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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Semi-Hard "Sweet" Washed Curd => Topic started by: Boofer on September 14, 2009, 02:51:50 PM

Title: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on September 14, 2009, 02:51:50 PM
 ;D I am optimistic. This morning I started my second Colby. The first one was too wet & crumbly. I am using the Colby recipe here with a few tweaks to make it my own. I'm using 3 gallons of Darigold whole milk combined with 1 quart of Albertson's Heavy Whipping Cream. This brand of cream is NOT UHT. I think that makes a big difference. In my mind the UHT products are DEAD...DEAD...DEAD.

One of the changes to this Colby is the addition of significantly more annatto than was previously recommended. 33 drops. 11 drops per gallon. Somewhere in this forum someone quoted that amount to get a rich Colby-like color. My first Colby was ivory colored. Eh, not so good.

Another change will be to prepress in the whey. That should be interesting. It makes sense though to gain the smoothest rind (non-pocky). I'm documenting along the way with photos. Right now, I'm typing while I'm ripening. I have added 1 tsp Calcium Chloride along with the 1/4 tsp Mesophilic MA (leeners.com).

I'll be posting more as I progress. This helps me journalize the effort.

-Boofer-
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: DeejayDebi on September 15, 2009, 12:08:20 AM
Good luck hon!
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on September 15, 2009, 05:39:45 PM
Well, I must say my confidence was definitely in place for this cheese. That is until I removed the cheese from the whey pressing to turn it. Man, was it soft! I decided not to chance putting it back in the whey bath for another pressing and instead continued the pressing as per normal.

I was trying to find a way to save the whey for later whey-pressing. The unhandy method tried this time was to use a handheld collander with a cheesecloth strainer and to dip the clean whey out. Anyone have any better wheys?  ???

-Boofer-
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on September 15, 2009, 05:43:58 PM
I managed to pull out 2 gallons of whey with my gee-job strainer. It's yellowish and not greenish because of the 33 drops of annatto I added.

-Boofer-
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on September 15, 2009, 05:54:34 PM
In the whey I pressed with 10 pounds. I was hoping that this batch of Colby would not be as wet as the first, but from the look of the curds at the top of the mold I think it's going to be even wetter. Yeesh!

When I was contemplating making cheese I reasoned that I would need some way of applying weight/pressure to the mold. I searched on Freecycle for barbell weights and, as luck would have it, received a response within 24 hours. A family's teenaged son had used weights in the past but no longer needed them. I went over, picked them up, derusted them, painted them, and now have excellent weight options. This was a whole set of weights but I only kept a 5, two 10's, and two 25's. I figured that would be enough to mix and match and arrive at any weight I needed for cheese.

-Boofer-
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on September 15, 2009, 06:07:01 PM
I was quite surprised to see the weight of this wheel. I probably wish it was 1.5 pounds lighter and that there's a lot of water weight I don't want to deal with. That extra water weight may open the cheese up to bacterial invasion...way too tempting a target.

Can anyone tell me if the mold "nodules" are:

Now comes the fun part...drying the wheel without encouraging mold growth. I believe the change from bamboo mat to Rubbermaid mat should improve the odds in my favor. This is a sink strainer mat that I cut down to subsequently fit a Rubbermaid lidded box (cheese cave).

-Boofer-
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: wharris on September 15, 2009, 06:21:14 PM
looks fantastic.
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Tea on September 15, 2009, 08:16:38 PM
Boofer, that looks fantastic.  I agree with the ditching of the bamboo mats.  even though they may be cheap and handy, I found it very difficult to keep cheese free of unwanted mould.

Hope this one ages well for you.
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: DeejayDebi on September 15, 2009, 09:33:19 PM
Hey Boofer that is a great looking cheese! I kind of like the little nodules they give it character. They won't hurt anything but they will probably wear off.

Congrats on the weights that will be very handy.

Really great looking cheese!
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Cheese Head on September 15, 2009, 10:26:36 PM
Boofer, great posts and great looking cheese.

