I decided to try an experiment, making a cheese in the alpine style (thermo, relatively high scald) up through the point of draining, and then finishing it off in the cheddar style, stacking and turning until it reaches the target pH, milling, salting, and then pressing. I had asked
here whether anyone had ever tried this. The closest (actually, the only) response was from AnnDee, who, if I understood correctly, had taken an alpine out of the press, milled/salted it, and re-pressed, but hadn't tasted it yet. So, for the greater good, I decided to give it a try.
What will the ultimate result be? I have no idea. I was thinking it might wind up not very different from a Montasio or Asiago ... but the "trimmings" (from where it pressed up around the follower a bit) tasted very much like a typical cheddar. So maybe it will wind up not very different from a cheddar. Check back in three to six months, and I will give a taste test!
Recipe as I intended it to be:
4 gallons whole milk
1/8 tsp MA011
3/16 tsp TA061
1/8 tsp LH100
1/4+ tsp CaCl crystals dissolved in boiled, chlorine free water (equivalent to about 3/4-1 tsp of liquid); cooled before adding to milk
1/2+ tsp liquid single strength calf rennet (maybe about 5/8 tsp total), diluted in boiled, then cooled, chlorine free water
3 Tbs kosher salt
- Warm milk gradually to target temperature of 95°F (35°C), adding the CaCl solution and stirring in while the milk is warming.
- Add the cultures when the milk reaches about 80-85°F (27-29°C), waiting about 5 minutes to stir them in.
- Once temperature reaches 95°F (35°C), let ripen for 20 minutes.
- Add rennet, stir in for 1 minute or less, let set for 30 minutes.
- Cut into 3/8" cubes, let rest for 5 minutes.
- Begin stirring, gently at first, and begin heating. Target is to reach 114°F (45-46°C) over about 45 minutes.
- Hold temperature at 114°F (45-46°C) and continue stirring for another 15 minutes.
- Let rest for 5 minutes.
- Drain and begin to cheddar, flipping and stacking every 10-15 minutes until pH reaches ~5.3.
- Mill, add salt, put in cheesecloth-lined mold and put in press.
- Begin pressing at around 20-25 lbs. for 30 minutes or so (7" diameter mold). Every hour or so, flip and press again, doubling the weight until reaching around 200 lbs.; press overnight. Adjust weight and time as needed for good knit.
Recipe as I actually made it, including comments/observations:
- Next time, if there is a next time, I think I would leave out the mesophilic (MA011) - I know that it gets killed off when the scalding temperature goes high enough, but given how much the trimmings tasted like a typical cheddar, I wonder how much the meso dominated the make. My intention was to give a little boost to the thermo, not to overwhelm it. Of course, the taste in 3-6-12 months may be very different ...
- I wound up letting it coagulate for 40 minutes instead of 30 - the set was just too fragile at that point. Usually I get a bit better results from the P&H milk that I typically use, but this batch was not quite as fresh, so maybe that had something to do with it. In any case, with the extra set time, the curds I got weren't too bad (for P&H milk, that is).
- I was intending to take 45 minutes to get to the target scalding temperature, 114°F (45-46°C), but it wound up taking 55 minutes instead.
- The pH dropped faster than I would have liked - I only cheddared for about an hour, and reached around 5.25-5.3 pH (slight range of readings depending on where I tested). I often seem to have this problem with cheddars, and wondered if it would happen with this make. This is another reason to try leaving the meso (MA011) out if I try this again.
- The milling, salting, and pressing all acted very much like a typical cheddar - including the fact that it was still quite un-knit when I went from 80 lbs to 200 lbs. for the overnight pressing. I fully expected to have to press additional time at 300 lbs., but the knit seemed perfectly smooth this morning, so I went ahead and put it in the cave to dry.
- My plan is to let it age in the cave for around 3 weeks, and then vac-bag it to age for at least 3 months. I'll sample it then, and then again at 6 months, and perhaps keep some out to 9-12 months to see where it seems to reach its peak.
All in all, a fun little experiment ... but as I said above, it will be a minimum of 3 months before I can give any idea of what sort of frankencheese I have created!
