Maintain milk at 86°F, cover and allow the milk to ripen for 1 hour.
Add annatto coloring now, if you wish and mix completely.
Dissolve rennet in ¼ cup of distilled water.
Stir 1/4 teaspoon flaked salt into the rennet solution then add to milk.
Cover milk and let sit until clean break is achieved.
Cut the curd into 3/8 inch cubes and rest for 5 mintes.
Slowly raise the temperature of the curd 2°F every 5 minutes until the temperature reaches 102°F. This should take about 30 minutes.
Hold the temperature at 102°F for 30 minutes. Gently stir so the curds do not mat together. Then rest curds for 5 minutes.
Drain off the whey until it is level with the curd mass. Stir in cold tap water until the temperature in the cheese is 80°F.
Hold the temperature at 80°F for 15 minutes while gently stirring to keep the curd from matting.
NOTE: The temperature at this juncture will determine the moistness of the final product. - A higher temperature will produce a drier cheese. - A Lower temperature will produce a moister cheese.
Line a colander with cheesecloth and drain the curds.
Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flaked salt over the curd and gently mix it with your hands your hands.
Place the curds a cheesecloth lined mold.
Press with 20 pounds weight for 20 minutes.
Flip the cheese and press again with 30 pounds weight for 20 minutes.
Flip the cheese and press again with 50 pounds weight for 12 hours.
Remove the cheese from the mold and remove cheesecloth.
Mix 1 tablespoon salt with 1/2 cup of water and lightly apply salted water to cheese using the cheese cloth. Do not submerge cheese.
Place cheese on a drying mat for 1 to 3 days, turning twice a day until a yellowish rind begins to form and it feels dry to the touch.
Wax the cheese and age at 55°F at a relative humidity of at least 85% for 2-3 months.
Turn the cheese over daily for the first month and several times a week thereafter
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Thanks Debi, so do you think I should just stick with 80 F? I guess I would rather have it a little more moist than my cheddars which are sometimes a little dry.
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Except for grating cheese I like them a little moister. Once you cut them they dry faster anyway. Colby shouldn't be dry.
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Well i wound up using 21 gallons and went pretty much by the on-site Colby recipe. It was quite a challenge to bring the temp down to 80 with that much milk. Instead of removing a certain amount of whey, I just removed it until I reached the curds. My tap water was 75 degrees so I couldn't just use that; i had to add ice to the water and keep adding water. I really wasn't expecting the difficulty. Finally, I got there (actually stopped at 81) and then drained the curd and the curds were about right I think. I am on the last pressing now. It looks and smells great.
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Your tap water is 75 degrees? Wow mine is cold enough to give me shivers already. Gonna be a l-o-n-g winter!
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Did you get a chance to snap any pics of your Colby? I would love to see it.
Did you use annatto? If so, how much? For a 3 gallon Colby, I used 33 drops (11 per gallon) to get the color saturation I expected.
-Boofer-
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I use 4 drops per gallon. The cheese will become yellower with age.
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Sorry it took so long to reply. We've been out of town this week so I am catching up.
Boofer, I used 3/4 tsp color dissolved in 2/3 cup water for 21 gallons of milk. I actually used half the amount as last time with cheddar and I still think I could use less. It is hard to tell though without opening the cheese. (I dont need another reason to open it early! ;D) This cheese has really really really shrunk since I took it out of the press. It is probably half the height it was and I know some of that is just squatting but it has definitely lost some water. It does not hold its shape like the cheddars do. It does smell really nutty though, like a cheddar. Age 2 months, right?
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2 to 3 you will see the difference.
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here is a pic of the colby today. This has been drying since Saturday.
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Nice looking cheese FD. Your making me drool!
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Excellent looking cheese there. Congrats, and I hope it now behaves itself as it ages.
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Great looking Colby! I am surprised at the color saturation you achieved. My annatto must be really subpar because it took me a lot more to arrive at the color I believed Colby should exhibit. Is there a difference in strength of annatto coloring? Mine is from Leeners.
Several photos (including this one) attached to recent blog entries are positioned way off to the right-hand side of my screen. If you resize the photo down to 800x600 or 1024x768, they should be properly positioned on the page. ;)
-Boofer-
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I got the annatto from glengarry. I wonder if the cream/fat content has an effect since the color attaches to the fat in the milk. I could be way off but it is a thought.
I apologize for the pics. They are centered on my screen so I just assumed they were for everyone.
Is this one ok?
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I decided to vacuum seal my colby rather than wax it since it was taking so long to dry out. I was kind of nervous about losing it if I just kept waiting so I sliced the outside edges of to get it small enough to fit in the 11" bags. When I cut it, it was full of tiny holes. It has been a long time since I tried a cheese other than cheddar (besides the gouda last week) and my cheddars always lose most of their whey when I am cheddaring them so they have always knitted pretty well. I have had this happen before though on my only other colby back when I was more of an amateur. Any ideas? My theories are as follows:
1. Since i have no acid tester, I probably messed up either in the culturing, cooking or draining aspects and therefore had a curd that was not ready to be pressed.
