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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Semi-Hard "Sweet" Washed Curd => Topic started by: bbracken677 on August 30, 2012, 03:29:06 PM

Title: Colby: First make
Post by: bbracken677 on August 30, 2012, 03:29:06 PM
A Recipe for making Colby

1 gallon raw milk + 1 gallon HP milk
1/2 packet  C101 culture  + 1/16 tsp  MD89 (trying to get rid of the c101 I have) This combination approximates Flora Danica, I believe.
1/8 tsp Choozit SU Casu LYO
½ tsp Calcium Chloride if using pasteurized cold stored milk
Annatto for color (1/4 tsp .. optional)
Liquid Rennet ( 1/2 tsp / 2.5 ml)
Salt for brine (make this up in advance with the info found below)
A colander and butter muslin to drain the curds (I just drained in the mold)
Everything needs to be clean and sanitized.

Heating and Acidifying the milk:
Begin by heating the milk to 88F (31C). If you do this in a pot on the stove make sure you heat the milk slowly and stir it well as it heats. (Actually reached 90F)
Next the CaCl and Annatto can be added before adding the culture.
Make sure you rinse the spoon well after adding the CaCl since any residuals of this will cause the Annatto to precipitate into dark spots that will show up in the finished cheese. Better yet add the Annatto first and stir it in well before adding the CaCl. (Note: I did not use Annatto since I do not have any, but will be an upcoming purchase)
Once the milk is at 86F the culture can be added. To prevent the powder from caking and sinking in clumps sprinkle the powder over the surface of the milk and then allow about 2 minutes for the powder to re-hydrate before stirring it in. Then allow the milk to rest for 1 hour while the culture wakes up and begins doing its work. (Once pH dropped from 6.7 to 6.5, I added the rennet … this was approx. 35 minutes from inoculation)

Coagulation with rennet:
Then add about 1/2 tsp or 2.5ml of single strength liquid rennet.
Check for flocculation, use 5x multiplier.
The milk now needs to sit quiet for (target) 45 minutes (actual 40 minutes for this make )while the culture works and the rennet coagulates the curd . The thermal mass of this milk should keep it warm during this period. It is OK if the temp drops a few degrees during this time.
At about 15 minutes you should notice the milk beginning to firm up. Allow it to remain quiet for another half hour for a curd ready to cut. This will be a total of 45 minutes from rennet addition to cut.
If your curd does not seem firm enough then allow it to rest another 10 minutes before cutting.

Cutting curds and releasing the whey:
The curd is ready to cut when it shows a nice clean even break when lifting with the flat of the cutting knife and then a clean whey in the opening that is neither to milky (cut too soon) or too clear (cut too late). I used the flocculation method and x5 multiplier.
The curd can be cut to 1/2" cubes by first cutting the 1/2" vertical cuts as shown below and then using the ladle or spoon to break these into 1/2" pieces as uniformly as possible.
I have found when using the higher temperature pasteurized milk like I am using here that the curds do tend to shatter into smaller pieces much more easily. The key is to go slow and gentle in the cutting and stirring at first. If using a fresher milk or one pasteurized at lower temperature, You will find it less of a problem.

Cooking the curds :
Now it is time to begin drying out the curds. This will be done by increasing the heat slowly to 102F . The heat needs to be increased slowly. The total cooking time will be 30 minutes. The curds can then be gently stirred while holding at the final temperature for another 15-30 minutes if the curds are still soft.
The final curds should be cooked well through and should be examined to make sure that enough moisture has been removed. A broken curd should be firm throughout and the curds should have a moderate resistance when pressed between the fingers. This is a fairly subjective test (depending on how firm/soft you want the final cheese.)
When this point is reached the curds can be allowed to settle under the whey.
The time spent so far is about 2.5-3 hrs.