I'd leave bumps as is, adds character, I searched forum on "bumps" and there are lots of others: Example #1 (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,1760.0.html), #2 (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,626.0.html), #3 (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,263.0.html).
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: DeejayDebi on September 15, 2009, 10:53:48 PM
I'll post my lastest cheese later. Looks like it has measles!
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on September 17, 2009, 03:51:10 PM
As I expected, when I flip the wheel, it's dripping from the excess moisture.  :( I tried to limit the uptake of moisture to the curds by washing with warmer water. I will continue to wipe & flip and hope that the wheel actually dries significantly. I will not even think about waxing until I've got a good dry surface and no dripping.

On the positive side, I really like the deeper color.  ;)

-Boofer-
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Sailor Con Queso on September 17, 2009, 04:17:21 PM
Rub your bamboo mat with damp salt or wash with saturated brine and you won't have any mold. I change mine out every day and "sterilize" after use with the sanitation cycle on our dishwasher.
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Tea on September 17, 2009, 07:31:41 PM
Thankyou for that Sailor, I will remember that.
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on September 17, 2009, 11:42:42 PM
I switched out and have rejected the bamboo mats in favor of a Rubbermaid sink mat combined with a fine plastic mesh (1/8"). I did have some problems with mold on the bamboo with other cheeses even with a lot of salt used and steam sterilizing.

Right now the humidity in my kitchen cabinet is around 65-70%. That's a big factor in evaporating the whey away from my sweet Colby.

-Boofer-
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Sailor Con Queso on September 18, 2009, 02:21:40 AM
It's intersting that you had ongoing mold problems. The little buggers generally don't like salt. I have NOT done any bloomy rinds, but I do a lot of blue cheeses and have had zero problems with salting and frequent rotation.
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on September 18, 2009, 07:01:08 AM
That happened to a swiss I had placed a bowl over. It got a little too humid really quick. It was sitting on a bamboo mat but that wasn't enough to prevent a quick mold bloom.  :'(

-Boofer-
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Rich on September 18, 2009, 02:23:17 PM
That's a good looking wheel of cheese.  I can sympathize with your dismay over the excess whey in the finished wheel.  I had the same experience with a recent Colby.  The last one I did, however, is quite dry and nice.  The difference is that I let it drain for a good 20 minutes before I milled the curd.  It turned out beautifully.  I also pressed a bit on the heavy side:  143 lbs on a 6" mold for 15 hours.

To encourage you, once the whey finishes dripping and you have a nice dry rind formed, you should still have a very good cheese.  I'd recommend wiping the dried wheel with vinegar to discourage any mold growth prior to waxing.
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on September 18, 2009, 02:53:18 PM
Wow, 143 pounds!!!  :o  :o Wasn't the wheel like a chariot wheel then?

I cracked open the cabinet where I'm drying my Colby. The humidity dropped from 70-75% down to 60%. The wheel wasn't dripping this morning...just moist on the bottom.

I had wiped previous cheeses with white vinegar just prior to waxing. I think that helps a lot to discourage any last minute buggers.

Rich, how did your Colby finally end up? Good taste...not too salty? Good texture...not too hard nor soft? How long did you let it age?

I have been melting wax just before quartering a wheel. Then I'll wax the cut sides of three of the quarters and taste/savor the fourth. It seems to help preserve the wheel optimally.

Thanks for your inputs.

-Boofer-
 
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on September 20, 2009, 04:45:27 AM
I'm feeling pretty good now. The humidity in the drying cabinet has dropped to 50%, down from 70%+. That's since I gapped the door open about an inch or so. No bad guys have shown up and I'm brine-wiping and turning twice daily. Looking good.

-Boofer-
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on September 22, 2009, 04:58:25 PM
Okay, this will close out my second Colby effort. I am pleased with the prospects for excellent Colby after a 60 day aging period. I'm anticipating some fresh-baked bread and my own cheese selection at Thanksgiving.

Gapping the kitchen cabinet door dramatically altered the drying process from the first Colby effort. In one week the humidity dropped from 75% at 74 degrees F to 47% at 68 degrees F. The wheel went from 4.75 pounds to just under 4 pounds. It evaporated 3/4 of a pound of moisture! Today I waxed it. The surface was dry with just a touch of residual milkfat on the bottom.

The change from bamboo mats to the germ-resistant Rubbermaid sink mat, combined with a plastic mesh, does a great job draining and repelling the nasties.

The other change that isn't visible here is the Johnson Controls fridge controller that has brought my cave up from 46 degrees F to 55 degrees F.

