Appenzeller recipe with pH markers

[Mornduk]

Just opened an Appenzeller I made last year. It aged 323 days in the cave with a washed rind. The rind was thin and edible, the floral flavor was subtle and evenly spread across the cheese, consistency was very firm and flavor less aggressive but far more nuanced than the commercial ones I bought. Overall it is an interesting variation of my usual alpkäse.

Process

• pH targets: start 6.75, rennet (pH drop >=0.1), whey pitch 6.35, brine 5.4, flocx2.5 25-35min
• Milk: 6G Jersey (raw). I got 13% yield
• Starter Culture: I used 1% thermophilic mother culture from ALPD and 1% mesophilic mother culture from Flora Danica. You could use other mother cultures or DVI cultures at will, for example 4.5g ThermoB + 0.04g LH100, or 4.5g ThermoC, dissolve in 60ml non-chlorinated water, wait 5 min for it to rehydrate, mix and stir
• Ripen: Heat the milk to ~90F. If you are using mother cultures go forward, otherwise check for pH drop (0.1+) and move on. It should take 30-60 mins.
• Adds: I did not use lipase. If you want to, dissolve 0.5g lipase in 50ml non-chlorinated water, let stand 20 mins, add to milk and stir. If your milk is not raw, add CaCl2. The solid food-grade one is way cheaper than the liquid one sold for cheese-making, just need to weight 1/3 or what the recipe calls for to water. So if you’re doing 6G of store bought milk, dissolve 2g solid CaCl2 in 60ml non-chlorinated water, stir in and let it rest for a minute before adding to milk. Lipase and CaCl2 should be added 10+ min after culture, 10+ mins before rennet
• Rennet: Dissolve 4.5ml single strength in 50ml non-chlorinated water, whisk milk top-down vigorously for a minute to get that Jersey fat back in, then add dissolved rennet to milk slowly stirring constantly for a minute
• Coagulation: Check flocculation after 8 mins, x2.5 flocculation, target is 25-35 mins
• Cutting Curd: Cut center, then 1" in parallel. Long side before short one. Let it rest 5 mins, then use harp or whisk to slowly cut the curds down to ~1/8". Continue until whey changes color from white to yellow, ~10-15 mins total
• Cook curd: Heat to ~120F over 60 min, not over 1 degree per minute. Keep stirring slowly and continuously
• Maintain: Stir slowly in an 8 pattern until you hit pH 6.35, or 5 mins (if you don't have a pH meter it's better to underestimate in this case as most acidification should happen in the form anyway.
• Settle: Pitch (press under the whey) 5 mins to form solid single mass so it’s easy to drain whey and get the curds in the form
• Press Under warm whey: 1 hour with low weight, 5 and 10 lbs for this make, flipping 2-4 times
• Press outside of whey: 40 mins with #25lbs,  flip and 1h, flip and #50 for 2h, flip and 4h, leave until ph hits 5.4, or <12h overall. As it's acificying in the form it could stick, if that happens warm up the whey you used for pressing and immerse the form in it, then slowly release, and ensure you're soaking everything in that whey before sending it back to press. If you feel it's going to tear out just scrape the stuck curd from outside the form/cloth to release.
• Salt: Brine 6h/pound at 18% salt by water weight (add 5g CaCl2 and 5ml white vinegar per gallon of water -or enough vinegar to lower pH to 5.4)
• Air Dry: Leave in ripening box at room temp ~12h flipping at least once
• Age: 50-55F 80-85H for 1 week, then wash daily for a couple of weeks, then weekly for 2 months. Age as desired (I'd do 1+ years).
• Eye formation: if you want eyes get it out of the cave after 3 weeks to a warmer environment. If you can control the environment to be ~60-65F and ~90H for 2-3 months that would render the largest eyes, otherwise just get it out for short periods if it's warmer, use a ripening box to create that humidity, probably should add 0.25g Propionic Shermanii to the milk with the other cultures as well

Background
One of the interesting things about Appenzeller is that the herbal wash, as with most things Swiss, is a closed guarded secret. That secret herbal wash adds a lot to the flair of this cheese.

I found multiple theories and interpretations on the internet, but I see four main process options and three categories of herbs/spices.

Process:

• Wash the cheese until you create a schmier, then roll in dried herb mix so it adheres, and let it age
• Dry rub with salt and dried herb mix
• Infuse smear solution with herb mix, then wash as usual
• Infuse alcohol with herbs, mix with smear solution, then wash as usual

Herbs:

• Mandatory: More or less everybody agrees on these ones, and in sneaky graphic footage of the Appenzeller make or cheese-making facilities these are always present.
  Chamomile, Ginger, Orange peel, Rosemary, Sage, Star Anise, Tarragon, Thyme, Turmeric
• Likely: These come up repeatedly in most sources. Flavors are similar to many others in all three categories, so most likely only a few are truly there.
  Cloves, Cowslip, Burnet, Juniper berries, Lady's Mantle, Mallow, Marjoram, Parsley, Plantain, Veronica, Yarrow
• Unlikely: These are isolated hits in the spectrum of sources, but some might be true, and some similar flavors with previous two categories can be used to prioritize the spice you prefer (as in mace and nutmeg, parsley and coriander, etc).
  Allspice, Basil, Caraway, Cardamom, Chives, Coriander seed, Cumin, Dill, Elder, Fennel, Five spice, Galangal, Garlic, Horehound, Lavender, Lovage, Mint, Mugwort, Mulberry, Oregano, Peppermint, Plantain, Rhubarb root, Savory, Speedwell

I decided to go with the liquor infusion, since I do my wash with wine so it'd be just a matter of adding more water compared to liquor to keep alcohol below 5%. I have seen many liquors recommended, from white wine to Underberg, Angostura, or even cyder. I just used some Jägermeister since it was sitting idle and the herbal component would be welcomed. I infused it with the herbs for a week, then blended it all together, let it sit for another week, filtered it and mixed it with salt and my normal smear solution until I had something with 5% alcohol and 2.5% salt. For herbs I went with all in the mandatory category then whatever I did have available for the other two (Chamomile, Ginger, Orange peel, Rosemary, Sage, Star Anise, Tarragon, Thyme, Turmeric, Cloves, Juniper berries, Marjoram, Parsley, Allspice, Basil, Caraway, Cardamom, Chives, Coriander seed, Cumin, Dill, Fennel, Five spice, Galangal, Garlic, Lavender, Mint, Oregano, Rhubarb root, Savory).