Washing the curds:
This is one of the key parts in making this cheese a real Colby cheese.
The curds are now resting on the bottom of the pot at 102F with only a moderate amount of lactose converted to lactic acid. In other words a very sweet cheese curd.
If left in this condition, the lactose (milk sugar) will act as a food source for the bacteria and the result will be a higher acid curd which dries the curd out as the acid develops. The bacteria will also be very happy working at this temperature as well.
We plan to alter this situation by:
removing whey (lactose) -- this will deprive the bacteria of much of its food source and slow things down
adding cold water and cooling the curds to 70-80F -- this will place the bacteria in an environment that it is not happy with and will work much more slowly. The lower the temperature the more affect this has.
In Addition the cold water will begin to increase the moisture of the curd. If the water temperature is lower that the curd temperature the curd moisture increases. If it is higher than the curd temperature it will decrease the moisture (this is how Gouda is made).
Begin by removing the whey down to the level of the curds.
 Then add water first at 75F as the curd cools to 80-85 with stirring. Then allow the curds to settle again and remove the whey/water down to the curd level again.
Next add very cold water (60F or less) until the curds are at 75F. I found that I had to use more water than anticipated and accomplished this by adding ice to water to cool it down, since the water I had cooled in the fridge (about ½ gallon) was insufficient.
The curd can now be stirred in its cooler state for another 15 -30 minutes as the curds begin to firm up. This will cause the curds to form a skin that will keep them from consolidating fully in the press, leaving some small openings in the final cheese.
At this point the process has taken about 3.5-4 hrs and we are ready for the final stage of molding and pressing.

Final Draining and Molding:
The dry curds can now be transferred to a colander lined with butter muslin. A gentle stirring will make sure that the whey drains off well. The curds are now ready to be transferred to a sanitized muslin lined mold. I just removed as much whey as possible and went straight into the mold.
The curds should be packed into the mold using a moderate hand pressure. The amount of curd formed here may likely be heaped over the top.
Finally pull the cloth up evenly all around the form to eliminate the wrinkles, fold the top cloth over and place the follower on top. You are now ready to press.

Pressing:
The curds in the form are now still quite wet and heavy pressure early on may lock this moisture in the final cheese. Even though we have slowed down the conversion of lactose to lactic acid, we are still producing acid and will continue this during the final pressing. This means that the cheese will continue to release moisture through the pressing as a bit more acid is present.
So, for pressing we should begin very light and slowly increase the press weight to a moderate level:
15 minutes at 10 lbs. (at each pressing  I flipped the cheese at the mid point)
30 minutes at 20 lbs
90 minutes at 40 lbs
Overnight at 50 lbs. (this one I flipped in the morning and let go a couple more hours before removing the pressure and de-forming)


The next morning the cheese can be removed from the mold and cloth. (didn’t use the cloth after the 2nd pressing)
Finally the pressing is finished and you should have a nicely consolidated wheel of cheese with no surface openings. This should still feel quite springy and elastic with mild hand pressure still. The surface should not feel at all sticky at this point.

Salting:

You should have a saturated brine prepared for salting this cheese. (I used a 20% brine solution. In researching brining in cheesemaking I made some discoveries:  1. You should add some calcium chloride to your brine…this will prevent the brine from leaching cacl2 from your cheese. 2. You want your brine to be close to the same acidity level as your cheese. I added just a small pinch of citric acid to reduce the pH of my brine solution. The combination of added cacl2 and acidity will prevent the sliminess you may sometimes get during or after brining. This explains much with regards to a couple of my feta makes and the resulting surface texture during aging and storage. )
A simple brine formula is:
1 Gallon of water to which is added 2.25 Lbs of Salt, 1tbs. Calcium Chloride (30% solution), and 1 tsp. white vinegar.
The cheese now needs to be set in the brine for about 8 hours. (perfect since my cheese weighed in at 2 lbs, 3 ozs after pressing….after brining it was 2.0 lbs. )
The cheese will float above the brine surface so sprinkle another teaspoon or 2 of salt on the top surface of the cheese. I just flipped it as often as possible keeping all surfaces wet. …actually rolled would be a better term since I had mine sitting on its’ side.
Flip the cheese and resalt the surface about half way through the brine period.
At the end of the brine bath, wipe the surface and allow the cheese to surface dry for a day or two before waxing. The surface will darken somewhat during this time. This is where I am currently at.

