I made the Beer Infused Cheese from NE Cheesemaking today. Its mot marked as a cheddar but based on the direction it seems maybe its "like" a stirred curd cheddar... Anyway, I have a few questions concerning pH and timing.
The directions say to stir 30-45 main rating temp from 88 to 102. When at 102, stir another 30 minutes.
Then drain for 30
Then soak in beer for 45
Then salt
The pH when I drained was 6.2 and 6.1 at the end of draining. If the trend continues (I am trying to keep the curds warm) I expect a Ph of about 6-6.1 after the beer soak. It seems to me, I want a Ph closer to 5.5-5.4 when I salt.
What does one do? I dont want the curds so dry they wont knit so am reluctant to just wait for a few hours.
Of course, I am assuming pH should be that but I dont really KNOW.
Actually, I found the beer has a pH of about 4.5.... How would one even calculate pH of the curds in this case?