2. I do not have holes in my hoops which doesn't hurt my cheddars because they have much less whey when entering the press but causes a problem for the colby because the whey has a harder time exiting.
3. The holes are supposed to be there early on and disappear after aging and me and the cheese live happily ever after. ;D
I attached a pic from this morning and it doesnt look as bad as last night i guess because it compressed some under the vaccuum.
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I think the difference in color saturation is because your milk is fresh with higher fat content than the store-bought pasteurized/homogenized/brutalized milk I have available. Mine has less fat for the annatto to attach to...so less deep color.
But again, as with other additives that we may have taken for granted previously (CACL2), is there a difference in the annatto you purchase from one source or the other? Or is it pretty much standard? I know that if I don't use latex gloves while handling it and spill it, my annatto will stain almost anything it contacts, diluted or not.
-Boofer-
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OMG I had to look twice on that cut cheese there FD! :D
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Oops! I just noticed that. :-[ It took me a minute to catch on to what u were referring to. I guess I should add a rating to this post.
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:D It actually got noticed by my son first, you ALMOST got me in trouble!
He looked over a yelled ...MA What the hell are you looking at? ::)
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DeeJayDebi, could you please describe flaked salt to me? I'm not familiar with the product here in New Zealand - I use un-iodised sea salt. Also for a cheese made from 1 gal milk what size hoop did you use? Cheers
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For a 5 liters batch, use a 10 cm dia and 10 cm high hoop.
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DeeJayDebi, could you please describe flaked salt to me? I'm not familiar with the product here in New Zealand - I use un-iodised sea salt. Also for a cheese made from 1 gal milk what size hoop did you use? Cheers
Here is a picture of left to right:
Flaked salt - is sea salt dried by the sun and heated to form snowflake like crystals. It's always sold as a coarse grain. Slightly bigger than Kosher salt.
Table salt - is always fine grained and either plain or iodized.
Kosher salt - is also generally a flaked salt but not mecessarily a sea salt it can be mined. It can be fine or coarse grain. I use almost exclusively kosher sea salt because is is less expensive and readily available.
Hope this helps!
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Kawatiri if you go to the herb and spice section of the supermarket, there is usually some hidden away there.
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Thanks for all that info. Does the flaky salt behave differently in the cheese than a finer grained salt?
Also when you talk about moulds (molds!) that's the same as the hoop right? Cheers
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I also use kosher salt for cheesemaking, rather than ordering special cheese salt. Originally, I did use canning salt (no iodine, which you don't want in your cheese), but it takes longer to dissolve than the kosher salt does, and sometimes I'd run into crunchies, especially with my buttermaking.
I believe that molds/moulds/hoops are all the same product, just different terminology and spelling!
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Thanks for all that info. Does the flaky salt behave differently in the cheese than a finer grained salt?
Also when you talk about moulds (molds!) that's the same as the hoop right? Cheers
Yes and yes!
The flaky salt is bigger so it's level of saltiness is less for the same sized measure. The finer the grain the heavier the salt consentration (less air space).
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Thanks again, I'll keep an eye out for flaky salt next time I'm at the supermarket. My only hoop/mold so far is a 6" diameter length of sewer pipe, sounds gross but seems adequately effective. Cheers.
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I use 6 inch PVC pipe, too. Mine is graded for potable water, though.
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I used PVC pipe for several years without any problems. I use it for making sausage (lunchmeat style) too and that's very acidic.
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Hi Debi, is there somewhere on this site that you could (if you were willing) share your sausage making experience with us. We've ordered a (whole!) beefie for later this week and DW seems keen on trying to make some. Karen, I was directed to use 'sewer' pipe as it has thicker and therefore stronger walls. Never been used of course! Did you drill holes in the sides? If so, how densely and how large?
Cheers, Brett
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I've been using it without any holes drilled so far, but have been planning on cutting a section to drill for cheeses with wetter curd. I'm really thinking my first colby could have benefitted from a perforated mold.
I still need to investigate the sizing and spacing recommendations for the holes myself.
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Brett, Debi has her own website on sausage making etc. The link is on the bottom of her posts. HTH
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Thank you Tea. Brett there is a whole section on sausage and an 92 recipe eBook you can download. I think my best recipes on on the forum though - never got around to doing another re-write on the eBook.
PS this is sausage week. Making bologna, capricolla, turkey loaf and pepperoni - smoking Friday.
Sorry to hyjack your thread ...
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wow, what doesn't this site cover! Thanks Tea and Debi very helpful. Ever made cheese centred sausies? lol Having hijacked this thread once already... does anyone know what sized holes a 'cream spoon' has? Cheers, Brett.
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wow, what doesn't this site cover! Thanks Tea and Debi very helpful. Ever made cheese centred sausies? lol Having hijacked this thread once already... does anyone know what sized holes a 'cream spoon' has? Cheers, Brett.
But of course!