Affinage:

The cheese can now be waxed for aging.  Wondering if a natural rind is an option for this cheese?
The cheese can then be placed into your aging space at 52-56F and 80-85% moisture.
The cheese can now be aged for 4-6 weeks and it will ready for your table.

Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: bbracken677 on August 30, 2012, 04:23:08 PM
Pictures (didn't take many) of the colby follow:

Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: bbracken677 on August 30, 2012, 08:56:15 PM
The imperfections (rough edge)....what can I do to wind up with a smoother cheese?  The final pressing for this was 50lbs overnight.
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: margaretsmall on August 30, 2012, 11:03:09 PM
Great job on the very comprehensive notes, thank you. I didn't know the Choozit culture so looked it up, and just in case I'm not the only one, it is:

Streptococcus thermophilus
 Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis
 Lactobacillus helveticus
 Carrier: Sucrose, Maltodextrins.

Margaret
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: bbracken677 on August 30, 2012, 11:35:08 PM
Thanks!  Can't wait to eat the results and see how it turns out  :D
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: Boofer on August 31, 2012, 05:45:24 AM
The imperfections (rough edge)....what can I do to wind up with a smoother cheese?
This is from linuxboy. Sorry, don't have any date but when I saved the piece as a Word document: 3/18/11.

-Boofer-
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: bbracken677 on August 31, 2012, 05:58:27 AM
Thanks Boofer!
I will have to try that method when I make cheddar.
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: Susie on August 31, 2012, 04:41:19 PM
Yes, thanks for that document, Boofer!
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: bbracken677 on August 31, 2012, 05:24:02 PM
I would like to try a natural rind with this...is that a decent option? Or should I just vacuum seal it when ready and be done with it?
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: Boofer on September 01, 2012, 05:49:10 AM
IMHO, I'd vote for the vacuum seal :)...and save the natural rind for your longer-aged harder cheeses: Parmigiano, Tomme, Beaufort, Gruyere, etc.

-Boofer-
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: bbracken677 on September 01, 2012, 02:28:52 PM
alrighty then!  Vacuum seal it is : )   

From what I have read, once the rind is fully dried, it should be ok to vacuum seal at that point, but still keep an eye out for whey drainage, correct?

Thanks!
Bruce
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: Boofer on September 01, 2012, 10:50:52 PM
Yeah, if the cheese weeps whey after being in the bag for a while, open it and dry it. The whey will start to disintegrate the rind and it will turn white and waxy.

-Boofer-
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: bbracken677 on November 28, 2012, 01:54:18 PM
 ^-^

Today I discovered that it was the 3 month birthday of my Colby, so I decided to cut it and see what was up.

My first impression, upon cutting, was it had a distinct aroma reminiscent of cheddar...eeehaa   ^-^

I took a picture, and I am going to let it "breathe" a while before I taste it and check to see if it melts.  It turned out a bit crumbly, yet not overly so.

How long should I let it breathe?

(I need to dig out our camera...so often my phones pics turn out like this)
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: Tobiasrer on November 28, 2012, 03:59:51 PM
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday to You
Happy Birthday Mr Colby
Happy Birthday to You...

LOL
my picture taking skills are not much better! But looks pretty good all the same, Couple questions though

You said it used 50lbs pressure, on what size of wheel did you make?, if its a bit crumbly is that because of acidification or over pressing and getting to dry?
Hope it tastes even better then it looks!
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: bbracken677 on November 28, 2012, 07:20:05 PM
I suspect acidification due to the fact it seems to have enough moisture...still gives a bit when you press it with a thumb.

With regards to flavor...it is more cheddarish than colby ...there is an off flavor I cannot put my finger on though. I think I may let it sit out a bit longer and see if that dissipates..otherwise perhaps back in the cave. Not sure that will help if it is over acidic. The texture is like that of some aged cheddars I have eaten...like 2 or 3 year old cheddars.

Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: H-K-J on November 28, 2012, 07:31:16 PM
Still BB it is a fine looking cheese ^-^ myabe a little air will help
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: michele on December 11, 2012, 07:43:53 PM
Mine came out quite like yours! Mine was moist and had a "bite" like a cheddar. Not an off taste at all... but I then cut it into 4 wedges and vacuum sealed it - placing it in the freezer to give as holiday gifts. Do you think the freezer will stop any whey from turning bad (I ask this because I could see it was moist)

Michele
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: bbracken677 on December 11, 2012, 08:07:37 PM
I don't know....I have never frozen cheese before...It should prevent it from "aging" further but I just have no idea what the effects from freezing would be.

I am going to try this make again, but will use either a kazu or mm100 culture. I didn't have a lot of luck with that first meso culture (c101).  I may have also used too much pressure when pressing, so I will adjust that as well.
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: michele on December 12, 2012, 04:38:10 AM
I just made a new batch and it is looking pretty good at this point. It is in it's final overnight pressing now. I did a few things differently than the first time. I cooked the curds a full 30 minutes at the 102 temp to make them drier, I also rinsed them rather than just draining after I brought the temp down. (not a full rinse but I did pour clear water once over the curds while in the strainer). I had forgotten to add the coloring this time so I am getting a white colby haha...
The first time I made a much larger wheel that was under 2 inches thick. So while I soaked it in the brine, I only did so for a few hours, not the full 8 as the recipe stated. This time I made it in the "proper" sized mold and it will brine for the full time.
I am hoping these things will change the taste some. I still liked the flavor of the first one but felt it ought to be sweeter rather than so much like a cheddar in flavor.
Do you think these changes will effect the outcome much?

Thanks!
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: bbracken677 on December 12, 2012, 01:41:23 PM
It sounds like it should. A colby should be sweeter, so to speak, and the changes you implemented will hopefully produce a sweeter cheese for you. Good luck!  I think I will try my 2nd make in a couple of weeks, more than likely...
My main change will be less pressure when pressing. I had a really good feel for the make as it went the last time and I think I over pressed/ over dried/ over acidified.
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: michele on December 12, 2012, 05:13:12 PM
My new press has a spring and it was really hard to accurately gauge the pressure even with the chart. I am brining the new cheese and saw that after 4 hours it has just a couple of small cracks. Is this from being too dry (curds) or pressed to hard?
 
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: tnbquilt on December 12, 2012, 05:25:42 PM
Thanks for that sheet on pressing Boofer. I will try it with my next cheddar. I think I will also put the mold in the pot with warm whey in the bottom while pressing like I saw you do on one of your other posts. I will elevate the cheese up out of the whey, but put warm whey in it and wrap a towel around it to try and keep it warm while pressing. I'm tire of cheese that looks like pebble stuck together.
Title: Re: Colby: First make (help!)
Post by: michele on December 14, 2012, 02:26:02 AM
I would LOVE to read that pressure info!!

I am doing all I can to heal the one opening in my rind. The rind is not uniform yet - I increased the moisture (humidity) by covering it with a large canister while it sits on a papertowel that is laid on a rack. So some spots are just a bit softer, one of which is where the crack is. SO I have tried rubbing it firmly with a clean papertowel. It heals and then opens back up in a short time.
Is it too late to fix this?
I do not have PH testing strips or equipment, and used a saturated salt brine with a little clear whey in it and about a tablespoon of vinegar (per New England Cheese site)
Should I soak it again?
Should I be rubbing it with vinegar and brine?
Should I cut my losses and just vacuum pack it??

It is the same recipe at the beginning of this thread... Colby

Thank you SO much!!
Title: Re: Colby: First make
Post by: bbracken677 on December 14, 2012, 12:58:58 PM
I would just vacuum bag it....no need to brine it again, it will be too salty then.