I haven't yet dipped into pH monitoring/controlling but I can see that's probably on my cheese horizon.

-Boofer-
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Sailor Con Queso on September 22, 2009, 06:15:56 PM
What is this plastic mesh? Where did you get it?
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: wharris on September 22, 2009, 06:30:27 PM
I get mine from McMaster-Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com/#nylon-mesh/=vtxjg)
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on September 22, 2009, 07:18:49 PM
Sailor - I originally got that mesh years ago when I was keeping koi. Don't recall much more except I had a bunch stored away unused.

Wayne - Thanks for that link. Good stuff. I'm a firm believer in doing the best job possible if you have the best/right tools and equipment for the job. I believe the drain mat and mesh answers that call and meets the requirement for a sanitary cheese drainer/drier.

Of course if you can't find anyone or any place that markets the equipment that a task demands, then necessity is a mother (of invention). No one on this forum would know that more than you, Wayne (tip o' the hat).  ;)

-Boofer-
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Sailor Con Queso on September 22, 2009, 07:38:43 PM
I am a pond keeper. Why would you use that with Koi??? Netting?

You could use ceiling grid, also called egg crate, instead of the sink drain. That way it could be cut to smaller sizes. And it's cheap.
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on September 22, 2009, 11:03:02 PM
Not to stray too far off topic...I had to shield some small fry from the hungry mouths of the koi. Hence the mesh shielding.

Thanks for the egg crate tip. I don't have a need right now for large quantities of drain material, but I'll file it away for future reference. I trimmed the sink drainer to match my in-fridge plastic mini-cave.

-Boofer-
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: DeejayDebi on September 23, 2009, 01:02:42 AM
Hey Boofer that cheese is looking great! Way to go! 
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on September 23, 2009, 06:59:37 AM
Thanks, Debi. I'm very satisfied with the way the whole thing went.

Now I'm in somewhat of a puzzled state, trying to decide what kind to do next. Today I bought 4 gallons of 2% Darigold milk. I had originally thought I'd try swiss for the fourth time, but now I'm not so sure. I'm thinking my chances for swiss success will be improved with cooler weather.

I've also decided to postpone the caciocavallo for now. No also on the manchego for now. So that leaves me wondering what to do. Perhaps gouda or a second edam. I'm hoping for a flash of brilliance...some inspiration. Tomorrow I'll sit down with some cheese & crackers and a bit of wine and come up with something to satisfy my inner cheese quest.

-Boofer-
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: DeejayDebi on September 24, 2009, 02:36:58 AM
Have you done Manchego? A very fast aging quick to make cheese that has a flavor that seems likes it's aged forever in just a few months. Only takes about 4 hours to make. It does use lipase though if you have some I'd give it a go. Very rewarding and practically fool proof (I think) as long as you get a good curd set and your got a handle on that one.
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on December 09, 2009, 04:18:07 PM
Last night was cheese-cutting night. Among the Edam and Gouda, I also opened my second Colby. This cheese was started on September 14th. I had a high level of anticipation. Almost 3 months of aging....

The texture was crumbly, very similar to the Gouda I cut. I had added 2 TBS of salt to the curds and the level of salt was not excessive. Seemed just about right. It's the crumbliness that has me stumped. On another thread I discuss the Edam which was not crumbly. Different techniques, I know. At 33 drops of annatto, you would think the final color of the wheel would be off the charts. Not the case at all...just cream-colored.  ???

I put some on a slice of sourdough,  toasted it, and then added a slice of roast beef. Yumm!  ;D

-Boofer-
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: DeejayDebi on December 10, 2009, 01:55:15 AM
Well you already reduced acidification time so maybe try a bit less starter.
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Boofer on December 10, 2009, 07:51:55 AM
I used 1/4 tsp Meso for this and the wayward 2nd Gouda. Both cheeses were washed curd which should also have reduced the acidification. I could try to cut the Meso to 1/8 tsp and maintain everything else for control.

-Boofer-
Title: Re: My second Colby effort
Post by: Sailor Con Queso on December 10, 2009, 02:58:23 PM
Based on your texture, I would say that you definitely need to increase your pressing weight and/or pressing time. Too little pressure will leave whey that can turn sour.