After a month of milk rationing here because of the flood in mid-November, we are finally able to buy enough milk to make cheese again.... We started the year with a repeat of a Colby.... This is the third make, we are determined not to give up until it comes out right!.... The first time it was way too moist and stuck to the knife when slicing, and the second time it was too dry and acidic.... This time we are cooking the curds for a shorter period of time (until a "Normal" grip test, where the curds form a ball when squeezed, but tease apart with your thumb), and then draining them 10 minutes after the cool water wash (instead of allowing additional acidification before salting).... The basic recipe we used is the one in "Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking" by Caldwell.... We used 8 litres of 2% P/H milk, plus an extra 700 ml of 18% cream, for a total of 8.7 litres with a butterfat content of 3.3%.... We used MA 11 culture, and 18 drops of Annatto for a nice rich yellow colour.... We decided to use yellow wax, and thought a couple of pics of doing that would be in order.... Here is the first dip, into 250*F wax for 5 seconds to kill any bacteria or spores on the surface....
This produces a thin coat of wax, here is the photo of the cheese before dipping the other end....
After a 5 second dip of the other end, we turn off the burner and allow the first layer to harden, then we built up 4 coats of wax, but all the other coats were just a quick dip, so as not to melt the previous layers....
The label was applied by painting on some wax, applying the paper label, and then brushing wax over it to seal it.... The cheese weighed 2 lbs. 1 oz. before waxing, a yield of 10.8%.... We will be sampling a quarter of this Colby at 1, 2, 3 and 4 months.... It sure is nice to be back in the Cheese Kitchen, after no milk for over a month.... Happy New Year to all of you....
PS.... We sampled this Colby at 1 month, and we FINALLY got this make right!.... The first one was too moist and stuck to the knife, the second one was too dry and a bit crumbly, this one is a "just right" Goldilocks cheese!.... .... It has a hint of Cheddar aroma and taste, and a creamy texture that slices well.... It is just slightly sour, we will see if that changes as it ages more....
PPS.... The Colby dried slightly over the 4 months of aging, and became just a bit more flavourful.... but while not having anything wrong, it just doesn't excite us.... We have decided not to make another, although we are going to give it's close cousin, a Monterey Jack, one more chance.... Bob